The LBC has supported many community organizations in the negotiation, drafting and implementation of community benefits agreements. In 2012, a new group of developers, KNIC Partners, proposed the Kingsbridge National Ice Center, a plan to convert the armory into the world`s largest ice sports facility. The developers of the ice center openly agreed to pay decent salaries and contacted KARA leaders to discuss the economic benefits that could be shared with community members. This approach differed from previous negotiations, which were more confrontational with Related. KARA, which is now working with a new group of pro bono lawyers, and the ICE Center team negotiated many important terms and finally reached an agreement acceptable to both parties after months of meetings. [2] Although government officials did not participate in the CBA, municipal officials carefully monitored the negotiations and paid attention to any individual interests that unduly influenced the conditions of the CBA. For example, a local board member required the proponent to provide a significant amount of funding to a charity with which it was affiliated in exchange for its support; However, KNIC Partners rejected his request. [3] Coalitions for the benefit of the Community recognise that new quality development is crucial for increasing prosperity. Coalitions seek to play a role in shaping this development and know that no one wins if the project fails. The community benefits movement began in Los Angeles, with successful implementation of mixed-use projects in Hollywood and Highland[7] and at Staples Center/LA Live. [8] Since then, it has rapidly spread to other cities, including Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, New Haven, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Syracuse, Washington, D.C., and Wilmington. [9] Major organizations [no primary source needed] include the National Community Reinvestment Coalition[10], the Partnership for Working Families[11], the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE)[12], strategic actions for a Just Economy (SAJE)[13], SCOPE Los Angeles[14] and Pittsburgh UNITED. [15] Each of these methods is an attempt to occupy a space that could otherwise be filled by a robust, community-led effort.
ACAs are strategic tools for improving the community that benefit private sector developers as well as state and local governments. They are not zero-sum instruments. These are legal agreements between nonprofit groups and developers that specify the benefits that a developer funds or provides in exchange for community support for a project. Benefits can include commitments to hire directly from a community, contributions to economic trust funds, guarantees for training local workers, and more. The toolkit is aimed at private sector development and is not intended for federal projects. Community Benefits Agreements (CBAs) are complex multi-stakeholder contracts executed by multiple community organizations and one or more proponents, including proponents` commitments to provide a number of community benefits related to a proposed development project, and generally include the commitment of community organizations to support project approval. The CBA`s model contract allows each CBA to be tailored to the needs of the community, the size and nature of the proposed development, and the relative bargaining power of community groups and the proponent. Benefits may be provided by the developer itself, or a CBA may require the developer to impose provisions of the CBA on its tenants, sellers and contractors. Typically, CBAs include quality of work standards, local hiring programs, and affordable housing requirements. [6] A Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) in the United States is a contract signed by community groups and a real estate developer that requires the developer to provide certain amenities and/or mitigation measures to the local community or neighborhood. In return, community groups pledge to publicly support the project or at least not to reject it.
Often, the negotiation of a CBA relies heavily on the formation of a multi-thematic, broad-based community coalition that includes community, environmental, religious, and professional organizations. The Kingsbridge affair began with plans to convert a vacant weapons building. The Kingsbridge Armoury was built in 1917 for military training purposes and contains a huge 180,000 square metre drill hall with an uninterrupted span of structural steel and no internal support pillars. The armory was handed over to New York City in the 1990s and largely abandoned. In anticipation of the Armoury`s move to city property, the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance (KARA) was formed in the late 1980s to unite various community stakeholders around the goal of ensuring that the economic benefits of the Armoury`s redevelopment remain in the community. KARA was organized and staffed by the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, a community organizing group founded in 1974. It took a lot of time and effort — 17 years of community organizing and dozens of hours of legal assistance from economic development lawyers on the coalition side and an equal amount of work from the developers — to come up with an ABC. The application of the conditions over the next 99 years (the duration of the agreement) will also require constant and continuous efforts and work. Overall, it is very effective to involve a community coalition in decisions about economic benefit-sharing among community stakeholders. Given the representativeness of the coalition – 25 organizations were signatories – the CBA has the potential to help future generations of Bronx residents.
Ultimately, the ABC of the Kingsbridge National Ice Center included the following common benefits: ACAs work best for large development projects in urban areas where there is a broad community coalition and the developer wants community support to obtain public grants and/or approval of a proposed project. Municipal representatives are in a better position to negotiate if the city shares the political objectives of the municipal coalition and promotes the creation of an CBA. At the heart of the community benefits strategy is community organizing and building coalitions. [17] [18] Organizing and maintaining a coalition, facilitating compromises, and developing a common agenda are essential to creating a successful cost agreement. Coalitions can include a variety of community groups, such as neighbourhood groups, environmental organizations, good government organizations, unions, and faith-based organizations. [6] Coalitions are generally not incorporated, but member community groups may enter into a corporate agreement to regulate their relationship within the coalition. A model CBA coalition agreement was prepared by the Center for Public Law at Tulane University School of Law. [19] No cost-benefit analysis can involve all stakeholders. Certain segments of a community may not be able or unwilling to participate in a CBA negotiation process; No one should view an CBA effort as channeling or capturing all of the community`s opinions or priorities. ACAs are “legally binding agreements that relate to a single development and apply to all parties that deliver them, including developers, contractors and prospective tenants,” according to Ben Beach, legal director of the Working Families Partnership, which houses the Community Benefits Law Center. Ebony Griffin, an attorney at the Public Interest Law Center, added that ACAs are enforceable contractual agreements between a community group and a developer or company that describe the project`s contributions to the community and generate community support for the project.
.