Confluence Denver Highlights Economical Stability of Community Land Trust Model
The Community Land Trust (CLT) model, which separates ownership of the land and the building, offers a more permanent solution to affordable housing and affordable facility space. New Communities is the first known use of the CLT model, born from the civil rights movement in Albany, Georgia in the 1960’s. Despite proven success behind CLT’s, there are only 200 in the U.S today. In the case of Urban Land Conservancy, we have established a non-traditional CLT with both multi-family rental housing as well as commercial buildings through 99 year ground leases, preserving the affordability for nonprofits and schools to operate in communities they serve despite the competitive real estate market.
Confluence Denver recently highlighted the benefits of CLT’s and their long term economic stability. Today in Denver, we are losing affordable housing at a tremendous rate. Although we are building an average of 1,200 new affordable units each year, 3,000 units lose their restrictions and become market-rate housing. For a city like Denver and many others, this model is not a sustainable solution.
Tony Pickett, ULC’s VP of Master Site Development, has been a leading expert and strong proponent for the CLT model. He recognizes however that in order for the model to work, we must think quickly. “We can build units, but we can’t build them fast enough,” Pickett told Confluence. “If we don’t go in early to protect affordability, there will be none for the future.”
To learn more about CLTs, check out Confluence Denver’s article here!