November 18, 2025 • 28 mins
As rapid development reshapes neighborhoods like Kensington, residents and business owners face displacement and loss of local control. The Kensington Corridor Trust and Women’s Community Revitalization Project offer models of community ownership—using neighborhood and land trusts to preserve affordability, reinvest profits locally, and align development with community priorities. This episode explores how these approaches center equity and empower residents to shape their own futures.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Straw Hut Media. Historically, folks who have masked land a
masked wealth. Those who are massed wealth a massed power.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
That's the way we work.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
So if we're saying in this neighborhood, if people collectively
own land, they collectively build wealth, which allows them to
collectively build power.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
This is Lucas Grinley from Next City, a show about
change makers and their stories. Truth is, there are solutions
to the problems oppressing people in cities. If you're listening,
I hope it's because you want to spread good ideas
from one city to the next city. Rapid development can
overwhelm the lives of residents and small business owners in
any neighborhood. As property values rise, so does the risk
(00:44):
of displacement and the loss of local control. But it
is possible for neighborhoods to decide their own futures. And
that's why today we're taking you along with us on
our annual Vanguard Conference as we go to Philadelphia, where
are two organizations, the Women's Community Revitalization Project and the
Kensington Corridor Trust, offer alternative ownership models. Today we're hearing
from leaders at both of these organizations. Larissa Lucciani of
(01:07):
the Women's Community Revitalization Project in Adriana Abiza Day of
the Kensington Corridor Trust, which has so far reclaimed thirty
one properties with more in the way, and that's where
we'll begin with Adriana.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
What we do is we acquire real estate on Kensington Avenue,
which is one of the primary commercial corridors here in
the neighborhood, and we place it into a perpetual purpose trust,
which is a very specific type of trust that allows
you to perpetually protect the assets that are inside of it,
liquid or physical for a purpose. And so that purpose
was defined by the neighborhood as two things. Intergenerational affordability
(01:43):
in a neighborhood that's actively experiencing displacement, and the second
local control and ownership of real estate in the commons
outside of the speculative market. So using the neighborhood trusts
model as a systems change model, it is an intergenerational
approach and so really looking at root causes and helping
to advance policy in the city that will allow not
only for our work to become easier, but also for
(02:05):
the neighborhood to have the investments that it needs. The
health and safety outcomes that we're looking for and really
making sure that the city prioritizes this neighborhood as it
has long been one that's been disinvested in and under prioritized.
And then direct ownership, and that's ownership of lots of things,
not just real estate. Real Estate is a tool, right,
so if we can all just kind of back up.
Real estate is a commodity, It is a tool, but
(02:26):
it is a finite one, right. You can't make more land.
Land is finite. We focus on affordability primarily for housing,
but also on the commercial front because that's so much
of our work is affordability for small business owners. The
governance setup that we have is quite unique as it
compares to other folks who are in the nonprofit space.
So we are a nonprofit and a perpetual purpose trust.
(02:46):
We're fully governed by folks who live and or have
small businesses in the one nine, one three four zip code.
So in order to govern you cannot be an outsider.
That's legally codified within our structure, intentionally and by design
acknowledging that the neighborhood is changing and that it will
continue to change intergenerationally as we kind of move decades out.
That design process was over a year long, and we
(03:07):
engage lots of folks in determining what that would look like,
what elections would look like. We do annual recruitment. So
to be on our governance is a fairly simple process.
It's an open application. It opens every January, open for
thirty days. Anyone who lives here, has a small business
here can apply or be nominated. And then the existing
set of folks who are sitting on the board are
the ones who vote on the slate that's incoming a
(03:28):
future version of our governance. The neighborhood will vote directly
on the slate. We're not there because of capacity. There's
thirty two thousand folks in the six census tracks we touch,
even if only a fraction of them came.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Out to vote. One thousand, two thousand and thirty thousand people.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Were a staff of five, and so we're trying to
figure out, like, what are the processes and systems that
we can implement to take on that type of participatory
democracy while still making sure that it's equitable, that digital
divide is accounted for, and that there are options for
folks to vote. So we're working towards that in the future.
About the AB at a high level, there are six
hundred and twenty seven assets on Kensington Avenue for the
(04:03):
corridor that we have determined as the Kensington Avenue Quarter
that we're working on, and in that there are a
subset of blocks that we're actively working on. We are
actually now working on four blocks as of late last year,
so we're targeting.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Two hundred and twenty two assets. Currently.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
We steward thirty one of them right now. Thirty second
is currently under agreement. We started on those blocks because
it was slightly lower vacancy and slightly lower crime, so
using them as a central point in the broader corridor
as a holding spot right start here, grow out from here.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
There's thirty one assets in the trust. There are ten
businesses in the KCT spaces.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
We do have thir nine units under development, and we
do currently have twenty six permanently affordable spaces. It's also
worth noting that sometimes we inherit businesses through the acquisition
of a building, so we also have businesses that we
now get to support more intimately because they're inside of
a KCT space, but that have been here before, and
that's a really beautiful experience because oftentimes for a lot
of folks, it feels like the first time they're being
(04:58):
held seen, listen to, and we can provide wrap around
supports and technical assistance either directly or indirectly oftentimes through
partners to help them just grow and expand their model.
To think about the way that they professionalize their work,
and I want to make sure, I just know, not
professionalized in the traditional, like white capitalistic way, professionalize in
the way that they can continue to grow their business
model and generate revenue in a way that is meaningful
(05:19):
for them. So it does not always mean capitalizing gains.
It will mean different things for different folks, and that's
good with us. It's important to note too that beyond
collective ownership of the real estate, the neighbors also get
to determine what small businesses come into those spaces. Right, So,
just like any landlord who gets to decide who they
leased to, the neighborhood gets to decide who they leased to,
which means that we're not your average landlord. So when
(05:39):
you want to start your business on Kensington Avenue, you
will be going through a community engagement process that's going
to last a couple of months and that's okay, We're
going to slow down so we can later speed up
and make sure that your business is successful. The trust
has been leasing here in the neighborhood for a little bit.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Over three years, or about three years now.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
We've not lost a single business that we've brought to
the corridor, and the very first business that we lack
Sure that we supported the launch of back in October
of twenty twenty two, has grown by three hundred percent
over the last three years. They've now gotten to the
point where they can have two full time staff running
the business and they don't have to be in the
business anymore. So for folks who are familiar with mom
and pop shops, they're the ones who are there when
the gate rolls up. They're the ones that are there
(06:15):
when the gate rolls down. They eat, sleep, breed their business.
