{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Radio Chatskill","title":"Catskills Community Land Trust Gets State Boost to Build Permanently Affordable Housing","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":889,"description":"LIVINGSTON MANOR, N.Y. — For the Catskills Community Land Trust, the dream of permanently affordable housing in the region just got a lot more tangible. The organization has been awarded a $98,000 grant through New York State’s Smart Growth program — money that will allow it to purchase its first piece of land and take the first concrete steps toward building a two-family rental home in Livingston Manor.“We’re excited to say we can start doing the fun part of this work — buying land, building homes,” said Gwen Schantz, one of the organizers behind the effort. “It’s a huge first hurdle for us to get over, just owning our first piece of land.”WHAT IS A COMMUNITY LAND TRUST?The Catskills CLT was formed roughly a year ago with a clear diagnosis: housing costs in the region have outpaced what local workers earn, and the area lacks rental housing altogether. In much of the Catskills, the service industry is the backbone of the local economy — but seasonal wages and soaring rents make it nearly impossible for those workers to stay.A community land trust addresses that tension by removing land from the speculative real estate market entirely. A nonprofit organization holds ownership of the land in perpetuity, while homes on that land are rented or sold at prices calibrated to local incomes. The housing stays affordable not just for one tenant, but for every resident who follows.“Real estate is treated like an investment opportunity, and that has had a big impact on housing prices and land prices,” Schantz said. “The goal of the nonprofit community land trust model is to keep housing accessible to people no matter how much money they’re making.”THE FIRST PROJECTThe grant will fund the acquisition of a small vacant lot on Meadow Street in the Town of Rockland — a parcel the town board voted to sell to the CLT nearly a year ago. Remaining funds will go toward hiring an architect and preparing the site for construction, bringing the project to what Schantz calls...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/q7XXsnSXT_u4mZLCn3chUorwDmUD_kWiB272D6emB18/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS80N2Uy/OGY5MWUwZThkYTEw/NDVkZGM2ZGZkZDIw/ZjliOS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}