Lucas County Land Bank
Land Banks have been around since the 1970's. Toledo's Land Bank, which contains roughly 900 properties, was created in 1989 - but, unfortunately, it lacks the funding needed to return blighted properties back into productive use.
However, a new approach has been developed to address the problems associated with vacant and abandoned homes.
The Lucas County LRC is modeled after the award-winning program begun in Genesee County (Flint), Michigan. After the formation of the Genesee County LRC in 2002, Flint began to see tangible benefits right away. The aggregate market value of its properties increased by an extraordinary $112 million due to the land bank's activities between 2002 and 2005, with over 26,000 individual properties seeing an increase in value.
This re-found wealth bolstered home equity, neighborhood stability and Flint's local economy, as well as Genesee County's property tax base. Flint demonstrated that land banking can assist the private and public sectors in the creation of new wealth in a once-devastated community.
Initially, the Ohio Legislature provided Cuyahoga County the authority to create an LRC, and the Cuyahoga County LRC was launched in July 2009. Following passage in early 2010 of House Bill 313, land banking authority was extended to all Ohio counties with populations greater than 60,000 roughly half of all Ohio counties.
AVATAR works with the Lucas County Land Bank to support data integration, data management, and process support.
Associated Solutions: Data Management, Integration, Digital Design
Data Management | Integration | Digital Design