And that's beautiful and we love that, but that's also exhausting, right,
And that's just surviving, that's not thriving. And so what
does it look like to create employment opportunities? What does
it look like to be able to step away from
your business and still generate revenue.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
That's what we're working to test.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Out and to grow in our structure, and so we're
really excited about that.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
That business to Adriana mentioned, the one that's grown by
three hundred percent is the Waxery. It's a candle making
studio we featured in the previous episode, and it's one
example of what happens when small businesses are supported, not displaced.
Another success story is the Kensington Food Company. When residents
were asked what they needed most, their first answer was
a place to buy fresh food close to home. The
(06:54):
corridor is also home to a community garden, which has
become a neighborhood gathering place. All of it is made
possible by a financing model designed to keep affordability at
the center. They only accept capital with interest capitt two
percent or below, and.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
That is a non negotiable for us, and that's because
that's how we preserve affordability.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
So the reason we've been able to move.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
So quickly over the last six years is because we
haven't relied on government funding, which you know, in the
context of where we are today, also makes us very
fortunate and privileged because a lot of our counterparts are
really struggling to figure out how to complete their projects.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
But yeah, so we take in two forms of capital.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
The first are non recoverable dollars, so those are donations
from folks.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Those are grants that are coming in.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
The other is debt capital that is unsecured. So that's
the other part that is non negotiable for us, is
you cannot place a lean on any of the assets
that are in trust if the financial model fails for
whatever reason. And it won't and it hasn't, and we're
servicing debt and all that is great, but if it did,
the neighborhood would own their assets outright, free and clear
from the debt.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
After the break, we'll hear how another Philadelphia organization is
using community ownership to protect housing. Larisa of the Women's
Community Revitalization Project explains how their Community Justice Land Trust
keeps homes permanently affordable for low income women and families
(08:23):
Welcome Back. While the Kensington Corridor Trust is focused on
commercial spaces and small businesses, the Women's Community Revitalization Project
has been working for decades to make sure families can
stay in their homes. Their Community Justice Land Trust has
its own way of removing property from the speculative market
to ensure it remains affordable for generations. Here is Larisa Lucciani,
executive director of WCRP, explaining how their community development nonprofit
(08:47):
serves low income women and their families.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
We do that in several ways.
Speaker 4 (08:55):
First and primarily through the development of rental housing andocus
on very low income rental housing. We have three hundred
and eighty two units to date, mainly in North Philadelphia,
East Abroad, Germantown, West Philly, and South Philly. We practice
innovation and accessibility design that supports families, so we focus
(09:19):
on two and three bedroom units and long term affordability.
So all of our units that we're building now that
we've recapitalized over the years, we're putting in our Community
Justice land Trust. But we also ensure successes of our tenants.
We hose nearly twelve hundred people throughout Philadelphia through intensive
(09:40):
supportive services and case management in house. And again, our
average starting income for our families is fourteen thousand dollars
a year. It's very low, and we keep rentslow by
providing this intensive and optional case management, but also through
internal subsidies and emergency funds for our tenants. And again,
a lot of our our tenants aren't fixed incomes, with
(10:01):
nearly twenty percent of them being on SSDI. So again
we started in eastern North Philadelphia and in the early
two thousands, we saw that there was a lot of
vacancy in this neighborhood, a lot of disinvestment. But not
soon after the recession, we started experiencing market pressures on
(10:22):
all sides, and for a variety of reasons.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
Over the years, the pressures on Philadelphia's neighborhoods have only grown.
Half of all renters and a third of homeowners are
paying more than they can afford. Among families earning less
than thirty five thousand dollars a year, nine out of
ten renters and seven out of ten homeowners are considered
cost burdened. In the North, South, and West Philadelphia, rising
costs have pushed nearly forty percent of black residents out
(10:47):
of their communities over the past decade. Larissa says, that's
why it's so important to involve residents directly.
Speaker 4 (10:55):
So one of the things that we did to engage
the community was we did an intensitive nine month listening project.
And so this is a project where we got residents together,
trained residents to talk to other residents about what their
needs were and so some of the things that we
asked among the three hundred and twenty five participants is
you know, how is your neighborhood changed, how does it
(11:17):
affect your life and the neighborhood, and what do you
think about developing a community land trust? And so this
was one of those innovative models in the early two
thousands that WCRP was looking at to prohibit that displacement,
to prevent gentrification, and look to long term affordability in
these neighborhoods. We get publicly owned vacant land or privately
(11:42):
market land which transferred to our Community Land Trust. It's
restored back to community use. The improvements or otherwise the
structures on the land are owned by those families, businesses, organizations,
and then the land is owned by the land trust
through a ninety nine year ground lease. And some of
the successes that we've had over the years is again
as I mentioned, we've built more than one hundred rentals
(12:04):
that are affordable in perpetuity. We've also completed five home
ownership units and now one hundred and five units are
also in the pipeline. It seems like a drop in
the bucket, but it's such important work, and we're glad
that other nonprofits in Philadelphia have also taken on this
innovative model, like KCT, Mount vernon Asse and others. Much
(12:26):
of our development up until recently have been in the
form of row homes or town home structures. Many of
them are single up down, some of them are stacked flats.
Last year we also completed twenty seven permanently affordable homes.
Some of these are leased a purchase depending on where
they're structured. Some of the stack flats PHFA, who's our
(12:47):
finance agency, wouldn't allow us to convert those to condos,
so some of those will remain as rentals.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
For decades, wcrp's developments were in row homes and townhouses,
but now, for the first time in forty years, they're
expanding upward. Their newest project is an apartment building in
West Philadelphia that will include thirty two units of permanently
affordable rental housing on land they've received from the Philadelphia
Land Bank.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
So other successes that CJLT has imposed is changing the
way that funders think about land trust So like banks,
you know, many of which don't understand affordable housing or
affordable housing finance many funders don't understand the separation between
land and improvements, and it's become difficult with assessments. But
(13:36):
we've influenced PHFA, the City, and the Federal Home Loan
Bank of Pittsburgh to include scoring that gives us increased
points for holding land in a Community Justice land Trust
or Community land Trust. We've also deeper relationships with community
members and other organizations interested in clts, like KCT, and
we've also formed or part of statewide coalition in Pennsylvania
(14:00):
hoping to multiply this model throughout the state. So one
of the ways that we do that policy advocation is
through our coalition, and so we're one of the for
steering committee members for the Philadelphia Coalition of Affordable Communities.
It's a growing coalition of eighty four community, disability, faith,
labored urban agriculture organizations that have joined together to pass
(14:21):
a series of laws that will expand and protect affordability
in neighborhoods experiencing gentrification, which in Philadelphia is almost everywhere.
