Community Ownership Strategies for Keeping Small Businesses In Place: Case Studies

Abstract

Community ownership is a long-term solution for preventing small business displacement, supporting neighborhood stability, and maintaining diverse local economies. It gives community members and stakeholders control of their neighborhood assets and removes property from the speculative market, preserving it for community benefit.

Historically, community ownership has primarily been used to create affordable housing, and most examples of community ownership are residential. However, it can also be used to preserve commercial property and provide space for community-serving small businesses. The six organizations featured in these case studies model how commercial community ownership can be done—and done well.

​Mission Economic Development Agency (San Francisco) Women’s Opportunities Resource Center (Philadelphia) The Miami Foundation (Miami, Florida) Mangrove Flatbush Central (Brooklyn, New York) Partnership in Property Commercial Land Trust (Minneapolis) Little Tokyo Community Impact Fund (Los Angeles)

Their case studies offer insights into a variety of tools and practices, including commercial land trusts, community investment funds, commercial property loans, land use policies, nonprofit property acquisitions, and small business incubators that provide affordable vending space.