Wellsville house for sale: Allegany County Land Bank builds home on long vacant lot

WELLSVILLE —The Allegany County Land Bank marked the completion to construction of a three bedroom, single-family home in Wellsville with a ribbon cutting this week.

The 1,320-square-foot contemporary home sits on over an acre and a half of property that had a long history of being vacant/abandoned and unwanted — going through multiple county tax auctions without a buyer.

“The Land Bank worked with Alfred State, the County, the village of Wellsville and local contractors to change 79 Clark from an overgrown problem property to a newly built great home,” said Jason Isaman, executive director at the Allegany County Land Bank.

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Wayne County Land Bank sets its sights on blight

Improving neglected properties can help challenged neighborhoods rebound, Humbert believes. He pointed to the recent Lawrence Street project in Lyons, where he said the rehabilitation and redevelopment of a vacant and dilapidated home into the Child Advocacy Center of Wayne County resulted in additional homeowners improving their properties on the street.

“It becomes contagious,” he said. “We want to get the parcels, do the right thing, whether repair or demolish, and get them back on the tax rolls as quickly as possible.”

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Guest Column: It’s time to rebuild. Let’s get it right

New York has ended the Covid-19 state of emergency, signaling the beginning of the post-pandemic era. Federal, state, and local leaders, front-line workers, businesses, nonprofits, community groups and residents did a remarkable job working together to transcend silos and prioritize preserving our collective well-being. Now we must do the same to help our neighborhoods recover and build a better future.

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Land Bank wants $100K CDBG loan through Schenectady to rehab Prospect Street home

The City Council is expected to help provide the Capital Region Land Bank with the financial wherewithal to reimagine a two-family residence that has been vacant for at least four years.

The Capital Region Land Bank has brought in more than $9 million in grant funding for projects, the majority of which have come from bank settlements after the mortgage foreclosure crisis in late 2008.

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Reverse redlining: Albany organizations ask city for $20 million for neighborhood revitalization

ALBANY — As the city awaits  $85 million in federal COVID-19 relief funding, community organizations have asked the COVID-19 Recovery Taskforce to prioritize neighborhood revitalization.

The Albany County Land Bank, along with Capital District Habitat for Humanity and the Albany Community Land Trust, wrote a letter Monday proposing that the task force allocate $20 million — roughly a quarter of its overall funding — toward preserving and revitalizing historically underserved neighborhoods.

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How Syracuse plans to spend the city's $123M stimulus

Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh unveiled a plan to spend the city’s $123 million in federal stimulus money on at least 30 separate initiatives aimed at a sweeping array of urban needs.

Plan to allocate $14 million to build or improve housing in the city's low-income neighborhoods, including providing $5 million to the Greater Syracuse Land Bank to assist with reclaiming vacant buildings.

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Broome County Land Bank Demolishes Blighted Property in Vestal

The Broome County Land Bank acquired 2300 Owego Road in Vestal as a result of a Broome County tax foreclosure in March earlier this year. The residential property located in the Town of Vestal's Ross Corners neighborhood sat vacant for years causing severe neglect and outstanding structural issues. After the record breaking snowfall during the December's storm last year, the roof collapsed on itself falling into the house.

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Land bank forms partnership to help deal with racial disparities

ALBANY COUNTY — To deal with racial disparities in home ownership, the Albany County Land Bank is partnering with a not-for-profit housing development organization based in Syracuse.

Home HeadQuarters Inc. says it is the leading home-improvement lender to families of color living in Syracuse, out-lending all other financial institutions combined. Founded in 1996, it is the nation’s first designated Community Based Development Organization.

Albany County set up its land bank in 2014 to redistribute tax-foreclosed, vacant, or abandoned properties, returning the properties to productive use.

The new partnership will “provide more opportunities for historically underserved populations and minority contractors to purchase real estate and build wealth,” according to a release from the land bank.

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Land Bank partnership to help homebuyers denied traditional financing

ALBANY — The Albany County Land Bank is now working with a Syracuse-based organization to help city residents who can’t access traditional forms of financing and are interested in buying a land bank property.

The partnership with Home HeadQuarters Inc., a nonprofit housing and community development organization, is meant to increase access to the resources residents need to purchase and rehab land bank properties, especially those in traditionally underserved neighborhoods.

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Splash pad coming to Schenectady’s Wallingford Park in Mont Pleasant

SCHENECTADY — The Capital Region Land Bank’s board of directors and The Schenectady Foundation have agreed to build a splash pad at Wallingford Park.

The splash pad will be built in the city’s Mont Pleasant neighborhood as part of the Thriving Neighborhoods Challenge program that seeks to engage residents and neighborhood groups to revitalize neighborhoods and awards grants to unique proposals.

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Town Supervisor Mahan celebrates Earth Day with new conservation, sustainability plans

Conservation of 880 Troy-Schenectady Road

Last year, the Town Supervisor began discussions with the Albany County Land Bank to acquire and conserve 10.6 acres along the Schuyler Creek, which flows north and south through the site. This site was the subject of a foreclosure by the County, who then transferred the property to the Land Bank which had listed it for sale. After the Town received some initial calls from potential buyers, it was immediately determined that the development of this property would compromise a “natural buffer” to the Garling Heights neighborhood. In March, the Town Board approved of the acquisition from the Land Bank for $1. The Town is in the process of closing on the property and by doing so, it will be protected from future development.

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Developer sought for historic Waterloo house

An effort is underway to save what has been labeled a “severely distressed” historic village home.

The former home of Judge J.K. Richardson at 101 Virginia St. has fallen into such disrepair that it is uninhabitable.

The Finger Lakes Regional Land Bank Corporation, an agency of Seneca County, acquired the property in 2018 from Richard Kenney. The land bank paid to remove more than 7.5 tons of garbage and debris from the property, demolished and removed a collapsed garage and removed trees and grapevines that had overtaken the home, all in an effort to make the property more marketable.

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Build Back Brighter

The city's fits and starts of renewal struggled to take hold until about 10 years ago, when a few things happened in close conjunction to one another. The Newburgh Community Land Bank formed and started getting abandoned properties fixed up and back on the tax rolls. The Newburgh chapter of Habitat For Humanity, which was formed by three long-time Newburgh residents sitting around a kitchen table in 1999, evolved into a robust nonprofit that's since completed over 100 projects in the city.

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