Community Land Trust in Anacostia, DC Announced by City First Enterprises and Citi Community Development
Community Land Trust Will Promote Affordability and Build Intergenerational Household Wealth for Local Residents
WASHINGTON D.C., February 14, 2017 /3BL Media/ – City First Enterprises (CFE) and Citi Community Development announced today the plan for CFE to create the first Community Land Trust (CLT) in the historic Anacostia neighborhood in the District of Columbia (DC) to preserve affordability, prevent displacement and enable community residents to purchase homes to build long-term financial assets.
CFE, with support from Citi Community Development, is working to establish a new community land trust that will, over time, produce affordable homes for more than 100 families in Anacostia. Through the Anacostia CLT, CFE aims to identify, purchase and rehabilitate existing blighted properties as well as build new homes on vacant properties. Properties for the Anacostia CLT could be acquired through purchase or donation. The Anacostia CLT will retain ownership of the land and sell homes to residents, making homes more affordable to low and moderate income residents. The concept of the CLT was one of the top recommendations that emerged through a long term community engagement process which CFE participated in with the 11th Street Bridge Park which engaged residents and stakeholders in the Anacostia community in an equitable development planning process. The goal of the Equitable Development Plan is to ensure that the 11th Street Bridge Park is a driver of inclusive development – development that provides opportunities for all residents regardless of income and demography.
The Anacostia CLT will address rapid housing price appreciation that has been detrimental to potential homebuyers, resulting in 27% homeownership, compared to 42% city-wide. In Ward 8, where Anacostia is located, median single family home prices increased by more than 26% between 2001 and 2012.
“My administration is committed to supporting affordable housing for residents in all eight Wards and we have made an unprecedented $100 million annual investment,” said District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser. “I thank Citi Community Development and City First Enterprises for supporting the effort to preserve affordability and promote homeownership amongst our Anacostia residents.”
“City First Enterprises is deeply grateful for Citi Community Development’s on-going support of quality affordable housing in the District and the 11th Street Bridge Park team for their visionary leadership,” said Robert Burns, Executive Director of City First Enterprises. “Our collective and aligned mission seeks to bring about more equitable development and affordable housing through the formation of this community land trust.”
“Last year, median home prices in Anacostia increased by more than 20% -- the third highest leap in the entire region. With average household incomes at only $40,000, the prospect of becoming a homeowner is ever more challenging for Anacostia residents” said Bob Annibale, Global Director of Citi Community Development and Inclusive Finance. “The new Anacostia Community Land Trust will preserve housing affordability in this iconic neighborhood, resulting in more residents becoming homeowners and building wealth for the long-term.”
City First Enterprises has previous experience implementing a similar model largely in northwest DC.
According to Center for American Progress, CLT homeowners were 10 times less likely to be in foreclosure proceedings at the height of the foreclosure crisis in 2009 and almost seven times less likely to be at least 90 days delinquent, compared to those in the conventional housing market.
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City First Enterprises
City First is a unique family of organizations that include City First Enterprises, a community development loan fund, City First Homes, affordable housing group that manages over 244 units of permanently affordable housing, and City First Bank, a nationally chartered commercial bank. City First Enterprises is a certified Community Development Financial Institutions by the CDFI Fund of the US Department of Treasury. Since it’s inception City First has catalyzed over $1 billion in community impact through investing in affordable housing, small business and community facilities.
Citi
Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management.
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