大象传媒

In late September, Hurricane Ian, one of the most powerful and costly storms to make landfall in the U.S., tore through southwest Florida and caused an $67 billion in property damage. But on Big Pine Key, a community 100 miles southwest of Miami that saw flooding and storm surges up to 5 feet, 27 nearly finished cottages were still standing, largely unharmed.

鈥淚t was a good test,鈥� said Maggie Whitcomb, who helped develop the cottages. 鈥淵ou never want to have a storm, but it鈥檚 good to know after a serious weather event just how strong your construction is.鈥� 

Built atop 12-foot-tall white podiums with water-resistant finishes and low-energy utilities, the cottages were constructed with structural insulated panels (SIPs), a strong, airtight substance made from renewable materials that can withstand 200-mile winds.

At $1,000 a month, they鈥檙e also some of the last affordable housing options for working-class residents. That鈥檚 because they are owned by the , a nonprofit Whitcomb and her husband founded in 2017 in the wake of Hurricane Irma. 

Hurricanes can cause billions of dollars of damage, and only a portion of that damage is covered by insurance in most cases. Property data analytics company CoreLogic homeowners will be stuck with a bill from $10 billion to $17 billion in losses from Ian that weren鈥檛 covered by insurance. In a state that already pays for home insurance and where many people have already , many homeowners will likely find it too expensive to rebuild. 

鈥淪torms are nature鈥檚 way of causing gentrification,鈥� said Whitcomb, a part-time Keys resident. 鈥淚 wanted to make sure that as few homes as possible were available to be flipped or turned into vacation homes.鈥� In the wake of Irma, Whitcomb, who describes herself as a 鈥渞adical altruist,鈥� and her husband started buying property damaged by the storm with their own money, including a former RV park, and placed it in a public trust. 

This stopped the land from entering the real estate market and spiking in price. Steven Kirk, president of , a nonprofit housing developer that partnered with FKCLT on the Big Pine Key cottage project, said this is one of the most powerful ways land trusts can help disaster recovery.

Big Pine Key, where are around $800,000, frequently ends up in the crosshairs of destructive storms. When Irma swept across the island, it destroyed nearly . Nearly of the destruction in the Keys was sustained by , which were already in short supply, for the scant affordable units that remained. 

It鈥檚 a phenomenon that researchers have tracked across the country: Disasters reduce communities鈥� housing stocks and . When developers rebuild, they are typically incentivized to than what had previously been there.

As climate change makes disasters like hurricanes, floods, and wildfires become more frequent, severe, and expensive, residents and policymakers are increasingly turning toward (CLTs)鈥攏onprofits that buy land to ensure community control, stave off displacement, and ensure long-term affordability. 

Like many land trusts, FKCLT rents its land trust units to families who earn 80% or less of the local adjusted median income (AMI), which in Florida鈥檚 Monroe County is around for a two-person household. But in most cases, CLTs sell homes and rent the land to residents in a 99-year lease. Families only buy the home, not the land, and agree to resell the homes at restricted prices to keep them affordable.

Low-income households and rental units (which disproportionately house people) are . Their residents also take around their homes, according to research. Some housing never recovers at all, especially rental units, making it difficult for renters to find permanent housing after a hurricane or flood. 

Jennifer Li, attorney and climate adaptation expert at the Georgetown Climate Center, said local and state officials often focus on recovery without better preparing communities for disasters in the first place. This results in 鈥渄ysfunctional Whac-A-Mole plans,鈥� where leaders are scrambling as each disaster hits.

鈥淩esilience is really hyperlocal, and it is very much something that should be community-led,鈥� Li said. 鈥淪o, the emphasis needs to be on this comprehensive approach to increasing the overall individual and community resilience of people who are hit first and the hardest.鈥� 

The number of CLTs doubled between 2003 and 2017, totaling more than 225 in the U.S., according to a count by (GSN). The nonprofit estimated that in 2017, there were 12,000 CLT housing units in the U.S., though that number did not include rentals held in trusts. A research fellow at GSN said they are currently conducting a new survey to update those figures. 

Construction on the Big Pine Key cottages is expected to wrap up by the end of 2022. As of early November, applications were already pouring in.

鈥淭his is how the land trust can be at the forefront of both healthy housing [stock] and resilient housing,鈥� said Kirk, the nonprofit housing developer.

Not If, but When

The (HCLT) doesn鈥檛 just want to house people, said executive director Ashley Allen. It wants to make sure they live somewhere safe from the elements. Too often, she said, developers build cheap housing in dangerous areas, which risks displacing vulnerable people who can鈥檛 afford to rebuild if their house is destroyed.

鈥淲e understand it鈥檚 not if another hurricane comes; it鈥檚 when,鈥� Allen said. That鈥檚 why HCLT doesn鈥檛 buy homes or acquire land in environmentally hazardous areas, like flood zones. This is both for safety, and so new homeowners are not drowned in bills after a disaster. 

