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    Database of Community Benefits Frameworks Across the US

    This database includes information pertaining to different types of publicly available community benefits frameworks, including community benefits agreements (CBAs), host community agreements (HCAs), project workforce agreements (PWAs) and community benefit plans (CBPs), amongst others. They can be an important tool to ensure that tangible benefits from development projects are felt locally, enable communities to create or fund programs that matter to them, and help developers develop local relationships and earn community acceptance of a project. This database, therefore, aims to provide information that would be useful to community organizers, policymakers, lawyers, researchers, developers, and other individuals interested in better understanding how agreements between developers and local communities are structured to provide benefits to a local community as part of the development of a specific project.

    Compiled by the World Resources Institute and Data for Progress, this database will regularly be updated as more community benefit frameworks are reviewed and analyzed. If you have access to community benefit frameworks not reflected in this database, please reach out to us here.

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    Displaying 6 - 10 of 72
    Boston and MedMen Boston
    Framework Type: Host Community Agreement
    Sector: Cannabis
    Project Summary: Medmen Boston LLC seeks to operate a recreational marijuana retailer in Boston, Massachusetts.
    Parties to framework: Medmen Boston, LLC; City of Boston
    State: Massachusetts
    Year Signed: 2019
    Benefits included:
    • Employment and Workforce training
    • Health and safety
    • Financial support
    • Other
    Benefits - Employment and workforce training:
    – Local hiring preference to residents of the city (p. 3)
    – Create and uphold a DEI plan to increase opportunities for people of color and women in the development of the business (p. 3)
    Benefits - Health and safety:
    – Share aggregate data and reports to the Boston Public Health Commission to inform public health efforts (p. 5)
    – Ensure availability of medical marijuana products for registered medical marijuana patients (p. 5)
    Benefits - Financial support:
    – Provide annual payments of 3% of gross sales of marijuana to the town (p. 1-2)
    Benefits - Other:
    – Implement programming and outreach efforts to assist Boston communities affected by the war on drugs, including providing mentoring, incubator opportunities, legal and business assistance, and strategic partnerships (p. 5)
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    Brooklyn Arena
    Framework Type: Community Benefits Agreement
    Sector: Entertainment
    Project Summary: Atlantic Yards Development Co. LLC and Brooklyn Arena LLC seek to construct a sports arena in Brooklyn, New York.
    Parties to framework: Atlantic Yards Development Co. LLC; Brooklyn Arena LLC; All-Faith Council of Brooklyn (AFCB); Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN); Brooklyn United for Innovative Local Development (BUILD); etc.
    State: New York
    Year Signed: 2005
    Benefits included:
    • Education
    • Employment and Workforce training
    • Local infrastructure and housing
    • Health and safety
    • Other
    Benefits - Education:
    – Assist workers in obtaining GEDs if necessary for the job training program (p. 13)
    – Work towards the creation of a High School for Construction Management and Trades in Brooklyn; this is subject to public and/or private funding (p. 16)
    – Arena will give tickets to and host events for local high schools (p. 33)
    – Work with DBEC to create four charter schools in the surrounding community (p. 38)
    – Work with DBEC to develop Parents Organized for Pupils Success (POPS), an after-school program to serve to enable non-custodial fathers to spend constructive time with their children within the context of a safe and nurturing environment (p. 39)
    Benefits - Employment and workforce training:
    – All training, hiring, and referral initiative opportunities for pre-construction, construction, and permanent jobs will prioritize NYCHA residents and low- and moderate-income individuals in the community (p. 12)
    – Make good faith efforts to meet the goal during construction of employing not less than 35% Minority and 10% women construction workers (p. 13)
    – Developers and BUILD shall initiate and coordinate a job training program and seek and secure adequate public and/or private funding for this initiative. If this funding fails to materialize, Developers shall pay BUILD $500,000 to fund the initiative (p. 13-14)
    – Developers will enter into a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) with the NYC Building Trades Council (p. 14)
    – Developers will compile a list of unemployed union members who are community residents (p. 14)
    – Seek to award 5% of the total dollar value of pre-construction service contracts to minority-owned firms and 3% to women-owned firms (p. 17)
    – Seek to award 20% of total construction dollars to Minority-owned firms and 10% to women-owned firms, with a preference to community-based firms (p. 18)
    – Seek to award 20% of post-construction purchasing and service contracts to Minority- and women-owned businesses (p. 18)
    – Developers will sponsor and participate in job fairs and create a job readiness and referral center (p. 37)
    Benefits - Local infrastructure and housing:
    – Seek to initially lease 15% of retail leasing space in each development phase of the project to qualified community-based businesses, with a preference for women and minority-owned businesses (p. 19)
    – Make 50% of resident units affordable to low and moderate-income families (p. 22)
    – Make 10% of housing units to be available to senior citizens (p. 25)
    – Provide all residential tenants within the project site with reasonably comparable living space within the project including having tenants pay the same rent, be paid a reasonable relocation allowance, and be located at or above the same floor of the building (p. 25)
    – Include six acres of open space for use by the public for free (p. 30)
    Benefits - Health and safety:
    – Developers and DBNA will work with an appropriate healthcare provider to operate a community healthcare center located within the project. (p. 27-28)
