WHAT IS A LAND BANK?

Land banking is a strategy used nationwide to contend with property abandonment. As entities created to acquire, hold, manage and develop vacant properties, land banks aim to convert vacant properties that have been neglected by the open market into productive use, thereby transforming neighborhood liabilities into assets. 

A land bank: 

• Acquires title to vacant and abandoned properties
• Eliminates barriers to redevelopment
• Transfers property to a new owner in a way that supports community needs and priorities

 

RESOURCES ON LAND BANKS, LAND BANKING, VACANT PROPERTIES, & URBAN REVITALIZATION:

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CENTER FOR COMMUNITY PROGRESS

The Center for Community Progress is the only national nonprofit organization solely dedicated to building a future in which entrenched, systemic blight no longer exists in America's communities. As a national leader on solutions for vacant, abandoned, and problem properties, Community Progress serves as the leading resource for local, state, and federal policies and best practices that address the full cycle of property revitalization, from blight prevention, through the acquisition and maintenance of problem properties, to their productive reuse. 

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NYS OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

The 2011 New York State Land Bank Act authorized the existence of 10 land banks via competitive applications to the New York Empire State Development Corporation. In 2014, Eric Schneiderman worked with the New York State Legislature and Governor Cuomo to pass a bill which expanded this program to allow for 20 land banks in New York State. Over the past three years, his office has committed more than $30 Million through two competitive rounds of funding to help kick-start these vital community-based organizations, enabling them to get down to the business of rebuilding communities. 

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NEW YORK LAND BANK ASSOCIATION

Since the NY Land Bank Act was passed and the states first land banks were established in 2012, NY Land Bank organizations have turned to one another to share ideas and strategies for how to best provide this important community service.  The New York Land Bank Association, Inc. was established in 2015 to support land banks across the state.  One of the main focus goals for the association is to foster and promote the sharing of information, resources, and services among land banks in New York and throughout the nation