Roots Within Reach

Cross-Sector Partnerships to Expand Permanently Affordable Homeownership

Roots Within Reach leverages relationships with for-profit developers to place new homes into the nonprofit community land trust model, scaling permanently affordable homeownership for first-time or first-generation buyers traditionally excluded from our high-cost real-estate market.

Piedmont Community Land Trus (PCLT) Background

In 2021, Piedmont Housing Alliance (PHA) entered a strategic and operational partnership with Piedmont Community Land Trust (PCLT). This partnership means staffing and day-to-day management of the PCLT is handled by PHA while the PCLT remains an independent organization focused on permanent homeownership affordability. It’s a win-win arrangement for permanently affordable housing in our Charlottesville region! 

What is a Community Land Trust (CLT)? 

“Community land trusts (CLTs) are nonprofit organizations governed by a board of CLT residents, community residents, and public representatives that provide lasting community assets and shared equity homeownership opportunities for families and communities. CLTs develop rural and urban agriculture projects, commercial spaces to serve local communities, affordable rental and cooperative housing projects, and conserve land or urban green spaces. However, the heart of their work is the creation of homes that remain permanently affordable, providing successful homeownership opportunities for generations of lower-income families. 
 
A typical community land trust for affordable housing works like this: 

  • A family or individual purchases a house that sits on land owned by the community land trust. 
  • The purchase price is more affordable because the homeowner is only buying the house, not the land. 
  • The homeowners lease the land from the community land trust in a long-term (often 99-year), renewable lease. 
  • The homeowners agree to sell the home at a restricted price to keep it affordable in perpetuity, but they may be able to realize appreciation from improvements they make while they live in the house.” – Grounded Solutions Network 

Some highlights of our partnership’s strengths include: 

  • PHA and PCLT are a one-stop shop that can cater to a variety of homebuyer needs – increased supply of homes, wrap-around housing counseling, down-payment assistance, permanent affordability, and more tools that can help community members achieve pathways to stable housing and wealth-building.
  • The institutional stability of PHA complements the innovative CLT approach to permanently affordable homeownership. 
  • Increased potential for opening new doors to low-income homeownership, such as rent-to-own opportunities and homes for sale within PHA neighborhoods.

Milestones from 2021-2025 

  • Quadrupled the PCLT’s portfolio of permanently affordable homes from 12 homes to 50+ homes! See recently sold homes here.
  • Partnered with local developers Stanley Martin Homes and Greenwood Homes to deliver 32 new townhomes in four neighborhoods across Albemarle and Fluvanna counties.
  • With 7 duplex renovations, greatly increased the PCLT’s footprint in Fifeville, a neighborhood in Charlottesville under heavy displacement pressures, and worked hand in hand with existing neighborhood residents so they could buy in their own neighborhood. Learn more about one buyer’s story here.
  • Expanded rural reach with the PCLT’s first homes in Fluvanna County and Greene County. 
  • PHA acquired two homes with rent-to-own arrangements so the existing tenant can become an owner of their residence as part of the PCLT.

Leveraging Developer Partnerships 

To meet the increasing affordability challenges in our service region, PHA and PCLT have partnered with major developers in the Charlottesville area to sell new homes at prices affordable to households typically locked out of the real estate market. These partnerships have brought together the private sector, non-profits, and state and local governments to put together the pieces necessary to scale up homeownership production without sacrificing affordability. 

Thus far, partnerships have delivered a total of 36 homes throughout the PCLT’s history (32 since the PHA partnership). This includes a partnership with Bramante Homes that delivered 4 homes certified as Net Zero Energy Homes in the Belmont neighborhood of Charlottesville, ensuring affordability to homeowners who can realize the savings from solar power and energy efficiency.  

In 2025, PHA and PCLT partnered with Greenwood Homes to deliver 8 permanently affordable townhomes in a very conveniently located neighborhood called Victorian Heights along Highway 29 in Albemarle County. The partnership here demonstrates the innovation and scalability of this development model, as Greenwood Homes took on the financing and construction, the county government set the affordability targets for the project, PCLT brought permanent subsidy through a Virginia Housing award, and PHA brought everything home with the counseling and supports offered to homebuyers at the Financial Opportunity Center. 

Looking ahead, these partnerships are the seed to what could be a very promising pathway to rapidly scale production of homes at prices affordable to essential people in our community: nurses, teachers, service workers, first responders, seniors, and many more. We are already working with existing developer partners and prospective new partners for what the future holds in their pipeline and PHA and PCLT’s potential to increase our impact.