New York City’s growing community land trust movement will hit a new milestone next month, as the East New York Community Land Trust is set to become the first in city history to purchase a commercial property off the private market.

The CLT will turn a vacant, two-story brick building into the “East Brooklyn Liberation Center,” a headquarters for the nonprofit with affordable office space for other local businesses and organizations.

The acquisition of this $2.3 million building puts New York City on the list of places where CLTs have transferred residential, commercial, and mixed-use property from the private market to the stewardship of local residents, joining the likes of St. Paul, Denver, and Oakland.

The East New York CLT works to preserve and expand affordable housing options in East New York and Brownsville, two working-class neighborhoods at the eastern edge of Brooklyn facing a rising affordability crisis and a wave of gentrification approaching from the west.

“Removing land from the speculative market is building power in the neighborhood,” says Boris Santos, the president of ENYCLT.

The nonprofit made waves in 2024 when it became the first New York City CLT to buy a multifamily apartment building off the private market. It’s currently converting the 20-unit building into a shared-equity housing cooperative.

The Liberation Center will allow it to achieve another central goal: not only keeping residents in the community, but increasing their economic stability and opportunities. The center will be designed to foster the growth of local businesses, nonprofits and worker cooperatives, Santos says.

The purchase was also necessary for the CLT itself, which had outgrown the coworking space it shares with another nonprofit. With almost 100 dues-paying members, meeting space was getting tight, Santos says.

“We are growing so fast, at such a tremendous pace, that we decided this space is not sufficient for us,” he says. The Liberation Center will let the nonprofit grow its base and its capacity to identify and purchase land.

Read the full article about East New York Community Land Trust by Brennan LaBrie at Next City.