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City-supported community land trust model recommended to preserve long-term affordable homeownership
Summary
An advisory committee recommended forming a community land trust, to be called the Green Bay Housing Partnership, as a program of NeighborWorks Green Bay with a 2% fixed-rate resale formula to keep homes affordable for successive income‑qualified buyers.
Consultants and an advisory committee recommended the city-supported creation of a community land trust (CLT) program to preserve permanently affordable homeownership in Green Bay and proposed operating it as the Green Bay Housing Partnership under NeighborWorks Green Bay.
Jeffrey Washburn, the consultant who led the advisory committee, told the Redevelopment Authority the group met since November and settled on a governance and resale approach intended to be durable under different market scenarios. He said the committee is recommending a 2% fixed-rate resale formula for CLT homes, explaining the formula with an example in which a household buys at a CLT price and accrues a modest, predictable resale return over time while the CLT’s original affordability investment retains value for future affordable buyers.
Under the advisory group’s recommended model, a typical CLT transaction would have the CLT retain title to the land while the homeowner holds the structure and signs a ground lease that requires resale to another income‑qualified household and applies the resale formula. The committee also recommended a tripartite charter governance structure embedded in NeighborWorks Green Bay’s bylaws to protect the CLT’s resale rules, require community representation and make substantive changes difficult without wide approval by charter members and NeighborWorks’ board.
NeighborWorks Green Bay staff and advisory committee members said the CLT could pursue multiple activities—new construction, acquisition, rehabilitation, discounted purchases and conversion of at-risk owner‑occupied properties—and that early opportunities might include converting certain properties the organization already owns or is developing into CLT homes. Staff said preliminary 10‑year modeling shows the CLT would require ongoing subsidy and philanthropic support for staffing and initial acquisitions, and that the program could be started as a NeighborWorks program with part‑time staff while it builds capacity.
Authority members present expressed support and asked staff to return with implementation details and funding requests when appropriate.