And so many of the peak hac wins that we've
had over the last fifteen years include getting over a
billion dollars in funding for the for affordable housing here
in the city, the creation of the city's Housing Trust Fund,
(14:42):
which was shaped by a charter change that directs point
five percent of general budget to that trust fund. We
also were critical in the formulation of the Philadelphia Land Bank,
ensuring that public land was transferred to a land bank
and then made available to various organizations for community gardens,
affordable housing, commercial development.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Throughout Philadelphia.
Speaker 4 (15:08):
Many people can't afford where they're living right now, and
a lot of that has to do with investors who
are landlords. Half of all renters and a third of
all homeowners are paying more than they could afford. Nine
out of ten families who rent and seven out of
ten families who own are earning less than thirty five
thousand dollars a year are cost burdened. And this problem
(15:28):
is in every council district throughout Philadelphia. It's not limited
to one. It's not here just here in Kensington, it's everywhere.
Another stat that we were showing, which you know is
really sad and has grown by nearly nine percent in
the last ten years, is that you know, due toizing
housing costs has pushed more than nearly forty percent of
black residents out of communities in North, South and West Philadelphia.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
That's just unacceptable.
Speaker 4 (15:54):
And the solution is just, you know, to be innovative
and critical about thinking about how the city's housing funds
addressed of the affordable housing crisis and again, you know,
making sure that this money goes to the people who
need it the most.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
After the break, Adriana and Larissa talk about how community
ownership fits into a market that is, of course still
driven by private development, and what does wealth building look
like for low income residents under these new models. Welcome back.
(16:35):
We've heard how the Kensington Corridor Trust and the Women's
Community Revitalization Project are using collective ownership to keep homes
and storefronts affordable. But how do these models actually fit
within a market that's still driven by private development, and
can they create real opportunities for wealth building while protecting affordability.
Here's Adriana Abiza Day.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
So here's the way that we look at the market, right,
and this is just from a pure capitalistic standpoint. The
reality is that private developers are the ones who are
best capitalized to acquire, and so they will do the
majority acquisitions as they.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
Do already in this neighborhood. That's a fact.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
We can pull up a map and LLC ownership is
out of the park in this neighborhood.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Right.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Individual ownership of real estate requires that folk to be financed, ready,
have capital, typically have a business plan. If there's going
to be a business store front there, that takes time,
that takes like a trajectory, requires investment. Most folks don't
have access to the same things that folks who currently
have wealth. Right, So let me back up cact. Historically,
folks who have a massed land a masked wealth. Those
(17:39):
who are massed wealth a massed power. That's our theory
of change, right, Like, that's the way we work. So
if we're saying in this neighborhood, if people collectively own power,
they collectively owned land, they collectively build wealth, which allows
them to collectively build power.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Right, And you don't have to follow that spectrum. There's
lots of ways to do it.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Money is not the only way to build power, but
it is a really powerful tool, particularly in public policy.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
So two things about the trust.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
One, we can exit an asset to a long term
commercial tenant that was built into the trust because we
didn't want the neighborhood trust. And collective ownership to be
an inhibitor to intergenerational wealth building. That's not the goal
of this work. The goal of this work is to
collectively own real estate inside of the commons, where otherwise
it would be owned inside of the specuative market. Right,
so it'll continue trading and turning, and people will continue
(18:22):
capitalizing on it and bringing things that are not affordable
and that are not owned by this neighborhood. KCT never
and I want to like capitalize an eveer. KCT never
targets an asset that is owned by an individual business owner.
We want to help them stay in place. That is
the goal of this work, right, So you stay in place.
Next door, you own your business, right Like some of
the business owners that are on our Trust Stewardship Committee
(18:43):
and our governance they own their business. It has nothing
to do with KCT. They own their building. They've been
here for a long time. We want to help support
you to make sure you continue to be successful. But
also next door, we want to make sure that the
building doesn't stay vacant for the next twenty years well
someone speculates and instead bringing it into ownership where the
neighborhood can have control over what's going into it, what
does a afordability look like and mean? And then if
someone comes and speculates next to us, right, like, that's
(19:04):
just reality. We're never going to be able to completely
own the cord or, nor should it be a goal
to be a monopoly, right. The goal is to protect
pockets of affordability, make sure that there's local control and
ownership in the midst of what is a larger spectrum
of a market. The last thing I'll just note, because
this is a question that comes up typically right after
that question, which is how come the trust doesn't do
home ownership?
Speaker 2 (19:23):
When we were built.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
We were built by design to fill a gap. There
are actually other folks in this neighbor who do home ownership, right,
So there are other folks like the CLT and some
CDCs that are here who their core focus is home ownership.
And so we said, okay, then our core focus will
be collective ownership, and we can do that by being
a landlord. But that landlord, that landlord relationship is vastly different.
I think it is is vastly different than a traditional
landlord relationship because it's not about money, like money is
(19:46):
a requirement of the transaction but also like we can barter,
we can trade, I can we can set up a
payment arrangement. We can reduce your rent, we can figure
out who can bring you some capital to pay your rent.
Like it's not it's not a typical relationship that you
would have with the landlord. But yeah, folks can exit
their assets. So if we have a long term commercial tenant,
twelve years after they've been inside of the trust with
that asset, we can sell it to them. They leave
(20:08):
with that asset with ten percent equity, so ten percent
below market value. It leaves with a deed restriction of
writer first refusal, which means we have the right took
wire when they sell it. So say twenty years from
now they want to retire to Florida, we want to
bring it back. We're going to pay you market value
at that time. So you're going to gain your generational
well spread. We're going to pull it back into affordability
and back into community ownership and do it again. Right.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
So that's the model. That's what we've built.
Speaker 4 (20:31):
A majority of our assets are in rental housing, so
there's not a lot of equity there. Again, we try
to drive down the rents as low as possible because
that's who we're serving is a majority. It's not just
a fifty percent of AMI or less, but it is
really thirty percent of AM or less. But for our
home ownership units, we have built into our ground lease
and equity model based on the time you've been there
(20:51):
and appreciation, So there is some return, it's just not
the windfall that you would see if you bought a
house twenty years ago, let's say in fish and what
you could sell it for today, which would be exponentially
a huge wealth building. So you know, again it's intended
to create that affordability long term, but understanding that homeowners
(21:13):
should have a right to gain some equity back. So
there is that built into that. And can we use
many of the models from Groundworks, which is you know,
large CLT advocacy organization just to the point of rentals.
