Home » Resource Hub

Sawmill Community Land Trust – Albuquerque, New Mexico

The Sawmill Community Land Trust (Sawmill CLT) in Albuquerque, NM provides an example of how CLTs can support community redevelopment and reduce displacement of existing residents. The Sawmill CLT was formed out of a community-driven planning process to redevelop the Sawmill-Wells Park neighborhood (between Old Town and downtown Albuquerque). The neighborhood had become blighted due to underinvestment and pollution from industrial facilities. The CLT’s first project, called Arbolera de Vida (Orchard of Life), was developed on a 27-acre formerly contaminated industrial property that it acquired from the city and facilitated clean up and redevelopment to include permanently affordable housing and other community amenities. The CLT stewards over 200 affordable housing units that incorporate green design features and has several more projects in development. Its developments also incorporate other community assets, including parks, community gardens and centers, and an orchard that contribute to community resilience in the neighborhood by building social cohesion, and improving public health and food security. This case study provides an example of a city-CLT partnership that helped advance environmental justice, sustainability, and intergenerational equity goals through the development of affordable housing projects that address pollution, improve public health, and build bonds between neighbors.

Resource Details

Organization: Sawmill Community Land Trust
Date: 11/9/2022
Resource Type: Organization
Topic: Land Justice

Related resources (by topic)

Black Family Land Trust, Inc.

The Black Family Land Trust, Inc. provides educational, technical, and financial services to ensure, protect, and preserve landownership for African Americans and other historically under-served landowners. The BFLT currently works primarily in the Southeastern United States, with active projects in…

Bright Guide

Founded in 2016, ELI’s Blight Revitalization Initiative for Green, Healthy Towns (BRIGHT) helps environmental justice communities craft their own area-wide plans or corridor projects. The BRIGHT team works with communities on the ground and also publishes the BRIGHT Guide. BRIGHT…

Building a New Movement: Land Conservation and Community

This report presents the findings of the Center for Whole Communities and the Land Trust Alliance’s survey research on nature and community engagement among traditional land trusts. From these results, Whole Communities presents new models and tools for advancing holistic…

But Next Time

But Next Time is a limited-run podcast that spotlights powerful stories of community-led disaster prevention and recovery. The force of nature is inevitable, but disasters are avoidable. In this limited-run podcast, listeners travel with community advocates as they uncover hard-won…

Help us expand the Resource Hub

Share resources that you think would be a good addition to this tool and our team will review them for inclusion in future updates.