Community Land Trust Helps Protect Investments

Creating affordable housing into perpetuity.

The Columbia Community Land Trust (CCLT) is a pioneering model for creating permanently affordable housing. Put into a sentence, the CCLT may sound miraculous, but the concept can take a moment to digest. Anthony Stanton, CCLT’s most impassioned ambassador as well as president and founding member of the CCLT board, was initially a skeptic. 

The CCLT is not intended for any specific demographic; it is for anyone right at the line of homeownership but unable to cross the threshold. Working as a land developer, CCLT guarantees an affordable rate for the next homebuyer and the buyer after that without any further city subsidies by holding 99-year land leases on all its lots. 

“I can guarantee every lot I’ve built on is going to be affordable for a hundred years,” says Stanton. “Nobody does that. Nobody can do that. Nobody can promise you that. Nobody that you talk to in affordable housing can say that.” 

Stanton’s mentor and fellow founding CCLT board member, Dan Cullimore, and former City of Columbia Ward One council member, Pat Fowler, convinced Stanton of CCLT’s potential. Fowler shared her family’s success story of living in a city land trust neighborhood and home. 

“I didn’t understand it all the way from the outside looking in,” says Stanton. “But, when you understand the model, you understand it’s a partnership.” 

Before establishing the CCLT, the city faced losing subsidy investments in affordable housing once the initial owner moved out of a subsided home. This led to the house eventually being priced out of affordability and requiring new subsidies for the next buyer. 

In 2016, Randy Cole, now the chief executive officer of the Columbia Housing Authority, spearheaded the creation of the CCLT. Two of its primary goals were to safeguard the city’s subsidy investments and maintain housing affordability. Mirrored after the national community land trust model, CCLT is a 501(c)3 nonprofit with a dotted line to the City of Columbia. 

When a new resident buys their CCLT house, they enter a mortgage for their home and lease the land underneath it from the CCLT. Excluding the land from their mortgage lowers their monthly mortgage payment. An example of a current CCLT mortgage is $750 a month, which is more affordable than many Columbia rentals. Stanton says this affordability creates an empowering opportunity to build generational wealth and provide individuals with options.  

CCLT homeowners pay a nominal fee for the land lease, which supports CCLT’s development of more affordable properties. Grants, private tax-deductible donations, and other public funding also fund CCLT. 

Stanton explains that CCLT is a community-led effort and that fosters a sense of ownership and community as a benefit for homeowners and is a crucial aspect of the CCLT model. Appointed by the Columbia City Council, the CCLT board comprises one-third of community and business leaders, one-third of neighborhood representatives, and one-third of program participants. As part of the dotted line to the city, city staff perform any administrative duties needed by the trust. 

The CCLT works closely within its niche of housing individuals with low to moderate incomes. To qualify for CCLT homes, buyers must meet many requirements, including credit scores, income, citizenship, and liquid assets. The final cost of CCLT housing is targeted to be about 30% of the homeowner’s income. 

CCLT homes are initially sold with a subsidy. For example, a home may be constructed for $165,000 and sold for $100,000. The land lease requires that homeowners cannot capture more than 25 percent of market appreciation. This rule protects the subsidy, creating an affordable home for decades. 

Some 70 percent of city land trust residents sell their homes and buy new houses within the conventional housing market through the equity created in their city land trust homes. Stanton says that these success stories are a testament to the effectiveness of the city land trust model. 

As of May 2024, the CCLT has constructed twenty-two homes. Most homes are in Central Columbia in Ward One, where the most need was first identified. Three of CCLT’s homes have been sold to new owners. The new residents buy the house at a rate that has maintained affordability. New owners also agree to the same resale requirements. 

Stanton explains that CCLT homes are well constructed using environmentally friendly materials intended to seamlessly blend into a neighborhood. Stanton notes that the home installation and solar panels can cut down on other cost burdens such as utilities. 

“If you want Columbia to still be a top-tier place to live, you have to take care of the people that make that possible,” says Stanton. 

Stanton sees the CCLT helping working people commuting to work in Columba to afford to live in the city and, therefore, begin spending their dollars in Columbia. Eventually, the CCLT aspires to expand across most city wards, over Columbia City Limits and branch into commercial development. 

Stanton explains that affordability cannot be pigeonholed and must be available across the spectrum for people to move up. Vibrant communities have vibrant commercial corridors. Stanton thinks not only of community development but also economic and family wealth development. The natural evolution of CCLT may be commercial development accompanying affordable housing.  

“Affordability should be mobile. All your affordability, low income and moderate income should not be in one place,” says Stanton. “That’s how you create ghettos. So, we need to find opportunities across all wards.” 

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Who Qualifies for Columbia Land Trust Property? 

• Be a citizen of the USA or a registered alien 
• Have a minimum credit score of 600 
• Must intend to occupy the home as the homeowner 
• Provide a minimum of $500 towards the purchase of the home 
• Have no more than $15,000 in liquid assets available 
• Must meet Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Income Limits  
• Must meet with a HUD Certified Fair Housing Counselor 

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Columbia Community Land Trust

Founded: 2016

Mission: To support low to moderate income Columbia households through the creation and stewardship of permanently affordable housing. 

Vision: A strong CLT with a growing and diverse portfolio of safe, high quality, energy efficient and permanently affordable housing for low to moderate income households. 

CCLT Board of Directors 

• Anthony Stanton, president 
• Douglas Hunt, vice president 
• Alexander LaBrunerie, treasurer 
• Jeremy Trotter, secretary 
• Shirley Rhoades 
• Tracey Bush-Cook 
• Linda Head 
• Vacant (CCLT home occupant) 
• Vacant (neighborhood representative) 

The CCLT board is appointed by the City Council and consists of 1/3 community and business leaders, 1/3 neighborhood representatives, and 1/3 program participants. The CCLT is now accepting applications for CCLT homeowners to join the board. Homeowners may apply via the City of Columbia website. 

City Staff

City staff perform the administrative duties for the Trust. 

• Jennifer Deaver, Housing Programs Manager 
• Jacob Amelunke, Housing Specialist II 
• Molly Fair, Housing Specialist I 
• Tracy Graham, Administrative Technician II

11 N 7th St 
573-874-7244
[email protected]
comolandtrust.com