The Cuyahoga Land Bank completes dynamic in-house renovations in many Cuyahoga communities. When a property has the potential for renovation and resale, we develop a rehabilitation plan, undertake a bidding process to qualified contractors, and oversee the rehabilitation through to… Read more ›
Fall is a great time to take care of home repair and maintenance before those cold Cleveland winter months arrive. Take some time this fall to do safety checks and boost energy efficiency. Check these items off your list this… Read more ›
Infill development is a term used to describe building on vacant or under-used parcels within densely developed urban areas. Not unlike other large legacy cities, the City of Cleveland and its inner-ring suburbs have many vacant lots left behind after… Read more ›
Following the housing crisis of 2008, the number of abandoned houses and industrial and commercial properties in Cuyahoga County climbed sharply. These distressed properties are health and safety hazards, blighting their surroundings and devaluing neighboring properties. Many such structures that… Read more ›
“Why can’t you save that house instead of demolishing it?” We hear this question all the time. While we try to save as many abandoned, blighted houses as possible through our Deed-in-Escrow and in-house rehab programs, most of the properties… Read more ›
CHN Housing Partners, a highly seasoned, nonprofit affordable housing developer and housing service provider works with its partners to solve major housing challenges for low-income people and underserved communities. Is your home in foreclosure or are you being evicted from… Read more ›
Volunteers of America Ohio & Indiana recently announced plans to uplift women veterans by building a new affordable housing community to serve their needs. Located at Lee Avenue and E. 105th Street in Cleveland’s Circle North neighborhood, the new multi-family… Read more ›
Medina Creative Housing (MCH) recently celebrated the opening of its new supportive housing facility on Smith Road in Middleburg Heights. Once the site of a long-shuttered YWCA, the Cuyahoga Land Bank demolished the dilapidated structure in the Fall of 2019… Read more ›
“New construction challenges are formidable,” says Dennis Roberts, Director of Programs and Property Management for the Cuyahoga Land Bank. “The material and labor costs continue to increase, and that increase is outstripping people’s ability to purchase a new home. We… Read more ›
There are many outstanding organizations dedicated to helping homeless and disabled Veterans. None are quite like Ride With Valor, a 501(c)3 public charity founded in 2018 by U.S. Army Veteran Russell Scot Rhoda. Ride with Valor was founded to help… Read more ›
“It has been great engaging with our community on social media. We look for different ways to encourage the public to interact with our posts. We started polling our audience and got a lot of great feedback on styles and… Read more ›
Over the last five years, the Cuyahoga Land Bank has acquired approximately 1,500 vacant and abandoned blighted properties per year. Most properties have come through tax foreclosure. One might think that foreclosing on abandoned, blighted properties is a simple task.… Read more ›
The HELP Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, recently broke ground on the site of their new greenhouse facility on Shore Center Drive in Euclid. The mission of the HELP Foundation is to assist… Read more ›
The Cuyahoga Land Bank recently teamed up with One South Euclid to build a charming new home on Avondale Road to enhance the housing stock of the City of South Euclid. One South Euclid is a community development corporation that… Read more ›
Pocket parks, also known as miniparks, are urban open spaces, usually only a few house-lots in size or smaller. A pocket park is an ideal play area for children, space for relaxing or a community gathering site. One of the… Read more ›
The Cuyahoga Land Bank works with a variety of contractors in fulfilling our mission of returning properties to productive use. Case in point: A recent remarkable renovation of a home on Churchill Avenue in Cleveland’s Glenville neighborhood, carried out by… Read more ›
Jeffrey SugalskiHousing Development Project Manager Hire Date: February 2021 Education: Cleveland State University (BA in Urban Studies & Master of Urban Planning, Design, and Development Describe yourself in three words: Humble, Creative, Thoughtful What is your favorite part of your work? There are many.… Read more ›
Chances are, you’ve heard the term “aging in place.” Simply put, aging in place means staying in your own home as you get older. Aging-in-place homes typically feature amenities such as first-floor master suites, easy-to-operate windows, door handles and faucets,… Read more ›
We recently put the finishing touches on two modular homes in Maple Heights – a pilot project aimed at creating more affordable market-rate homes. Check out this video highlighting the build of these innovative new homes.
