About - CIT - Empowering Local Ownership

Mission

One in four people in the United States lives in a condition of “asset poverty.” Without income for three months and without savings or investments, people are forced to turn to friends, family or public assistance to meet their basic needs. People are not able to invest in their futures or human potential. There is a shortage of affordable, accessible and local investments for people who have faced difficulty in their lives.

The Community Investment Trust (CIT) builds the possibility to strengthen communities and create empowered lives. The CIT offers a long-term path to shared ownership of commercial real-estate for investors starting from $10-$100 per month. The CIT works with trusted, local lead organizations across the country to bring the model to their communities. The CIT Services team is the national backbone for CIT License and Implementation to uphold the legal and financial standards that ensure sustainability for each and all CIT projects.

Vision

We believe in people, place, possibility, property and profits.

Our values are:

Ability – The ability for all people to thrive, not just survive.

Initiative – People will take action to create greater change in their lives and communities.

Opportunity – Opportunities for real estate investment should be accessible and affordable to all.

Collaboration – The experience and expertise of others will help achieve common goals.

Community – A group that shares ownership will help themselves and build resilient communities.

Our vision remains to open commercial property ownership on a neighborhood level for those otherwise excluded from investing in the asset class of commercial real estate. The model was piloted successfully in 2017 in Portland, OR, and is poised for replication nationally in 50 cities in 5 years.

History

The CIT was conceived in 2008 by John W. Haines of Mercy Corps. This pioneering model was designed using human-centered design principles and behavorial economics strategies with support from local and national advisors, university teams, interns and legal experts (Orrick Herrington and Sutcliffe LLP), and with the continual engagement with a diverse range of renters (our target investors) and neighborhood leaders in low-income areas in Portland, OR. The development of the CIT model and its financial product was painstakingly detailed and required persistence,patience and continual adaptation and improvement. After significant analysis and modeling, a pilot commercial property was purchased out of foreclosure on 12/18/2014, rehabilitated and stabilized over three years, then put into community ownership though a first-of-its kind localized stock offering as the nation’s first CIT on 11/1/2017. The CIT will be an independent entity by 2025 and will focus on being the backbone of the model, supporting replication of a network of locally-led CIT projects nationwide.