Front Step Community Land Trust expands in Missoula, highlights community land trust and limited-equity co-op models

Front Step Community Land Trust, formerly the North Missoula Community Development Corporation, told Missoula County Commissioners that its shift from a neighborhood-focused nonprofit to a broader housing developer aims to preserve affordable homeownership across the city and its urban fringe.

"The change in our work preceded the need to change our name," said Britney Palmer, director of Front Step Community Land Trust. Palmer described the organization’s expansion beyond the Northside to projects in Franklin, The Fort, River Road and the West Side, and said the new name better reflects that wider service area.

Palmer outlined the community land trust model: the nonprofit acquires land and either develops housing itself or partners with others, invests subsidy up front so buyers purchase homes at reduced prices, and retains permanent ownership of the land under a long-term ground lease. "Front Step retains ownership of the land itself," she said, adding that the ground lease term is 75 years and renewable.

That structure, Palmer said, keeps subsidy with the home rather than allowing the full value to be realized on the open market. Front Step’s homes are typically priced under $200,000 for two- and three-bedroom units; the organization charges a ground lease fee of $30 per month. Palmer described a resale formula that allows homeowners to take…