So one of the issues that the city of Philadelphia
is going to have for the next ten twenty thirty
years is lie tech properties coming off of their restrictions
and their affordability controls. That's happening right now in West Philadelphia.
(21:36):
Nine hundred site scattered units are coming off those controls.
These owners don't care. They want to sell and go
to Florida, probably, So what our model does is maintain
that affordability and perpetuity. So I think that's an important aspect.
Otherwise it's going to cost the city developers and the
game communities so much more if those post properties, and
(21:58):
there are thousands, tens of thousands properties over the next
twenty thirty years.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
Beyond housing and business, both organizations see culture as a
vital part of community ownership. For the Kensington Corridor Trust,
art and storytelling are part of how the neighborhood defines itself.
Public installations, murals, gardens, and creative spaces are helping residents
tell their own stories and imagine new futures for the
place they call home.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
Arts and culture is like a critical aspect of our work.
It's not a secondary aspect. And we're thinking about public
art and the way that it shows up in space,
but we're also thinking about archival and history and how
we preserve the culture that's been here, the history that's
been here, the lived experiences and stories of the folks
that have been here. And so we've done that in
a couple of different ways. I would say our most
public facing way is definitely the garden. We have several
art installations that exist and live there permanently. We have
(22:44):
a Photo Voice project where we gave residence cameras and
ask them to take photos of places that were meaningful
to them in the neighborhood, and then they worked with
one of our partners, which is called First Person Arts.
They're a storytelling nonprofit here in the city, and they
curated a story around why that place is so meaningful
to them, and then curated a short bio and so
they have these three sided, little pyramid like sculptures at
(23:06):
our garden that have their photo, their bio, and the
story about their photo. We also have a large pottery
vessel that was produced by Robert Lugo, who is a
Puerto Rican native of Kensington who has become world famous
for his pottery, and he was hired secured by Philly
Mural Arts to build three really large sculptures and then
(23:29):
the neighborhood voted on where they would be placed, and
the garden was the first location that was voted on,
and so we've had that there since last year, which
has brought a lot of folks to the garden because
people just want to see it. It's one of those
like instagram worthy vibe kind of things. And then we're
also just thinking about vacant law activation and we use
a lot of art and placemaking in that.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
One of cact's newest project is called the Elevated Stoop.
It's a public art space designed with neighbors that doubles
as a raised basketball court, a shady gathering spot, and
a sculpture all in one. It's a place to sit,
cool off, and connect, an everyday reminder that public space
belongs to the people who use it. For Larissa and WCRP,
preserving culture also means celebrating the people who make up
(24:13):
the neighborhood.
Speaker 4 (24:14):
Yeah, so arts activation is something I've been thinking about
a little bit more recently. Again, our mission to provide
rental housing is a little different, but I love the
thought of bringing in local artists to kind of reflect
community culture. You know, a majority of our tenants, I
would say ninety eight percent are women of color, many
(24:34):
of which are Puerto Rican and have limited English proficiency.
And so our staff, my beautiful property management staff, many
of them are from Puerto Rico and bilingual, and you know,
we're so proud of that. Keeping people in their neighborhoods,
particularly here in North Philly East Abroad, where there's just
this beautiful community of poor riquas and want to maintain
(25:01):
and preserve that cultural experience. And so we're proud of
that work, particularly here in Fairhill. So yeah, so, but
arts is something we said we definitely want to think
more about, especially in terms of our facades. Again, all
of our projects are named after women leaders in the community,
and I want to think about highlighting some of their
(25:22):
faces and work in and around our buildings.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
If you're wondering where to start how to bring a
model like this to your own community, the Kensington cord
Or Trust website it's a good place to start.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
We have a resource center on our website where you
can download pretty much open source everything that we've developed
over the last years. And if something's not there that
you want, you're just a minimail and I'll send it
to you. We did that by design because we want
are not information hoarders. And two, we want to make
sure the folks replicate the model. That is the goal
and intent. Right now, we are actually stewarding our first
(25:53):
official replication of our model in Trenton, New Jersey, so
right across the bridge with the support of the Robert
wod Johnson Foundation, this is game change both for the
trust and for the model because it's receiving a ton
of national attention as we start to think about what
it looks like for other neighborhoods to collectively own real estate.
And again, I just want to rename this, but like articulately, clearly,
this is one tool in a toolbox, right, So, like
(26:13):
you can't do like swath wide redevelopment of a neighborhood
just because you have a neighborhood trust, no friends, right Like,
collective ownership is one tool in a toolbox. But we
think it's a really strong tool, right And we think
one it's one that helps to do a lot of
different things. You can preserve arts and culture, you can
do power building work and do policy advocacy, you can
do small business development and support, you can do housed
(26:34):
family support, right Like, there's tons of different.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Things that allows you to do.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
And the thing about the neighborhood trust model is that
it is flexible to the neighborhood that you're in, right,
So it's not a cookie cutter approach. The one that's
entrench in New Jersey will not look like the one
we have here in Philly. It'll have the same legal infrastructure,
which is what makes it a neighborhood trust. So it'll
be a five oh one C three nonprofit that's legally
and financially tethered to a perpetual purpose trust. But outside
of that, like, they don't have to do it exactly
(26:58):
the way that we do it here. They get to
design that in their neghborhood for what they want to
meet their needs.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
Right.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
It's a model that allows you to replicate while still
scaling in a way that is meeting the needs of
that neighborhood in that community. So yeah, someone invite folks
to go to our resource center on our website because
all of the tools are there, like literally everything. But
if there's something that you're looking at and you're going,
what I really need is this other thing?
Speaker 2 (27:17):
Just send me an email. We're very transparent about our work.
Speaker 3 (27:35):
Thank you for listening this week and for coming along
with us to Philly as part of the Vanguard Conference.
I should note that while the conference is over, our
work in Philly is not Next City is partnering with
Resolved Philly and Germantown Info Hub on a year long
reporting fellowship made possible with support from the Knight Foundation,
So stay tuned. Thanks to our guests Adriana Abizadei, Executive
Director of the Kensington Corridor Trust and Larissa Luciani, executive
(27:57):
director of the Women's Community Revitalization Project, and thanks to
Oscar Periobello, our senior Economic Justice correspondent, for moderating this
conversation when we were in Philly. Our audio producer is
Silvana Alcala. Our show producers Maggie Bowles, Our executive producers
Ryan Tillotson, and I'm Lucas Qriinley, executive director for Next City.
