The City of Lakes Community Land Trust (CLCLT) spent three days in Denver for a peer to peer learning experience with ULC. With extensive knowledge behind the development of the Community Land Trust model in Minneapolis, CLCLT shared stories of challenges and success with both ULC and our community partners. Their visit was spurred by an interest in better understanding the creation and implementation of a transit-oriented development (TOD) fund, which ULC utilized to deploy over $15 million dollars in the acquisition of eight properties for the development of affordable housing, a new library and commercial nonprofit space in Denver.

Denise Butler and Staci Horwitz represented their respective organizations during their visit to Denver. Butler is the Program Manager for the African Career, Education & Resource, Inc. (ACER). Here, she manages day-to-day operations of the organization and is the liaison between regional, county and city government officials and nonprofit organizations. Her primary goal is to engage these entities in core initiatives, and to increase access to information, resources and opportunities for underrepresented and underserved communities. Horwitz joined CLCLT in 2006, and currently serves as the Program Director overseeing the organization’s property development initiatives as well as the rehabilitation component of the Homebuyer Initiated Program (HIP).

ULC is very happy for the chance to both learn and share information with an organization like CLCLT and we look forward to implementing the knowledge we learn this week into our growing CLT! For more information on the background and history of City of Leaks Community Land Trust, see below.

The City of Lakes Community Land Trust (CLCLT) is a nonprofit organization interested in building community in Minneapolis by providing affordable home ownership through a land trust model. The overall goal of the CLCLT is to provide affordable home ownership in perpetuity, which is accomplished by: Helping people who couldn’t otherwise purchase a home achieve home ownership; keeping homes affordable for future homeowners when or if a homeowner decides to sell; and providing a support system to our homeowners. The CLCLT is dedicated to being engaged with our homeowner community, ranging from helping them keep their home to facilitating connections for them within their neighborhoods and the larger community. CLCLT homeowners are not just a homeowner; they are part a larger community.

The City of Lakes Community Land Trust is the result of a collective, committed effort by  Minneapolis residents and neighborhood associations to preserve affordable housing ownership in their community. Housed and incubated initially by  Powderhorn Residents Group (PRG), the collaboration incorporated as the City of Lakes Community Land Trust in August 2002 and acquired its 501(c)(3) status in August 2003. The CLCLT merged with Neighborhood Housing Services of Minneapolis (NHSM) in 2015 and now stewards an additional $4 million in community loan funds. To date, the CLCLT has assisted over 271 low- and moderate-income households into CLCLT home ownership over the past 14 years. There have now been 41 CLCLT resales – each resulting in leveraging the initial affordability investment over time – serving multiple generations of home buyers with the same funds.

To learn more, you can also visit their website here.