Community at the Heart of Chinatown CLT (Boston, MA)

By vberman | June 29, 2026

As housing costs skyrocket across Boston, the Chinatown Community Land Trust (CCLT), with support from LEAF, is fighting to ensure that the working-class families who built Chinatown can afford to stay and thrive there.

A History of Resilience and Displacement

Displacement is not a new threat to Chinatown. Workers from China arrived in the 1870s but remained a “bachelor community” of male laborers due to the Chinese Exclusion Act until the 1940s. Following the War Brides Act and an end to 60 years of exclusion, Chinatown grew into a family-centered, close-knit cultural community.

However, that community was quickly threatened. In the 1950s, urban renewal and eminent domain swept Boston (see readings below). A portion of Chinatown was claimed to pave the way for Interstate 93, displacing families and neighborhoods. Among those forced to leave their homes was the family of LEAF’s own Mary Wong, Director Affordable Housing/Senior Loan Officer.

While the new highways physically severed the neighborhood, the spirit remained. Chinatown’s residents maintained their sense of community against the stripping of their neighborhoods.

The New Battle: Market Speculation

Today, Chinatown is facing a new wave of displacement. This time, the threat isn’t a physical highway, but the price of real estate.

Lydia Lowe (CCLT), Left, Dami Odetola (National Cooperative Bank Representative), center, Anne Fedorchak (National Cooperative Bank), right

To combat this, the Chinatown Community Land Trust is using a tool: community land ownership. By removing land from the speculative market, CCLT creates permanently affordable housing and public spaces managed democratically by residents, not profit-driven developers.

Beyond pioneering Boston’s first condo land trust, CCLT is dedicated to reclaiming community spaces. They recently secured a lease for Reggie Wong Memorial Park. The park is on a historic asphalt volleyball court nestled next to the highway that originally fractured the neighborhood. Through organizing they have achieved the support necessary to transform it into a vibrant intergenerational park with eight new trees to mitigate extreme heat.

How LEAF is Partnering

LEAF is proud to support CCLT’s vision of community preservation. Recently, LEAF provided refinancing for a historic rowhouse within the neighborhood. This funding preserves four units of affordable rental housing, securing them forever within CCLT’s portfolio and protecting current and future residents from being priced out.

By investing in land trusts like CCLT, LEAF is helping communities reclaim their neighborhoods, ensuring that the people who built Boston’s history can afford to be part of its future.