South Bay Community Land Trust

SBCLT in the News! Spotlight Article

South Bay CLT — Wed, 21 Aug 2024 08:26:28 +0000

South Bay Community Land Trust (SBCLT), with advisory and technical support from MidPen Housing Corporation, is proposing to acquire and rehabilitate the Virginian Apartments located in the historic Mayfair neighborhood of Eastside San Jose.

The 18-unit (three building) complex is home to a close network of Spanish-speaking and bilingual Latine neighbors who have built close ties over decades of living here. Learn more about the residents and their commitment to make their homes permanently affordable and resident-led

Spotlight Article: Land Trust wants to keep East San Jose apartments affordable

URGENT! Help Protect Measure E for Affordable HousingMay Newsletter

South Bay CLT — Fri, 26 May 2023 20:47:12 +0000

We are deeply distressed by the current Mayor’s proposal to divert “uncommitted Measure E resources” to uses other than the affordable housing that was promised to San José voters when they approved it in 2020 (see SBCLT letter to HCD). Measure E is a real property transfer tax that passed based on City Council’s explicit promise to use it to address the City’s desperate affordable housing crisis. We are calling to support maintaining the current Measure E expenditure plan as is!

The City Council’s current Measure E allocation plan, adopted in 2022, calls for 75% of it to be spent on affordable housing, including creation of deed-restricted permanent affordable housing through preservation. The other 25% is to be spent on homelessness prevention, rental assistance, and unhoused support programs. The Mayor’s budget proposal calls for diverting all uncommitted Measure E affordable housing funds to his other priorities: moving unhoused people out of sight, increased police staffing, and establishing “no-encampment zones.” This would effectively zero out new affordable housing for 2023-24 and signal a major shift in priorities. Interim housing and shelters are effective temporary measures, but do not work if people have no permanent housing to move to afterward.

Part of the “uncommitted Measure E funds” the Mayor is proposing to divert, include $24,609,040 for acquisition and rehabilitation which is crucial to advancing preservation work in San José – especially after City Council rejected the COPA proposal (Community Opportunity to Purchase Act) on April 25, 2023!

In 2022 consultants from HR&A were hired to support the San José Housing Department in releasing the Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Acquisition/Rehabilitation component of Measure E. South Bay CLT has been working hard to build our organizational capacity to be ready to access such funds, including successfully acquiring our first property, a brightly colored 4-unit complex on Reed St this past February, and are also working to acquire an 18-unit property, The Virginian Apartments, in the historic Mayfair neighborhood. (See letters of support from tenants and owners). We urge the City Council to keep the balanced approach of the current Measure E expenditure plan and release the acquisition/rehab RFP as soon as possible!

https://mailchi.mp/35da093e1a86/support-south-bay-clts-first-community-owned-property-6045102

March e-newsletter

South Bay CLT — Mon, 06 Mar 2023 19:24:17 +0000

Hello South Bay CLT community / Hola comunidad

We have some exciting organizational updates to share, along with invitations to upcoming community events and trainings. Please read our March 2023 newsletter below! / Tenemos algunas actualizaciones organizativas emocionantes para compartir, junto con invitaciones a próximos eventos y capacitaciones de la comunidad. ¡Lea nuestro boletín de marzo de 2023 a continuación!

https://mailchi.mp/2582653dbded/support-south-bay-clts-first-community-owned-property-6037414?fbclid=IwAR3rGGelKKBVMrs4_mtKryyQ74GLSvPXUMUkskprqzT-fLD4nWLqyNnfV3Y

Best,
South Bay Community Land Trust

*Photo: Residents, supportive family members and SBCLT staff/board in front of Reed St. / Residentes, miembros de su familia y el personal/junta de SBCLT frente a Reed St.

