A Community Benefit Agreement (or CBA) is an agreement between developer(s) and the community in and around the site where the proposed development is to take place. The agreement provides certain assurances and guarantees to the residents and government of the locale in the form of a binding contract negotiated by community leaders, labor groups and local politicians. A CBA reinforces and secures cooperation from the developer(s) in improving or maintaining the standard of living inside the affected area. These agreements are specific to each individual situation but tend to have some of the same general principles. For example, living wage provisions, health care provisions, local employment guarantees, neighborhood clean-up or beautification requirements and so on.
Strategies, Examples
An illustrative example of this took place in Los Angeles, CA in 2001. In May of 2001, labor and community-based organizations formed a broad coalition aimed at improving development. The Figueroa Corridor Coalition for Economic Justice, negotiated a comprehensive CBA for the Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment District development, a large multi-purpose project that will include a hotel, a 7,000-seat theater, a convention center expansion, a housing complex, and plazas for entertainment, restaurant, and retail businesses. Public subsidies for the project may run as high as $70 million. The CBA is often referred to as the “Staples CBA” because the project is located adjacent to the Staples Center sports arena, which was developed by the same company.
Some of the highlights were, a goal that 70% of the jobs created in the project will pay the City’s living wage, and consultation with the coalition on selection of tenants; a first source hiring program targeting job opportunities to low-income individuals and those displaced by the project; standards for responsible contracting and leasing decisions by the developer, a developer-funded assessment of community park & recreation needs, and a $1 million commitment toward meeting those needs. The coalition, led in negotiations by Strategic Actions for a Just Economy, LAANE, and Coalition L.A., included over thirty different community groups and labor unions, plus hundreds of affected individuals. These successful negotiations demonstrate the power community groups possess when they work cooperatively to improve their community.