鈥淧art of affordability is creating quality and resilient homes so you鈥檙e not having to replace them,鈥� Allen said. 鈥淎nd if we don鈥檛 address climate change, if we don鈥檛 address resiliency, we鈥檙e just going to keep creating affordability issues.鈥�

HCLT was formed after Hurricane Harvey dumped more than over the Texas Gulf in 2017, damaging or destroying around one-third of Houston鈥檚 housing and causing $180 billion in damages, according to estimates by the . This magnified an existing affordable housing shortage and created years of housing insecurity for many residents.

鈥淸The city] needed something that was different, something that was innovative,鈥� Allen said. The city of Houston has allocated to HCLT to subsidize homes purchased through its Homebuyer Choice Program, making it the in the nation.

Since 2018, the Houston land trust has provided nearly 100 families with subsidies toward market-rate homes. On average, residents pay less than $700 every month on a $75,000 mortgage鈥攍ess than one-third of the in Houston. 

Allen, a former community organizer, said community-led initiatives like CLTs help build trust within a neighborhood so the nonprofit can incorporate their needs into local initiatives and teach them about resiliency. As part of its post-purchase stewardship programming, HCLT tries to foster confidence by educating its new homeowners on things like solar panels or generators.

鈥淵ou don鈥檛 know what you don鈥檛 know,鈥� Allen said. 鈥淎 CLT can play a major role in getting that information out and connecting people with affordable resources to make sure their home is protected, and they understand the impact of climate change.鈥� 

People Over Profit

The 6-acre grass lot sandwiched between warehouses in Medford, Oregon, may not seem like much. But once completed, it will showcase the first 3D-printed neighborhood in the nation. 

Named the , the neighborhood will boast 84 affordable (developers said they are aiming for a price point of around $185,000), energy-efficient, and fire-resistant homes. They will be equipped with heat pumps, solar panels, and a 3D-printed concrete structure, which is less flammable. 

The neighborhood was designed for the hundreds of families who lost their homes in the 2020 Alameda wildfire. It鈥檚 the latest project supported by , one of the largest community land trusts in the nation, which has housed more than 400 families in two decades. 

Diane Linn, executive director of Proud Ground, said CLTs are able to build innovative and sustainable housing because they are driven by their public mission, not profit.

鈥淭he land trust could play a piece of the puzzle for recovery and resilience and push the envelope on energy-efficient homes,鈥� Linn said. 鈥淔or developers and builders, if they can鈥檛 make money on it, it鈥檚 not going to happen. But we鈥檙e not about profit. We鈥檙e about affordability and stewardship.鈥� 

New Spirit Village will also include a community garden and a resiliency hub, which will act as a community center and evacuation site. The hub will be stocked with a backup battery system, drinking-water storage tanks, internet hotspots, fire sprinklers, and an air-purification system, ready for future wildfires.

鈥淚t鈥檚 there to give residents a chance instead of running haphazardly for their lives and having to track down the local services they need,鈥� Linn said.

Just outside Seattle, the finished construction on a dozen zero-energy, three- and four-bedroom townhomes last year; the homes are outfitted with solar panels, low-flow water fixtures, and energy-efficient utilities. Last summer, 16 homes opened at a separate development in Seattle鈥檚 Leschi neighborhood. Those units were outfitted with all-electric appliances and certified by the environmental standard, which affirms the highest energy efficiency and environmentally sustainable building materials. In a city where the median price for a home is more than , these homes are priced around $300,000 and are designated for families who make less than 80% of the area鈥檚 median income.

鈥淲e鈥檙e taking more of the preventative approach in all of these things,鈥� said Kathleen Hosfeld, executive director. 鈥淎nd as a result, our folks aren鈥檛 experiencing the negative effects of those disasters.鈥�

Homestead also requires that heat pumps and stormwater-management technology be a standard in their homes and works with its homeowners to facilitate installing solar panels on dozens of homes. 

鈥淲e can come together and choose to take land off the speculative market and put affordable, quality-built, environmentally sustainable homes on them,鈥� Hosfeld said. 鈥淲e can take advantage of this massive investment that needs to be made in housing. And do it right the first time.鈥�

While CLTs can offer one route to create resilient, affordable housing after disasters, Linn said it鈥檚 expensive to subsidize, and the difficulties in funding make it hard to scale. 

鈥淐ommunity land trusts can only grow, and they can only help families if there is money from the federal, state, or local governments to fund the gap between what it costs to either buy or build a unit,鈥� Linn said.

Last year, one in 10 homes in the U.S. by natural disasters, according to CoreLogic. But Linn said that while she wants to believe CLTs can play a role in preparing for or tackling climate change, the investments have to match the scope of the problem.

鈥淭he CLT movement certainly has served a lot of families over the course of time nationwide,鈥� Linn said. 鈥淏ut not nearly enough. And not nearly what could really make a difference.鈥�

This article was originally co-published by and  and was made possible by a grant from the Open Society Foundations.  is an editorially independent, nonprofit news service covering climate change. Follow us .