Community Development

Land Banks Gain Popularity as Way to Fight Urban Blight

In September 2008, the Ford Foundation awarded $1 million to the Genesse County Land Bank Authority to rehabilitate the historic Durant Hotel in Flint, Mich., and to explore how a land bank can serve as a creative model for metropolitan revitalization. The article below reports on this work and echoes our commitment to community development and land use innovation across the country.

Published in USA Today: July 9, 2009
By Kathleen Gray

In downtown Flint, the historic Durant Hotel sat empty for more than 30 years until a financial tool led to its current $30 million renovation.

That tool is the land bank, an idea gaining national attention for its positive impact on urban blight and abandonment at a time when most cities are dealing with more foreclosures.

Instead of selling abandoned or foreclosed structures at auction, the city or county creates a land bank of properties. Some homes are fixed up and sold. The worst of the homes are demolished, and the land is then sold to nearby homeowners or developers, explains Genesee County (Mich.) Treasurer Dan Kildee, who started that county's land bank.

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