A citywide collaborative of nonprofit affordable housing organizations today announced the formation of the Interboro Community Land Trust (CLT), NYC’s first citywide CLT. Its primary focus will be creating permanently affordable homeownership opportunities for low-income households.
A land trust is a nonprofit that retains ownership of land and sells housing on that land to homeowners or developers. A CLT’s board of directors typically consists of one-third CLT residents, one-third residents from the surrounding community, and one-third professionals in real estate, property management, housing, finance or other backgrounds that are essential to responsible ownership of land. The CLT typically caps resale prices or rents for housing on its land in order to preserve affordability for future generations of residents. Around 225 CLTs are active around the U.S., representing around 20,000 rental units and 15,000 homeownership units.
Interboro CLT partners include the Center for NYC Neighborhoods (CNYCN), Habitat for Humanity New York City (Habitat NYC), Mutual Housing Association of NY (MHANY), and the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB). They hope the new CLT can help address the widening economic inequality that threatens the economic and racial diversity of the city...