Chinatown Land Trust Helps Low-Income Housing

2009 June 30

Just a few years ago, floor boards popped up as Ji Jian-guang walked across his cramped Chinatown apartment.

His wife, Ru Mei Peng, washed vegetables in a sink the size of a shoe box. Their two adult sons - along with a daughter-in-law and grandbaby - shared a bedroom split by a bookcase.

Though cramped, 53 Columbus, Room 108, was home. For nearly a decade, the Jis feared they would lose it to encroaching developers.

But in 2006, the San Francisco Community Land Trust bought 53 Columbus. After a $6.1 million seismic upgrade and renovation, the Jis and other tenants moved back into remodeled units in January. The fully remodeled apartments were dedicated earlier this month. The apartments, called the Columbus United Cooperative, is the first project of the San Francisco Community Land Trust and marks a new housing strategy for San Francisco. Structured like a nonprofit corporation, the land trust helps keep ownership affordable by retaining ownership of land beneath the building while tenants pay $10,000 to own a unit.

Chinatown land trust helps low-income housing

Housing in Peril as Obama Fails to Get Breakthrough
Home Prices Drop At A Slower Rate

Share