By the way, Next City is a news organization with
a nonprofit model. If you like what we're doing here,
(28:20):
please consider pitching in to support our work. Visit nextcity
dot org slash membership to make a donation. We'd love
to hear any feedback from our listeners. Please feel free
to email us at info at nexcity dot org and
if you haven't already, subscribed to the show on Apple, Spotify,
good Pods, or anywhere you listen to your podcasts,
Straw Hut Media. Historically, folks who have masked land a
masked wealth. Those who are massed wealth a massed power.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
That's the way we work.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
So if we're saying in this neighborhood, if people collectively
own land, they collectively build wealth, which allows them to
collectively build power.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
This is Lucas Grinley from Next City, a show about
change makers and their stories. Truth is, there are solutions
to the problems oppressing people in cities. If you're listening,
I hope it's because you want to spread good ideas
from one city to the next city. Rapid development can
overwhelm the lives of residents and small business owners in
any neighborhood. As property values rise, so does the risk
(00:44):
of displacement and the loss of local control. But it
is possible for neighborhoods to decide their own futures. And
that's why today we're taking you along with us on
our annual Vanguard Conference as we go to Philadelphia, where
are two organizations, the Women's Community Revitalization Project and the
Kensington Corridor Trust, offer alternative ownership models. Today we're hearing
from leaders at both of these organizations. Larissa Lucciani of
(01:07):
the Women's Community Revitalization Project in Adriana Abiza Day of
the Kensington Corridor Trust, which has so far reclaimed thirty
one properties with more in the way, and that's where
we'll begin with Adriana.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
What we do is we acquire real estate on Kensington Avenue,
which is one of the primary commercial corridors here in
the neighborhood, and we place it into a perpetual purpose trust,
which is a very specific type of trust that allows
you to perpetually protect the assets that are inside of it,
liquid or physical for a purpose. And so that purpose
was defined by the neighborhood as two things. Intergenerational affordability
(01:43):
in a neighborhood that's actively experiencing displacement, and the second
local control and ownership of real estate in the commons
outside of the speculative market. So using the neighborhood trusts
model as a systems change model, it is an intergenerational
approach and so really looking at root causes and helping
to advance policy in the city that will allow not
only for our work to become easier, but also for
(02:05):
the neighborhood to have the investments that it needs. The
health and safety outcomes that we're looking for and really
making sure that the city prioritizes this neighborhood as it
has long been one that's been disinvested in and under prioritized.
And then direct ownership, and that's ownership of lots of things,
not just real estate. Real Estate is a tool, right,
so if we can all just kind of back up.
Real estate is a commodity, It is a tool, but
(02:26):
it is a finite one, right. You can't make more land.
Land is finite. We focus on affordability primarily for housing,
but also on the commercial front because that's so much
of our work is affordability for small business owners. The
governance setup that we have is quite unique as it
compares to other folks who are in the nonprofit space.
So we are a nonprofit and a perpetual purpose trust.
(02:46):
We're fully governed by folks who live and or have
small businesses in the one nine, one three four zip code.
So in order to govern you cannot be an outsider.
That's legally codified within our structure, intentionally and by design
acknowledging that the neighborhood is changing and that it will
continue to change intergenerationally as we kind of move decades out.
That design process was over a year long, and we
(03:07):
engage lots of folks in determining what that would look like,
what elections would look like. We do annual recruitment. So
to be on our governance is a fairly simple process.
It's an open application. It opens every January, open for
thirty days. Anyone who lives here, has a small business
here can apply or be nominated. And then the existing
set of folks who are sitting on the board are
the ones who vote on the slate that's incoming a
(03:28):
future version of our governance. The neighborhood will vote directly
on the slate. We're not there because of capacity. There's
thirty two thousand folks in the six census tracks we touch,
even if only a fraction of them came.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Out to vote. One thousand, two thousand and thirty thousand people.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Were a staff of five, and so we're trying to
figure out, like, what are the processes and systems that
we can implement to take on that type of participatory
democracy while still making sure that it's equitable, that digital
divide is accounted for, and that there are options for
folks to vote. So we're working towards that in the future.
About the AB at a high level, there are six
hundred and twenty seven assets on Kensington Avenue for the
(04:03):
corridor that we have determined as the Kensington Avenue Quarter
that we're working on, and in that there are a
subset of blocks that we're actively working on. We are
actually now working on four blocks as of late last year,
so we're targeting.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Two hundred and twenty two assets. Currently.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
We steward thirty one of them right now. Thirty second
is currently under agreement. We started on those blocks because
it was slightly lower vacancy and slightly lower crime, so
using them as a central point in the broader corridor
as a holding spot right start here, grow out from here.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
There's thirty one assets in the trust. There are ten
businesses in the KCT spaces.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
We do have thir nine units under development, and we
do currently have twenty six permanently affordable spaces. It's also
worth noting that sometimes we inherit businesses through the acquisition
of a building, so we also have businesses that we
now get to support more intimately because they're inside of
a KCT space, but that have been here before, and
that's a really beautiful experience because oftentimes for a lot
of folks, it feels like the first time they're being
(04:58):
held seen, listen to, and we can provide wrap around
supports and technical assistance either directly or indirectly oftentimes through
partners to help them just grow and expand their model.
To think about the way that they professionalize their work,
and I want to make sure, I just know, not
professionalized in the traditional, like white capitalistic way, professionalize in
the way that they can continue to grow their business
model and generate revenue in a way that is meaningful
(05:19):
for them. So it does not always mean capitalizing gains.
It will mean different things for different folks, and that's
good with us. It's important to note too that beyond
collective ownership of the real estate, the neighbors also get
to determine what small businesses come into those spaces. Right, So,
just like any landlord who gets to decide who they
leased to, the neighborhood gets to decide who they leased to,
which means that we're not your average landlord. So when
(05:39):
you want to start your business on Kensington Avenue, you
will be going through a community engagement process that's going
to last a couple of months and that's okay, We're
going to slow down so we can later speed up
and make sure that your business is successful. The trust
has been leasing here in the neighborhood for a little bit.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Over three years, or about three years now.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
We've not lost a single business that we've brought to
the corridor, and the very first business that we lack
Sure that we supported the launch of back in October
of twenty twenty two, has grown by three hundred percent
over the last three years. They've now gotten to the
point where they can have two full time staff running
the business and they don't have to be in the
business anymore. So for folks who are familiar with mom
and pop shops, they're the ones who are there when
the gate rolls up. They're the ones that are there
(06:15):
when the gate rolls down. They eat, sleep, breed their business.
