Join us for the launch and discussion about the first case study from the COLA Lab detailing housing co-ops in Chicago
Across the country, communities are testing new ways to take back control of the places they call home. Community ownership of real estate is a powerful and increasingly popular approach to keeping land and property affordable, preventing displacement, and building wealth that stays local. It’s also a pathway to advancing racial and health equity while deepening local democracy. In short, community ownership prioritizes collective opportunity, voice, and well-being over private profit.
This webinar will launch and introduce the first case study published by The Community Ownership Learning & Action Lab detailing emerging housing co-ops in Chicago.
You'll hear from University of Miami researchers, practitioners, and from Chicago co-op members themselves about:
- How community ownership projects actively redesign what “ownership” means: who it is for, how control works, and whether scale is a threat or a necessity.
- The work of assembling unconventional capital stacks — grants, relational finance, nonprofit balance sheets, personal risk — to acquire property when conventional lending fails.
- The labor, performed by individual “translators,” of explaining, translating, and reframing community ownership so lenders, funders, and public agencies treat it as real development.
- The cumulative work that co-ops do to anchor relationships, share knowledge, broker introductions, and sustain coordination across projects and institutions.
Together, we'll explore how housing co-ops in Chicago are paving a new pathway for cooperative ownership in a city where high housing costs, speculative real estate markets, and displacement pressures are fracturing long-standing communities. Join us for a lively discussion and find out how you can get involved.
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