Real estate and land cooperatives provide community-centered alternatives to conventional real estate ownership. While models vary, they generally seek to increase local control, strengthen communities, and create more equitable access to housing and commercial space.
Benefits of Real Estate and Land Cooperatives
- Prevents displacement and keeps housing affordable by removing land and buildings from the speculative market and preserving them for community use.
- Empowers communities to shape their own development by giving residents and stakeholders a voice in how property is owned, managed, and improved.
- Builds community wealth and economic stability by keeping investment dollars local and creating opportunities for collective ownership.
- Expands equitable access to land, housing, and commercial space while supporting long-term affordability and neighborhood stability.
- Promotes democratic ownership and decision-making so community members can help guide the future of their neighborhoods.
- Supports long-term community benefit over short-term profit, creating sustainable, inclusive development that serves current and future generations.
Real Estate Investment Co-ops
A Real Estate Investment Cooperative (REIC) pools member capital to acquire, develop, and manage real estate assets. REICs generally focus on community benefit and financial returns for members.
Characteristics
- Members invest capital collectively.
- Investors may receive dividends, capital gains, or equity growth.
- Projects often include commercial developments and housing.
- Properties may eventually be sold on the open market to maximize returns.
Examples
Northeast Investment Cooperative (NEIC) is one of the first community-based real estate investment cooperatives in the United States. NEIC enables Minnesota residents to collectively purchase, rehabilitate, and manage commercial and residential properties in Northeast Minneapolis. NEIC is a for-profit cooperative that aims to operate at a profit to pay dividends to investors or build capital for another investment.
Commongrounds Cooperative (Traverse City, Michigan) is a mixed-use community center that includes workforce housing, shared community spaces, and organizations focused on food, arts, wellness, and family services. The cooperative is owned by the people who use it, including commercial tenants, apartment residents, and community members. By giving tenants and local residents an ownership stake, Commongrounds allows the community to collectively invest in and benefit from local development while helping ensure that the project serves community needs over the long term.
Farmers Land Investment Cooperative exists to purchase farmland in and around Winneshiek County and transition it to new land stewards, and to invest in the development of local farm and food businesses.
Permanent Real Estate Cooperatives (PREC)
A Prermanant Real Estate Cooperative (PREC) is a community-owned model that takes land and buildings out of the speculative real estate market and keeps them under community control. Developed by the Sustainable Economies Law Center, the model aims to ensure that housing and commercial space remain affordable and continue serving community needs for the long term.
Unlike a traditional housing cooperative that serves a specific group of residents, a PREC has a broader mission. It focuses on preventing displacement, building community wealth, expanding access to affordable housing, and giving communities more control over their future.
PRECs are designed to keep properties affordable permanently. The cooperative owns the land and buildings and uses legal protections to prevent them from being sold for private profit. These safeguards help ensure that the property remains a community asset for generations.
A key goal of PRECs is to build collective wealth and community stability. By preserving affordable housing and commercial spaces, they help residents and local businesses stay rooted in their neighborhoods, reduce displacement, and keep the benefits of development within the community.
Most PRECs use a democratic, multistakeholder structure that may include residents, community members, workers, and mission-aligned investors. These groups share responsibility for decision-making, ensuring that the people most affected by housing and development have a voice in how properties are owned, managed, and preserved.
In short, PRECs use community ownership to create affordable housing, prevent displacement, build local wealth, and keep land and property serving the community rather than private investors.
Example of Permanent Real Estate Cooperative
East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative (EB PREC) is a community-owned real estate cooperative in California that buys and preserves housing and commercial properties to keep them affordable and under community control. Rather than focusing on maximizing profits, EB PREC prioritizes community benefit, preventing displacement, building local wealth, and advancing racial and economic equity. The cooperative uses long-term protections to keep properties off the speculative market and is governed by a diverse membership that includes residents, community members, workers, and investors. Through shared ownership and democratic decision-making, EB PREC helps communities shape and benefit from local development for generations to come. EBPREC
Willow Permanent Real Estate Cooperative (PREC) is a queer- and trans-BIPOC-led cooperative based in central Massachusetts that removes land and housing from the speculative market to create community-controlled, affordable spaces. The co-op has multiple membership classes made up of staff, lessees, community owners, and solidarity investors. The cooperative has worked with partners to purchase property with dwelling units, a food forest, and plans to purchase farmland for affordable housing, sustainable agroforestry and community education and gathering spaces.
Resources & Organizations
How to Start a Permanent Real Estate Cooperative. Sustainable Economies Law Center
Sample Real estate Development Co-op. Nebraska Cooperative Development Center
Nexus Community Partners