Wrapping up 2022

South Bay CLT — Wed, 28 Dec 2022 22:21:20 +0000

As we approach the end of 2022, we can’t help taking a look back and feeling proud of our community accomplishments. We started developing the infrastructure of South Bay CLT (SBCLT) by hiring our first full-time employees who got busy organizing tenants and applying for capacity-building grants. Two grants were awarded, one from the County of Santa Clara and another from the City of San Jose, each in the amount of $250,000. These key start-up funds helped the successful acquisition of our first property. A four-plex on W. Reed St. that has provided housing for mostly veteran residents is due to close escrow in January. We are excited to begin repairs and continue resident engagement that will lead to the preservation of affordable housing. The community stepped up in a huge way helping us raise over $500,000 in a grassroots capital campaign to build an acquisition fund, and we thank you! This acquisition and rehabilitation is also being made possible with a loan from the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), a non-profit financial institution who believed in us and has invested in our preservation and economic development mission.

SBCLT has been working collaboratively with ally organizations to create a Preservation Ecosystem, establishing a model of resident-focused efforts to prevent the displacement of community members who are forced to leave their homes & neighborhoods due to the outrageous increases in rent. Not only is housing lost, but the cultural, linguistic and historical fabric of our neighborhoods is destroyed, never to be the same. The Land Trust model is the most economical and democratic way to preserve our communities and provide housing security. It further guarantees permanent affordability because once the land is taken off the speculative market, it is held in trust for residents forever. The building sitting on that land is then repaired and eventually converted to control, then ownership by its residents. This is why we are excited to do what we do; thank you to our partners and funders for joining us in this work!

We continue to be busy raising funds to scale the growth of the SBCLT with more strategic acquisitions in 2023 and celebration of victories achieved in 2022. I hope you will join us in coming celebrations and support us in our future ventures. There are many ways you can help: from making a donation to volunteering on various committees, projects and other opportunities in the new year.

On behalf of the Board of Directors, staff and volunteers we wish you blessings and good cheer for you and your families.

In solidarity, peace and justice,

Josefina Aguilar, Executive Director

Honoring founding member

South Bay CLT — Wed, 28 Dec 2022 21:59:11 +0000

IN LOVING MEMORY OF MILT KRANTZ 1936-2022

Note from South Bay CLT board members, Sandy Perry & Liz Gonzalez

With great sadness we share that our beloved founding board member, Milt Krantz, passed away on November 21, 2022. Milt was eager to get work underway so that we could own property and live together in our land trust. In meetings, he described that he imagined driving through arches that had a sign reading: South Bay Community Land Trust.

Milt got involved with tenant issues when a tenant association was organized in 2015 at his senior housing complex, DeRose Gardens Apartments in San Jose. Milt quickly became a leader in the DeRose Gardens Tenants Association and played a key role in resisting unaffordable rent increases and ending abuses by management. Milt was also instrumental in advocating for transfer of the land DeRose Gardens was built on to ownership by the Santa Clara County Housing Authority, thereby preventing rent increases that would have resulted in displacement for most of the tenants. He became a tenant leader in the Affordable Housing Network.

Milt was one of the first San Jose housing advocates to point out the problem with the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) formula that ties rents to the local Annual Median Income. This is particularly problematic in Silicon Valley, where extreme wealth inequality causes the Annual Median Income to rise much faster than the income of tenants trying to afford to live in LIHTC housing.

Milt was also a prominent leader in the San Jose rent control movement from 2015-18, successfully fighting for a reduced annual rent increase cap and a just cause eviction policy, to help keep people in their homes. Finally, Milt was one of the very first San Jose residents to advocate exploring Limited Equity Cooperatives and Community Land Trusts as tools for solving the housing crisis.

Not only during the intense housing activism of his later years, but also his decades-long career as a social worker, Milt acquired a well-deserved reputation for compassion and concern for the least of our brothers and sisters. We remember him for his accomplishments, but even more we treasure the cheerfulness, dedication, and sincerity that he brought to everyone he worked with in our battle to build a better world. May he rest in peace, we continue our work even more fervently with his memory driving us forward.

CLT 102: Restorative Economics and Decommodifying Housing – 05/04/22 3pm

South Bay CLT — Sat, 30 Apr 2022 00:10:47 +0000

Recording here

Join the South Bay Community Land Trust for an interactive presentation and panel on restorative economics and how we are decommodifying housing here in San Jose! Community land trusts are a transformative strategy to taking land off the speculative market to provide permanently affordable housing and stable communities for low-income tenants and unhoused community members. Come learn how you can be part of creating resilient futures for all through our first capital campaign!