And that's beautiful and we love that, but that's also exhausting, right,
And that's just surviving, that's not thriving. And so what
does it look like to create employment opportunities? What does
it look like to be able to step away from
your business and still generate revenue.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
That's what we're working to test.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Out and to grow in our structure, and so we're
really excited about that.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
That business to Adriana mentioned, the one that's grown by
three hundred percent is the Waxery. It's a candle making
studio we featured in the previous episode, and it's one
example of what happens when small businesses are supported, not displaced.
Another success story is the Kensington Food Company. When residents
were asked what they needed most, their first answer was
a place to buy fresh food close to home. The
(06:54):
corridor is also home to a community garden, which has
become a neighborhood gathering place. All of it is made
possible by a financing model designed to keep affordability at
the center. They only accept capital with interest capitt two
percent or below, and.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
That is a non negotiable for us, and that's because
that's how we preserve affordability.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
So the reason we've been able to move.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
So quickly over the last six years is because we
haven't relied on government funding, which you know, in the
context of where we are today, also makes us very
fortunate and privileged because a lot of our counterparts are
really struggling to figure out how to complete their projects.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
But yeah, so we take in two forms of capital.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
The first are non recoverable dollars, so those are donations
from folks.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Those are grants that are coming in.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
The other is debt capital that is unsecured. So that's
the other part that is non negotiable for us, is
you cannot place a lean on any of the assets
that are in trust if the financial model fails for
whatever reason. And it won't and it hasn't, and we're
servicing debt and all that is great, but if it did,
the neighborhood would own their assets outright, free and clear
from the debt.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
After the break, we'll hear how another Philadelphia organization is
using community ownership to protect housing. Larisa of the Women's
Community Revitalization Project explains how their Community Justice Land Trust
keeps homes permanently affordable for low income women and families
(08:23):
Welcome Back. While the Kensington Corridor Trust is focused on
commercial spaces and small businesses, the Women's Community Revitalization Project
has been working for decades to make sure families can
stay in their homes. Their Community Justice Land Trust has
its own way of removing property from the speculative market
to ensure it remains affordable for generations. Here is Larisa Lucciani,
executive director of WCRP, explaining how their community development nonprofit
(08:47):
serves low income women and their families.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
We do that in several ways.
Speaker 4 (08:55):
First and primarily through the development of rental housing andocus
on very low income rental housing. We have three hundred
and eighty two units to date, mainly in North Philadelphia,
East Abroad, Germantown, West Philly, and South Philly. We practice
innovation and accessibility design that supports families, so we focus
(09:19):
on two and three bedroom units and long term affordability.
So all of our units that we're building now that
we've recapitalized over the years, we're putting in our Community
Justice land Trust. But we also ensure successes of our tenants.
We hose nearly twelve hundred people throughout Philadelphia through intensive
(09:40):
supportive services and case management in house. And again, our
average starting income for our families is fourteen thousand dollars
a year. It's very low, and we keep rentslow by
providing this intensive and optional case management, but also through
internal subsidies and emergency funds for our tenants. And again,
a lot of our our tenants aren't fixed incomes, with
(10:01):
nearly twenty percent of them being on SSDI. So again
we started in eastern North Philadelphia and in the early
two thousands, we saw that there was a lot of
vacancy in this neighborhood, a lot of disinvestment. But not
soon after the recession, we started experiencing market pressures on
(10:22):
all sides, and for a variety of reasons.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
Over the years, the pressures on Philadelphia's neighborhoods have only grown.
Half of all renters and a third of homeowners are
paying more than they can afford. Among families earning less
than thirty five thousand dollars a year, nine out of
ten renters and seven out of ten homeowners are considered
cost burdened. In the North, South, and West Philadelphia, rising
costs have pushed nearly forty percent of black residents out
(10:47):
of their communities over the past decade. Larissa says, that's
why it's so important to involve residents directly.
Speaker 4 (10:55):
So one of the things that we did to engage
the community was we did an intensitive nine month listening project.
And so this is a project where we got residents together,
trained residents to talk to other residents about what their
needs were and so some of the things that we
asked among the three hundred and twenty five participants is
you know, how is your neighborhood changed, how does it
(11:17):
affect your life and the neighborhood, and what do you
think about developing a community land trust? And so this
was one of those innovative models in the early two
thousands that WCRP was looking at to prohibit that displacement,
to prevent gentrification, and look to long term affordability in
these neighborhoods. We get publicly owned vacant land or privately
(11:42):
market land which transferred to our Community Land Trust. It's
restored back to community use. The improvements or otherwise the
structures on the land are owned by those families, businesses, organizations,
and then the land is owned by the land trust
through a ninety nine year ground lease. And some of
the successes that we've had over the years is again
as I mentioned, we've built more than one hundred rentals
(12:04):
that are affordable in perpetuity. We've also completed five home
ownership units and now one hundred and five units are
also in the pipeline. It seems like a drop in
the bucket, but it's such important work, and we're glad
that other nonprofits in Philadelphia have also taken on this
innovative model, like KCT, Mount vernon Asse and others. Much
(12:26):
of our development up until recently have been in the
form of row homes or town home structures. Many of
them are single up down, some of them are stacked flats.
Last year we also completed twenty seven permanently affordable homes.
Some of these are leased a purchase depending on where
they're structured. Some of the stack flats PHFA, who's our
(12:47):
finance agency, wouldn't allow us to convert those to condos,
so some of those will remain as rentals.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
For decades, wcrp's developments were in row homes and townhouses,
but now, for the first time in forty years, they're
expanding upward. Their newest project is an apartment building in
West Philadelphia that will include thirty two units of permanently
affordable rental housing on land they've received from the Philadelphia
Land Bank.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
So other successes that CJLT has imposed is changing the
way that funders think about land trust So like banks,
you know, many of which don't understand affordable housing or
affordable housing finance many funders don't understand the separation between
land and improvements, and it's become difficult with assessments. But
(13:36):
we've influenced PHFA, the City, and the Federal Home Loan
Bank of Pittsburgh to include scoring that gives us increased
points for holding land in a Community Justice land Trust
or Community land Trust. We've also deeper relationships with community
members and other organizations interested in clts, like KCT, and
we've also formed or part of statewide coalition in Pennsylvania
(14:00):
hoping to multiply this model throughout the state. So one
of the ways that we do that policy advocation is
through our coalition, and so we're one of the for
steering committee members for the Philadelphia Coalition of Affordable Communities.
It's a growing coalition of eighty four community, disability, faith,
labored urban agriculture organizations that have joined together to pass
(14:21):
a series of laws that will expand and protect affordability
in neighborhoods experiencing gentrification, which in Philadelphia is almost everywhere.