When Matthew Fairfield was released from prison in 2017, he was fortunate that his brother had arranged a place for him to stay and a job lined up. Instead of returning to managing properties and selling homes as he had… Read more ›
Cuyahoga Land Bank President & General Counsel Gus Frangos recently sat down with Jimmy Malone to talk all things Land Bank for iHeart Radio’s CEOs You Need to Know podcast. Listen here.
It’s always difficult when a well-known neighborhood building is demolished, but it can also be advantageous if the land can be put back into productive use that is beneficial to the community. Such is the case of the former YWCA… Read more ›
The Cuyahoga Land Bank recently launched the second round of its Housing Construction Gap Grant Program, making at least $1.2 million available to encourage experienced developers to build new single-family housing in Cuyahoga County. The grant program provides funds to… Read more ›
The Cuyahoga Land Bank hit another major milestone in March as it demolished its 9,000th blighted structure in Cuyahoga County since forming in 2009. The building was on East 126th Street in Cleveland’s Larchmere neighborhood. Our friend the “Demosaurus” stopped by… Read more ›
Transparency builds confidence in our work! We pride ourselves on our earnest compliance with Ohio Public Records and Open Meetings laws, collectively known as the “Sunshine Laws.” Sarah Norman, Document Support Specialist, and her team of diligent records and document… Read more ›
The Ohio Land Bank Association, an organized voice for Ohio’s county land banks, met virtually in March with fellow county land bankers, municipal governments, community development groups and those interested in county land bank work. More than 100 participants joined… Read more ›
Dormant factories, closed gas stations, obsolete warehouses, and other types of vacant and abandoned properties have long plagued many of Cuyahoga’s inner-ring suburbs. These abandoned, blighted properties associate with crime, environmental contamination and plunging property values. Each year, the Cuyahoga… Read more ›
Sarah Drab Presser Environmental Properties Specialist Date of HireOctober 2018 EducationBachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies Describe yourself in three words.Motivated, Trustworthy, Passionate What is your favorite part of your work?Seeing the huge impact we are making in our communities… Read more ›
It wasn’t that long ago the idea of a modular home would bring up images of a flimsily-built, cookie-cutter dwelling. That is certainly not the case today! In partnership with Unibilt Industries, the Cuyahoga Land Bank broke ground last September… Read more ›
Until we came to own them! The Cuyahoga Land Bank often acts as a developer itself and completes renovations of homes in its inventory. Many of these homes require significant renovations, and we work to bring these distressed to the… Read more ›
Cuyahoga Land Bank Homes performs quality home renovations that include modern amenities and updated major systems that make the homes move-in ready. Here we share a collection of stunning before-and-after-kitchen makeovers that are sure to inspire your own kitchen transformation.… Read more ›
Although similar in name and perceived purpose, Land Banks and Community Land Trusts are entirely different entities. Land banking is the practice of aggregating parcels of land for future sale or development. A Land Bank typically intervenes to resolve back… Read more ›
When you think of the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD), you probably just think of wastewater and that monthly bill that comes in the mail. But there is much more to the work of the Sewer District than most… Read more ›
The Cuyahoga Land Bank is in a unique position to take vacant and abandoned land, some of which may be hard to develop like wetlands or other challenged property, and take advantage of land conservation opportunities using various available conservation… Read more ›
The Cuyahoga Land Bank is pleased to announce City of Lakewood Mayor Meghan George’s appointment to the Cuyahoga Land Bank Board of Directors. We look forward to the Mayor’s leadership and working together to continue our impactful work.
In December, County Councilman Dan Brady retired from the County Council after an illustrious and productive career as a public servant. Beginning as a Cleveland City Councilman in the 1980s and then serving in the Ohio General Assembly, Dan finished… Read more ›
We get asked all the time to describe the typical buyer for our home renovation program. The short answer is, those buying land bank homes each have their own stories. In fact, a very diverse group of rehabbers in search… Read more ›
The Cuyahoga Land Bank uses a sophisticated cloud-based software application to manage and analyze data about properties that are either to be acquired or are currently in inventory. The proprietary software, known as the Property Profile System (PPS), was developed… Read more ›
