Detroit Launches Community Land Trust

Detroit leaders hope to address the city’s affordable housing shortage through a newly created community land trust, reports Julia Cardi in Detroit News.

The City Council approved $3.7 million in fiscal year 2026 to fund the project, dubbed the Detroit Cultivator Community Land Trust. It has already acquired six acres of land that will be used to build affordable housing or other projects that benefit the community.

Land trusts are becoming an increasingly popular way to put property in community hands and keep housing costs down. “A 2023 report from the Detroit Justice Center, a nonprofit that has made affordable housing a priority, says one benefit of community land trust housing is that its affordability doesn't expire, an advantage over developments that use low-income housing tax credits.”