And so many of the peak hac wins that we've
had over the last fifteen years include getting over a
billion dollars in funding for the for affordable housing here
in the city, the creation of the city's Housing Trust Fund,
(14:42):
which was shaped by a charter change that directs point
five percent of general budget to that trust fund. We
also were critical in the formulation of the Philadelphia Land Bank,
ensuring that public land was transferred to a land bank
and then made available to various organizations for community gardens,
affordable housing, commercial development.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Throughout Philadelphia.
Speaker 4 (15:08):
Many people can't afford where they're living right now, and
a lot of that has to do with investors who
are landlords. Half of all renters and a third of
all homeowners are paying more than they could afford. Nine
out of ten families who rent and seven out of
ten families who own are earning less than thirty five
thousand dollars a year are cost burdened. And this problem
(15:28):
is in every council district throughout Philadelphia. It's not limited
to one. It's not here just here in Kensington, it's everywhere.
Another stat that we were showing, which you know is
really sad and has grown by nearly nine percent in
the last ten years, is that you know, due toizing
housing costs has pushed more than nearly forty percent of
black residents out of communities in North, South and West Philadelphia.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
That's just unacceptable.
Speaker 4 (15:54):
And the solution is just, you know, to be innovative
and critical about thinking about how the city's housing funds
addressed of the affordable housing crisis and again, you know,
making sure that this money goes to the people who
need it the most.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
After the break, Adriana and Larissa talk about how community
ownership fits into a market that is, of course still
driven by private development, and what does wealth building look
like for low income residents under these new models. Welcome back.
(16:35):
We've heard how the Kensington Corridor Trust and the Women's
Community Revitalization Project are using collective ownership to keep homes
and storefronts affordable. But how do these models actually fit
within a market that's still driven by private development, and
can they create real opportunities for wealth building while protecting affordability.
Here's Adriana Abiza Day.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
So here's the way that we look at the market, right,
and this is just from a pure capitalistic standpoint. The
reality is that private developers are the ones who are
best capitalized to acquire, and so they will do the
majority acquisitions as they.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
Do already in this neighborhood. That's a fact.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
We can pull up a map and LLC ownership is
out of the park in this neighborhood.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Right.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Individual ownership of real estate requires that folk to be financed, ready,
have capital, typically have a business plan. If there's going
to be a business store front there, that takes time,
that takes like a trajectory, requires investment. Most folks don't
have access to the same things that folks who currently
have wealth. Right, So let me back up cact. Historically,
folks who have a massed land a masked wealth. Those
(17:39):
who are massed wealth a massed power. That's our theory
of change, right, Like, that's the way we work. So
if we're saying in this neighborhood, if people collectively own power,
they collectively owned land, they collectively build wealth, which allows
them to collectively build power.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Right, And you don't have to follow that spectrum. There's
lots of ways to do it.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Money is not the only way to build power, but
it is a really powerful tool, particularly in public policy.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
So two things about the trust.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
One, we can exit an asset to a long term
commercial tenant that was built into the trust because we
didn't want the neighborhood trust. And collective ownership to be
an inhibitor to intergenerational wealth building. That's not the goal
of this work. The goal of this work is to
collectively own real estate inside of the commons, where otherwise
it would be owned inside of the specuative market. Right,
so it'll continue trading and turning, and people will continue
(18:22):
capitalizing on it and bringing things that are not affordable
and that are not owned by this neighborhood. KCT never
and I want to like capitalize an eveer. KCT never
targets an asset that is owned by an individual business owner.
We want to help them stay in place. That is
the goal of this work, right, So you stay in place.
Next door, you own your business, right Like some of
the business owners that are on our Trust Stewardship Committee
(18:43):
and our governance they own their business. It has nothing
to do with KCT. They own their building. They've been
here for a long time. We want to help support
you to make sure you continue to be successful. But
also next door, we want to make sure that the
building doesn't stay vacant for the next twenty years well
someone speculates and instead bringing it into ownership where the
neighborhood can have control over what's going into it, what
does a afordability look like and mean? And then if
someone comes and speculates next to us, right, like, that's
(19:04):
just reality. We're never going to be able to completely
own the cord or, nor should it be a goal
to be a monopoly, right. The goal is to protect
pockets of affordability, make sure that there's local control and
ownership in the midst of what is a larger spectrum
of a market. The last thing I'll just note, because
this is a question that comes up typically right after
that question, which is how come the trust doesn't do
home ownership?
Speaker 2 (19:23):
When we were built.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
We were built by design to fill a gap. There
are actually other folks in this neighbor who do home ownership, right,
So there are other folks like the CLT and some
CDCs that are here who their core focus is home ownership.
And so we said, okay, then our core focus will
be collective ownership, and we can do that by being
a landlord. But that landlord, that landlord relationship is vastly different.
I think it is is vastly different than a traditional
landlord relationship because it's not about money, like money is
(19:46):
a requirement of the transaction but also like we can barter,
we can trade, I can we can set up a
payment arrangement. We can reduce your rent, we can figure
out who can bring you some capital to pay your rent.
Like it's not it's not a typical relationship that you
would have with the landlord. But yeah, folks can exit
their assets. So if we have a long term commercial tenant,
twelve years after they've been inside of the trust with
that asset, we can sell it to them. They leave
(20:08):
with that asset with ten percent equity, so ten percent
below market value. It leaves with a deed restriction of
writer first refusal, which means we have the right took
wire when they sell it. So say twenty years from
now they want to retire to Florida, we want to
bring it back. We're going to pay you market value
at that time. So you're going to gain your generational
well spread. We're going to pull it back into affordability
and back into community ownership and do it again. Right.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
So that's the model. That's what we've built.
Speaker 4 (20:31):
A majority of our assets are in rental housing, so
there's not a lot of equity there. Again, we try
to drive down the rents as low as possible because
that's who we're serving is a majority. It's not just
a fifty percent of AMI or less, but it is
really thirty percent of AM or less. But for our
home ownership units, we have built into our ground lease
and equity model based on the time you've been there
(20:51):
and appreciation, So there is some return, it's just not
the windfall that you would see if you bought a
house twenty years ago, let's say in fish and what
you could sell it for today, which would be exponentially
a huge wealth building. So you know, again it's intended
to create that affordability long term, but understanding that homeowners
(21:13):
should have a right to gain some equity back. So
there is that built into that. And can we use
many of the models from Groundworks, which is you know,
large CLT advocacy organization just to the point of rentals.
So one of the issues that the city of Philadelphia
is going to have for the next ten twenty thirty
years is lie tech properties coming off of their restrictions
and their affordability controls. That's happening right now in West Philadelphia.
