Green Bay Housing Partnership Launches Community Land Trust to Create Permanent Affordable Housing

Today the City of Green Bay and NeighborWorks Green Bay celebrated the unveiling of their groundbreaking Community Land Trust (CLT) initiative, marking a transformative milestone in addressing Green Bay's housing affordability crisis. The Green Bay Housing Partnership represents an innovative approach to creating permanently affordable homeownership opportunities while building community wealth for generations.

The Community Land Trust model separates land ownership from home ownership, with the nonprofit trust retaining land ownership while families purchase homes at below-market prices through long-term ground leases. This ensures homes remain affordable in perpetuity, even as property values rise, creating sustainable housing solutions that benefit both individual families and the broader community.

"Today marks a new chapter in Green Bay's commitment to ensuring working families can achieve the dream of homeownership in our community," said Mayor Eric Genrich. "The Community Land Trust model doesn't just create affordable housing - it creates permanently affordable housing that will serve families for generations while helping residents build wealth and stability."

Addressing Critical Housing Needs
Green Bay faces significant housing challenges, with rising home prices outpacing income growth for many working families. According to the city's 2020 Housing Market Study, Green Bay needs between 3,314 and 7,441 new rental units and between 4,052 and 9,098 owner-occupied units by 2040 to meet demand. With median home prices reaching $285,000 and rising 14% in the past year, many essential workers and moderate-income families are being priced out of homeownership.

The CLT model directly addresses these pressures by creating homes that remain affordable regardless of market fluctuations. Unlike traditional affordable housing programs that provide only temporary affordability, CLT homes stay within reach of working families permanently through controlled resale formulas that balance homeowner equity building with community affordability preservation.

Creating Stable Housing and Community Wealth
The Green Bay Housing Partnership focuses on creating housing stability that extends far beyond individual transactions. CLT homeowners build equity through down payments, monthly mortgage payments, and a resale formula that allows for reasonable appreciation over time. Homes can be inherited and passed to family members, creating intergenerational wealth-building opportunities.

"This partnership brings together our complementary strengths to solve one of our community's most pressing challenges," said Noel Halvorsen, President & CEO of NeighborWorks Green Bay. "We're not just building houses - we're building stable neighborhoods where families can put down roots and thrive."

The initiative will focus on single-family homes for first-time homebuyers, modest multi-family properties in established neighborhoods, and strategic infill development that complements existing community character. Properties will serve workforce housing needs for essential community employees including teachers, first responders, healthcare workers, and other professionals vital to Green Bay's economy.

Governance and Community Control
The Green Bay Community Land Trust will operate under a tripartite board structure ensuring balanced community representation: one-third CLT homeowners, one-third broader community representatives, and one-third public interest representatives from government, nonprofits, and funding organizations. This democratic governance model ensures local priorities drive program implementation while maintaining community accountability.

Comprehensive Support Services
The partnership will provide wraparound services throughout the homeownership journey, including pre-purchase homebuyer education and credit counseling, specialized CLT mortgage products and closing cost assistance, and post-purchase ongoing homeownership counseling and foreclosure prevention. These services help ensure long-term homeownership success while building strong, connected neighborhoods.

Sustainable Funding and Growth
The Green Bay CLT utilizes diverse funding sources including federal housing grants, City of Green Bay housing trust fund resources, NeighborWorks America shared equity grants, private foundation support, and ground lease fees for operational sustainability. This diversified approach ensures program stability and reduces dependence on any single funding source, creating a foundation for sustainable growth.

Looking Forward
The Green Bay Housing Partnership represents a significant step forward in the city's comprehensive approach to housing challenges. Combined with recent initiatives including the CityWise rental database partnership and ongoing affordable housing development projects, the CLT program demonstrates Green Bay's commitment to innovative, collaborative solutions that serve residents across the income spectrum.

The partnership will track success through multiple indicators including the number of families achieving sustainable homeownership, long-term housing affordability preservation, community wealth building through home equity, neighborhood stability and resident retention, and program financial sustainability and growth.

For more information about the Green Bay Housing Partnership and Community Land Trust program, visit https://nwgreenbay.org/greenbayhousingpartnership/ or contact Will Peters, Neighborhood Development Specialist, at [email protected] or (920) 448-3150.