Since its earliest days, the Cuyahoga County Land Reutilization Corporation, commonly known as the Cuyahoga Land Bank, has targeted properties whose demolition or rehabilitation would make the biggest impact on the neighborhoods in which the properties are located.
That strategy was recognized this summer by the Enterprise Community Partners (ECP, formerly known as the National Enterprise Foundation), who awarded $50,000 to the Cuyahoga Land Bank, helping to support its research and execution efforts toward addressing tax-foreclosed vacant and abandoned properties.
The award was bestowed at a conference held at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, bringing national recognition to the Cuyahoga Land Bank. Officials specifically cited the Cuyahoga Land Bank’s work in partnering with and assisting cities throughout Cuyahoga County as well as the County Prosecutor and neighborhood organizations.
“The Cuyahoga Land Bank puts a lot of effort into strategic thinking and it pays off,” says Mark McDermott of Enterprise Community Partners. “We thought we would like to support the productive relationships between the Cuyahoga Land Bank and other community development organizations.”
McDermott adds that ECP was impressed by the Cuyahoga Land Bank’s tactic of targeting specific neighborhoods and properties that would make the most impact, “not just tearing a house down here and doing a rehab there. They work in a way that will stabilize the targeted community. And we think it’s paying off.”