The Nowak Metro Finance Lab at Drexel University has published The Kensington Corridor Trust: The First Four Years, a case study providing valuable information for city leaders and community development practitioners on Kensington Corridor Trust (KCT)’s work to address vacancy and development of a neighborhood commercial corridor by placing properties into a trust directly governed by neighborhood residents.
3312 Kensington Avenue (with the orange awning), occupied by Vizionz Gallery, is one of the several properties KCT stewards. Photo by Luis Acosta Studio, 2020.
KCT is a neighborhood trust started in 2019 whose mission is to acquire and redevelop real estate on a disinvested commercial corridor and place it into long-term community control to preserve culture and affordability while building neighborhood power and wealth. As cities seek new models for creating community power and control over neighborhood real estate development, KCT is aiming to demonstrate that commercial districts can be improved while catering to the needs of existing residents.
Barra was an early funder of KCT – first in 2019 through a grant and again in 2022 through a mission-aligned investment. Our investment and partnership enables KCT to compete with private developers and empower the community to exercise control over what happens along Kensington’s commercial corridor.
Click here to read more about KCT’s novel model and its impact so far.