Santa Clara is at the seat of one of the world’s largest and most productive economies, and we can utilize the tools of the economy to repair & heal communities, and make dignified housing for all a reality. To address the root of homelessness and housing insecurity, we believe a discussion that centers housing solutions around restorative economics is vital in order to center BIPOC communities that have been marginalized and oppressed by our current housing market. Our event’s objective is to unite community members around a vision of cooperation, inclusion, and abundance in order to organize and bring forth a shared vision of prosperity, self-determination, and collective political power when implementing housing solutions. By sharing about our current campaign, participants can learn how they can invest in the SBCLT to preserve and decommodify our first building to permanently house San Jose veterans.

Yes! Magazine Article: Lack of Housing Is Not the Problem

South Bay CLT — Wed, 08 Dec 2021 00:59:05 +0000

We had an article published on us in August: https://www.yesmagazine.org/issue/how-much-is-enough/2021/08/10/fair-housing-affordable-land

4th Break the Mold Conference – 07/26/2021

South Bay CLT — Sat, 24 Jul 2021 08:07:13 +0000

Fighting for Food, Housing & Health Care for All

Zoom in on Monday, July 26, 7:00-8:30pm at https://tinyurl.com/y3co6skj

Picnic & Dialogue: Saturday, July 31, 12:00-2:00pm at Kelley Park

Liz Gonzalez, President, South Bay Community Land Trust; Co-Founder, Silicon Valley De-Bug; Resident of East San José
Eric Holt-Giménez, Author, The Foodie’s Guide to Capitalism; former Executive Director, Food First; 20 Years on the Ground in Latin America
Malinda Markowitz, Past President, California Nurses Association; Executive Board Member, South Bay Labor Council; Steering Committee, South Bay Progressive Alliance

Critical human needs like food, health care, and housing will not be resolved within our existing economic system. BREAK THE MOLD seeks institutional alternatives that are truly democratic, equitable, cooperative, kind and sustainable – the DECKS values of Human Agenda.

For more information, contact Yaneth Gutierrez at yaneth.gutierrezsjsu.edu

Presented by Human Agenda, +1 408 759 9571

Social Housing Panel – 07/01/2021

South Bay CLT — Thu, 27 May 2021 00:13:11 +0000

Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJBxCsrRSfQ

AB 387, the Social Housing Bill: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB387
The Right to Adequate Housing, from UN OHCHR: https://www.ohchr.org/documents/publications/fs21_rev_1_housing_en.pdf
Startup Community Land Trust Hub, from Grounded Solutions: https://groundedsolutions.org/start-upclthub

The event will discuss best practices and provide case studies of social housing around the world, and will touch on how to phase in social housing into a community like San Jose. Organized by the Coalition of Housers (CoHo), Human Rights Institute, and South Bay Community Land Trust and is part of Affordable Housing Month put on in conjunction with SV@Home.

El evento discutirá las mejores prácticas y proporcionará estudios de casos de vivienda social en todo el mundo, y abordará cómo introducir la vivienda social en una comunidad como San José. Organizado por la Coalición de Housers (CoHo), el Instituto de Derechos Humanos y South Bay Community Land Trust y es parte del Mes de Vivienda Asequible organizado en conjunto con SV @ Home.

Community Visioning Workshop #2 – 05/26/2021

South Bay CLT — Thu, 27 May 2021 00:05:52 +0000

Join the South Bay Community Land Trust (SBCLT) in imagining housing and development that benefits our communities that have been historically excluded from these opportunities. This workshop will include community ownership models and case studies from other cities.

Register: https://tinyurl.com/SBCLT2

Acompañe al South Bay Community Land Trust (SBCLT) para imaginar viviendas y desarrollos que beneficien a nuestras comunidades que históricamente han sido excluidas de estas oportunidades. Este taller incluirá modelos de propiedad comunitaria y estudios de casos de otras ciudades.

Registrese: https://tinyurl.com/SBCLT2