State Trust Lands Offer Opportunity for Affordable Housing

As the affordable housing crisis grows, states in the Western U.S. are looking to underutilized state-owned lands as potential sites for new housing development, reports Alex Brown in Stateline.

Many of the properties in question were granted to states as “working lands” designed to fund public schools and community services by “leasing them for activities such as logging, mining, grazing and oil and gas development,” and, more recently, renewable energy farms, campgrounds, and other uses.

The process has its own unique challenges. “State land agencies often lack the expertise to develop land themselves, and requirements that they sell parcels for market rates often mean affordable projects are priced out. Officials are still figuring out which mechanisms — leases, land exchanges with local governments, auctions to developers — might work best for getting housing built.” While much of this land isn’t suitable for housing, and some protects critical habitats or other sensitive environments, state leaders see it as an opportunity to diversify their revenue streams and build much-needed housing by making it easier to build on sites near current development.

In Colorado, a new Public-Private Partnership Collaboration Unit formed by the state will support building housing on state-owned land through financing and technical assistance. “Utah has begun looking at ways to promote affordable housing on trust lands, including working with local governments to enact zoning changes that allow increased density.” In New Mexico, an affordable senior housing facility built on trust land opened last year.