A Commercial Land Trust (CLT) is a community-based initiative that works to provide perpetually affordable commercial ownership opportunities to small business owners.

A CLT acquires land and removes it from the speculative, for-profit, real estate market. CLTs hold the land “in trust” indefinitely for the benefit of the community while ensuring that the land will always remain affordable for business owners.

The CLT provides a 99-year renewable ground lease to the business; the ground lease includes a resale formula that determines the building’s sale price and the business owner’s share of the building’s increased value at the time of sale.

This allows the initial investment made by public and private subsidy sources to remain with the property, making it affordable to subsequent, qualified buyers.