Sept. 9, 2026
SAINT PAUL, MN—Today, the Shared Ownership Center at Nexus announces its third LOCAL Fund: Community Ownership grantee. East Side Community Investment Cooperative (ESCIC) was awarded more than $300,000 for the predevelopment, acquisition and rehabilitation costs of their first property at 960 Payne Avenue. The LOCAL Fund: Community Ownership is a grant program in partnership with the City of Saint Paul’s Office of Financial Empowerment.
Members of ESCIC shared that, “After five years of hard work, [we’re] excited to be purchasing our first property. Many properties on the East Side have long created wealth for individuals who don’t live in our community, and who don’t maintain the properties they own. This purchase is a major step in reversing the harmful pattern of extractive real estate investment on the East Side. We are thrilled to be able to put a valuable asset into the hands of our community.”
960 Payne Avenue is a prominent mixed-use building next to Brunson’s Pub. For over 40 years, the building was home to Saint Paul Floral. The commercial space is currently vacant while the upstairs residential unit will remain a home for long-term tenants. The award represents the deep investment the City of Saint Paul is making in community-owned real estate, affordable housing, local businesses and jobs.
ESCIC is the third real estate co-op in Saint Paul to acquire property, and joins a growing movement of real estate cooperatives in the Twin Cities. This continues to place the Twin Cities as a leader in the community-ownership movement, with the most operational real estate co-ops in the nation.
“Strong neighborhoods are built on local ownership, but getting there often requires creative solutions,” said Garrett Peterson, Land Bank Twin Cities. “We’re proud to support an innovative cooperative model at 960 Payne that keeps this historic property locally owned and creates a new path for community-centered investment along Payne Avenue.”
Across the country, there is mounting resistance to the extractive nature of real estate speculation, where rents and resale profits are sent to distant corporations that have no consideration for local needs nor connection to the local community. People see community ownership as a countermeasure, allowing neighbors to collectively prioritize local businesses and interests, and to keep the economic benefits of real estate circulating locally.
The LOCAL Fund leverages $2.5 million to support worker-owned cooperatives and community-ownership entities in Saint Paul. The LOCAL Fund: Community Ownership awarded $275,000 to South Como Community Investment Cooperative and Rondo Community Land Trust. The LOCAL Fund: Worker Ownership awarded $600,000 to six Saint Paul worker-owned cooperatives.
About Nexus Community Partners (Nexus)
Nexus is a nonprofit based in Minneapolis, MN, with a 22-year history of co-creating more liberated communities by strengthening leaders, cultivating community wealth, and stewarding the just distribution of resources.
Since 2019, the Shared Ownership Center at Nexus has worked with over 50 companies to explore models of shared ownership and helped develop eight cooperatives across the Twin Cities. From assessing fit and feasibility to becoming cooperatively owned and operated, the Shared Ownership Center brings expertise with an equity lens in all steps of cooperative development.
About the City of Saint Paul – Office of Financial Empowerment (OFE)
The City of Saint Paul established OFE in 2019 because economic inequality is a whole-city crisis that demands a whole-city response. OFE coordinates that response in partnership with community leaders, businesses and nonprofits, and low-income Saint Paul residents.
About East Side Community Investment Cooperative (ESCIC)
ESCIC is a grassroots coalition of neighbors and organizers working to preserve and shape the future of their community through collective ownership, democratic decision-making, and local investment. In a time when outside developers often dictate the fate of neighborhoods, ESCIC empowers East Siders to take the lead—securing sites for housing, businesses, and cultural spaces that reflect their values and meet their needs.
About Land Bank Twin Cities (LBTC)
LBTC is a Minnesota seven county metro area-based nonprofit and Community Development Financial Institution specializing in land banking, lending and community development. Founded in 2009, the Land Bank captures strategic real estate opportunities to benefit people with low to moderate incomes, prioritizing BIPOC+ and populations facing barriers.
Press Kit
This project is being supported, in whole or in part, by federal award number SLFRP1612 awarded to Nexus Community Partners, through the City of Saint Paul, by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.