    – Developers and DBNA will work with an appropriate child care provider, youth care provider, and senior citizen provider to operate child care, youth, and senior centers located within the project (p. 28-30)
    – Arena will include a meditation room to be used by the community and patrons (p. 31)
    Benefits - Other:
    – Attempt to put together a consortium of lenders to provide a low-interest working capital revolving loan pool to assist community-based minority- and women-owned small businesses (p. 20)
    – Developers, BUILD, and NYCAMC will implement an initiative whereby small businesses engaged in the project are paired with an MBA intern to foster capacity and growth development; developers will work with BUILD to seek and secure public and/or private funding (p. 21)
    – Arena available to community groups for 10 events per year at a reasonable rate (p. 31)
    – Establish a nonprofit foundation to fund sports programs in disadvantaged communities, as well as nonprofit community organizations (p. 33)
    – Developers will establish a "Good Neighbors Program" to provide funds or services for capital improvement projects and community programs and work with PHC to seek and/or obtain public and/or private funding for this program (p. 36)
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    Buffalo Bills Stadium
    Framework Type: Community Benefits Agreement
    Sector: Entertainment
    Project Summary: Erie County Stadium Corporation, Buffalo Bills LLC, and the County of Erie seek to refurbish and redevelop an existing football stadium.
    Parties to framework: The County of Erie, New York; Erie County Stadium Corporation; Buffalo Bills, LLC; Bills Stadium and Events Company, LLC
    State: New York
    Year Signed: 2023
    Benefits included:
    • Education
    • Employment and Workforce training
    • Local infrastructure and housing
    • Health and safety
    • Other
    Benefits - Education:
    – Developer and Buffalo Bills will offer a shadowing program for local high school students, and members of the Bills will speak at local high schools (p. 9)
    – Offer field trips to the stadium for local schools, as well as graduation programs and youth programs (p. 13)
    – Provide local area school and community sports teams the opportunity to use the facility for practices for free (p. 13)
    Benefits - Employment and workforce training:
    – Develop a local hiring and contracting program for design and construction jobs that encourage hiring locally and will target minority and women-owned businesses (p. 6)
    – Use commercially reasonable efforts to implement an initiative aiming to achieve 30% of all retailers used and 30% of all money spent on retail or services to be at minority and women-owned businesses (p. 7)
    – Promote Living Wage standards for employees working at the New Stadium (p. 8)
    – Negotiate a Project Labor Agreement for this project. (p. 8)
    – Developer and Buffalo Bills will offer a paid internship program for college students (p. 9)
    Benefits - Local infrastructure and housing:
    – Include public transportation access to the stadium complex, including one or more bus or rail stops within walking distance (p 8)
    – The Bills will work with the NFL to obtain grants to fund facilities improvements for local community athletic and educational organizations (p. 13)
    Benefits - Health and safety:
    – Developer and Buffalo Bills will encourage expansion of mental health awareness, anti-violence initiatives, and a Community Art Program (p. 9)
    Benefits - Environmental and climate:
    – Developer will implement a sustainability operations plan to address solid waste recycling for food and beverage concessions and other efforts to reduce carbon emissions of the new stadium (p. 9, 10)
    Benefits - Other:
    – Developer and Buffalo Bills will fund the Buffalo Bills Foundation, a program that targets hunger and food scarcity, particularly for youth (p. 13)
    – The County reserves the right to use the new stadium for up to five civic events for the county per year, given reasonable prior notice to the Developer (p. 14)
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    Byron Solar
    Framework Type: Host Community Agreement
    Sector: Solar
    Project Summary: Excelsior Energy Center LLC seeks to develop a solar photovoltaic facility in Byron, New York.
    Parties to framework: Town of Byron, Excelsior Energy Center LLC
    State: New York
    Year Signed: 2021
    Benefits included:
    • Local infrastructure and housing
    • Health and safety
    Benefits - Local infrastructure and housing:
    – Payments made by Excelsior are to be used by Byron for public purposes, including, but not limited to, as a source of funding for prospective costs and expenses associated with and related to anticipated municipal services and additional infrastructure improvements (p. 4)
    Benefits - Health and safety:
    – Developer will pay annual Host Community Benefit Fee to Byron, for the entirety of the project. Fee will be no greater than $1,006,522 in Year 1 (the annual cap). The annual cap shall escalate by 2% in each subsequent year (p. 3)
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    California High Speed Rail
    Framework Type: Community Benefits Agreement
    Sector: Transportation
    Project Summary: The California High Speed Rail Authority seeks to coordinate the construction a high speed rail using local labor, union, and construction organizations.
    Parties to framework: California High Speed Rail Authority; Contractors / Subcontractors / Employers (C/S/E); State Building and Construction Trades Council of California; Craft Councils and Local Unions
    State: California
    Year Signed: 2012
    Benefits included:
    • Employment and Workforce training
    Benefits - Employment and workforce training:
    – Create more than 1 million job years, with 100,000 long-term/permanent jobs once system is fully in place
    (p. 29)
    – Authority strives to meet an overall 30% of small business (SB) participation goal, representative of firms that reflect the diversity of California. That 30% includes a goal of 10% Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE), and 3% Disabled Veteran Business Enterprises (DVBE) on federally assisted contracts (p. 30)
    – Meet construction employment goals for minorities and women; help remove barriers for participation of small businesses, assist development of existing small business firms, enabling firms to compete successfully in market place (p. 30)
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