By Jenna Siffringer, YNN The Allen County Land Reutilization Corporation is making progress with demolishing pipeline properties. Land Bank Treasurer Rachael Gilroy says Ohio received $94.5 million through the Ohio Finance Agency’s Neighborhood Initiative Program to demolish residential structures. Continue reading… Read more ›

By Community Common On Tuesday the Scioto County Commissioners passed a resolution designating the Scioto County Land Reutilization Corporation the authoritative body to handle the counties blighted housing stock, with the goal of eventually putting it back on the tax… Read more ›

By Shawndrea Thomas, Fox 2 Now ST. LOUIS (KTVI) – St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay joined Aldermen Cara Spencer (20th Ward) and Chris Carter (27th Ward) in announcing the St. Louis Land Reutilization Authority’s ‘Mow to Own’ program as a means to restore… Read more ›

By Spencer Remoquillo, Lancaster Eagle Gazette LANCASTER – A number of the city’s dilapidated homes known for decreasing surrounding property values and creating vermin havens have come toppling down over the past six months. Neighbors, who have endured the eyesores in some cases for decades, stood… Read more ›

By David Malloy, Herald Dispatch IRONTON – Lawrence County could establish a land bank program that would buy up residential and commercial abandoned and dilapidated properties with the goal of getting them back on the tax rolls. County Treasurer Steve… Read more ›

By Jen Kinney, Next City Public art installations in Albany, Schenectady and Troy will illuminate hundreds of vacant buildings across the three New York cities to draw attention to urban blight,reports the Troy Record, and to encourage potential buyers to invest… Read more ›

By Matt Sanctis, Springfield News-Sun Champaign County leaders are researching if it makes sense to start a land bank, part of a growing trend in which rural counties across Ohio are looking for ways to deal with a glut of vacant… Read more ›

BOTKINS — During Tuesday night’s Botkins Village Council meeting, the village agreed to be a part of a county wide effort to take control of and clean up abandoned properties. Shelby County Commissioner Bob Guillozet presented to council how this… Read more ›

By: Wayne Allen, Portsmouth Daily News Earlier this week, the Scioto Foundation held its annual meeting. At the meeting, Jason Kester, Executive Director of the Southern Ohio Port Authority (SOPA), updated those in attendance on the formation of the Scioto… Read more ›

By: Cecelia Fox, Troy Daily News WEST MILTON — Faced with a growing number of abandoned properties, the village of West Milton is taking the first steps to establish a land reutilization program. Following in the city of Piqua’s footsteps,… Read more ›

By Matt Martin, Trumbull County Partnership on Cleveland.com Decades of disinvestment and job loss, suburban sprawl, and more recently the profound impacts of the foreclosure crisis have left Northeast Ohio with a glut of derelict vacant properties that litter our… Read more ›

By: Wayne Allen, Portsmouth Daily Times Recently, the Scioto County Commissioners acted on a couple of measures aimed at improving the county. First, the commissioners passed the first of two resolutions necessary to establish a Scioto County Land Bank. Then,… Read more ›

By: Michelle Jarboe, Cleveland.com A homebuilding program set to launch next month in Ohio City aims to make new construction swifter and simpler for people hoping to live in one of Cleveland’s most popular neighborhoods. Nonprofit neighborhood group Ohio City, Inc.,… Read more ›

By Staff, Sidney Daily News SIDNEY — The Shelby County Commissioner’s meeting room was crowded with representatives of townships, villages and the city of Sidney for the initial discussion of the steps necessary to create a county land bank. The… Read more ›

By: Leah Thorsen, St. Louis Post-Dispatch Forty-two vacant lots in St. Louis will become tree farms, urban agriculture and green infrastructure projects through a partnership between the city and Chicago-based development firm Fresh Coast Capital. Mayor Francis Slay hailed the… Read more ›

By: Wayne Allen, Portsmouth Daily Times An organizational meeting of what will be the Scioto County Land Bank Board of Directors was recently held. At the meeting the urgency of forming a corporation, for which the land bank would operate,… Read more ›

by House Urban Affairs Committee Chairman Thomas Caltagirone HARRISBURG, March 15 – Democratic House Urban Affairs Committee Chairman Thomas Caltagirone, D-Berks, said Tuesday that the committee reported out two bills that he authored to rehabilitate blighted properties while fighting homelessness. The… Read more ›

By MINews26 Several condemned buildings and another obsolete eyesore in Cadillac will be torn down with help from the Michigan Land Bank. In October of last year the Michigan State Housing Development Authority made a $1 million grant to the… Read more ›

By David Garrick, The San Diego Union-Tribune SAN DIEGO — Aiming to boost access to healthy food while sprucing up blighted properties, the San Diego City Council unanimously approved a new community garden incentive program on Monday. The incentive is expected… Read more ›

  By Chris Burbach, Omaha.com The Omaha Municipal Land Bank Board named an interim executive director Monday and took a step toward its first acquisitions of vacant lots and rundown houses. The board voted to approve a contract with Marty… Read more ›

By Mark Todd, Star Beacon CONNEAUT — Bucking tradition, government officials gathered Monday morning in Conneaut to celebrate a building’s destruction, not construction. The occasion was the demolition of a house at 316 Woodworth Road, the first in the city… Read more ›

By Wayne Allen, Portsmouth Daily News Recently officials with the Southern Ohio Port Authority (SOPA) facilitated a meeting between officials from the City of Portsmouth, Village of New Boston and Scioto County to talk about establishing a county land bank.… Read more ›

By Nick Blizzard, Dayton Daily News Montgomery County officials are waiting to hear how much of the $97.6 million Ohio is being allotted to fight blight will be available to area neighborhoods. The amount may be finalized next week, but… Read more ›

By Denise G. Callahan, Journal News A new $97.6 million infusion of federal funding means more eyesores will be erased throughout Ohio and Butler County. The Butler County Land Bank has already spent almost $7 million in federal, state and local… Read more ›

By Ken Mallett, Newark Advocate NEWARK – The city of Newark has found another tool to help remove or improve run-down properties, such as the burned out building on South Second Street, a one-time Elks Lodge. The new Licking County Land Reutilization Corporation can help communities… Read more ›

Fresno, Calif.  In an effort to combat the blight issues in Fresno, the city is now compiling a registry of vacant properties so it knows who to contact in case problems come up. The City said the contact information will… Read more ›

LIMA — Work is continuing on getting the Allen County Land Reutilization Corporation, or land bank, up and running, with county commissioners passing two resolutions Thursday to help get the framework in place. Commissioners approved a motion to place two… Read more ›

BUCYRUS – County treasurer Gary Cole uses as an example a vacant lot in Crestline. “There was a house that was torn down several years ago, and the city charged $10,000 to tear it down and put an assessment on… Read more ›

The Lucas County Land Bank is launching a pilot program to invest money in vacant and abandoned homes in the Library Village District in hopes of stabilizing property values in the struggling neighborhood. Land Bank-owned properties obtained through property tax… Read more ›

WASHINGTON, D.C. — It’s Christmastime in Washington, which means two things. First, Congress is waiting until the end of the year, which is now a tradition, to approve must-pass bills that will keep the government functioning. Second, there are satchels… Read more ›