The City Council is considering two bills that seek to ensure more affordable housing is created and controlled by nonprofits.
One measure, dubbed the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act, would require city-approved nonprofit organizations or community land trusts be given the first chance to buy residential buildings with three or more apartments when they are put up for sale. The other would create a land bank that would warehouse properties and then prioritize selling them to community land trusts and nonprofits.
The aim of both bills, according to its sponsors, is to ensure such properties are taken over by organizations that will maintain or create affordable housing, rather than try to turn a quick profit.