(21:36):
Nine hundred site scattered units are coming off those controls.
These owners don't care. They want to sell and go
to Florida, probably, So what our model does is maintain
that affordability and perpetuity. So I think that's an important aspect.
Otherwise it's going to cost the city developers and the
game communities so much more if those post properties, and
(21:58):
there are thousands, tens of thousands properties over the next
twenty thirty years.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
Beyond housing and business, both organizations see culture as a
vital part of community ownership. For the Kensington Corridor Trust,
art and storytelling are part of how the neighborhood defines itself.
Public installations, murals, gardens, and creative spaces are helping residents
tell their own stories and imagine new futures for the
place they call home.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
Arts and culture is like a critical aspect of our work.
It's not a secondary aspect. And we're thinking about public
art and the way that it shows up in space,
but we're also thinking about archival and history and how
we preserve the culture that's been here, the history that's
been here, the lived experiences and stories of the folks
that have been here. And so we've done that in
a couple of different ways. I would say our most
public facing way is definitely the garden. We have several
art installations that exist and live there permanently. We have
(22:44):
a Photo Voice project where we gave residence cameras and
ask them to take photos of places that were meaningful
to them in the neighborhood, and then they worked with
one of our partners, which is called First Person Arts.
They're a storytelling nonprofit here in the city, and they
curated a story around why that place is so meaningful
to them, and then curated a short bio and so
they have these three sided, little pyramid like sculptures at
(23:06):
our garden that have their photo, their bio, and the
story about their photo. We also have a large pottery
vessel that was produced by Robert Lugo, who is a
Puerto Rican native of Kensington who has become world famous
for his pottery, and he was hired secured by Philly
Mural Arts to build three really large sculptures and then
(23:29):
the neighborhood voted on where they would be placed, and
the garden was the first location that was voted on,
and so we've had that there since last year, which
has brought a lot of folks to the garden because
people just want to see it. It's one of those
like instagram worthy vibe kind of things. And then we're
also just thinking about vacant law activation and we use
a lot of art and placemaking in that.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
One of cact's newest project is called the Elevated Stoop.
It's a public art space designed with neighbors that doubles
as a raised basketball court, a shady gathering spot, and
a sculpture all in one. It's a place to sit,
cool off, and connect, an everyday reminder that public space
belongs to the people who use it. For Larissa and WCRP,
preserving culture also means celebrating the people who make up
(24:13):
the neighborhood.
Speaker 4 (24:14):
Yeah, so arts activation is something I've been thinking about
a little bit more recently. Again, our mission to provide
rental housing is a little different, but I love the
thought of bringing in local artists to kind of reflect
community culture. You know, a majority of our tenants, I
would say ninety eight percent are women of color, many
(24:34):
of which are Puerto Rican and have limited English proficiency.
And so our staff, my beautiful property management staff, many
of them are from Puerto Rico and bilingual, and you know,
we're so proud of that. Keeping people in their neighborhoods,
particularly here in North Philly East Abroad, where there's just
this beautiful community of poor riquas and want to maintain
(25:01):
and preserve that cultural experience. And so we're proud of
that work, particularly here in Fairhill. So yeah, so, but
arts is something we said we definitely want to think
more about, especially in terms of our facades. Again, all
of our projects are named after women leaders in the community,
and I want to think about highlighting some of their
(25:22):
faces and work in and around our buildings.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
If you're wondering where to start how to bring a
model like this to your own community, the Kensington cord
Or Trust website it's a good place to start.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
We have a resource center on our website where you
can download pretty much open source everything that we've developed
over the last years. And if something's not there that
you want, you're just a minimail and I'll send it
to you. We did that by design because we want
are not information hoarders. And two, we want to make
sure the folks replicate the model. That is the goal
and intent. Right now, we are actually stewarding our first
(25:53):
official replication of our model in Trenton, New Jersey, so
right across the bridge with the support of the Robert
wod Johnson Foundation, this is game change both for the
trust and for the model because it's receiving a ton
of national attention as we start to think about what
it looks like for other neighborhoods to collectively own real estate.
And again, I just want to rename this, but like articulately, clearly,
this is one tool in a toolbox, right, So, like
(26:13):
you can't do like swath wide redevelopment of a neighborhood
just because you have a neighborhood trust, no friends, right Like,
collective ownership is one tool in a toolbox. But we
think it's a really strong tool, right And we think
one it's one that helps to do a lot of
different things. You can preserve arts and culture, you can
do power building work and do policy advocacy, you can
do small business development and support, you can do housed
(26:34):
family support, right Like, there's tons of different.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Things that allows you to do.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
And the thing about the neighborhood trust model is that
it is flexible to the neighborhood that you're in, right,
So it's not a cookie cutter approach. The one that's
entrench in New Jersey will not look like the one
we have here in Philly. It'll have the same legal infrastructure,
which is what makes it a neighborhood trust. So it'll
be a five oh one C three nonprofit that's legally
and financially tethered to a perpetual purpose trust. But outside
of that, like, they don't have to do it exactly
(26:58):
the way that we do it here. They get to
design that in their neghborhood for what they want to
meet their needs.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
Right.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
It's a model that allows you to replicate while still
scaling in a way that is meeting the needs of
that neighborhood in that community. So yeah, someone invite folks
to go to our resource center on our website because
all of the tools are there, like literally everything. But
if there's something that you're looking at and you're going,
what I really need is this other thing?
Speaker 2 (27:17):
Just send me an email. We're very transparent about our work.
Speaker 3 (27:35):
Thank you for listening this week and for coming along
with us to Philly as part of the Vanguard Conference.
I should note that while the conference is over, our
work in Philly is not Next City is partnering with
Resolved Philly and Germantown Info Hub on a year long
reporting fellowship made possible with support from the Knight Foundation,
So stay tuned. Thanks to our guests Adriana Abizadei, Executive
Director of the Kensington Corridor Trust and Larissa Luciani, executive
(27:57):
director of the Women's Community Revitalization Project, and thanks to
Oscar Periobello, our senior Economic Justice correspondent, for moderating this
conversation when we were in Philly. Our audio producer is
Silvana Alcala. Our show producers Maggie Bowles, Our executive producers
Ryan Tillotson, and I'm Lucas Qriinley, executive director for Next City.
By the way, Next City is a news organization with
a nonprofit model. If you like what we're doing here,
(28:20):
please consider pitching in to support our work. Visit nextcity
dot org slash membership to make a donation. We'd love
to hear any feedback from our listeners. Please feel free
to email us at info at nexcity dot org and
if you haven't already, subscribed to the show on Apple, Spotify,
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