ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — The Albany County Land Bank put its 800th property back on the market this month.
The Land Bank takes vacant, abandoned or tax foreclosed properties, repairs them, and puts them into the hands of new owners.
The county’s not-for-profit land bank was started in 2014.
SCHENECTADY — The city is seeking bids to demolish 13 vacant buildings throughout four neighborhoods as part of ongoing efforts to eliminate blight and revitalize local communities.
The city, in partnership with the Capital Region Land Bank and the Schenectady County Metroplex Development Authority, has demolished over 200 blighted and vacant buildings throughout the city in recent years.
ELMIRA N.Y. (WETM) – Near Westside Neighborhood Association has partnered with GST BOCES to build a house for the One House at a Time program.
The One House at a Time program is one of NWNA’s affordable housing programs and is designed to create more single-family homes and increase the rate of homeownership in the City of Elmira. The program receives funding from the City of Elmira’s HOME Investment Partnership Program.
NWNA purchased the vacant lot in the Clinton-Columbia Historic District from the Chemung County Land Bank in 2019 and the house was built by the Building Construction students during the 2020-2021 school year.
COHOES, N.Y. “Small lot, tiny home, big impact.” That’s the idea behind the poet’s perch, a tiny house project in Cohoes set to become a writer’s retreat and garden for the community.
When completed, it will become the Poet’s Perch, a writers’ retreat with a native-landscaped reading garden and two Little Free Libraries – one each at adult- and child-browsing height.
After months of research, Rosenheck found the Cohoes property on the Albany County Land Bank’s for-sale list.
Land banks and community land trusts (CLT) are two entities that, in concert, can help reverse the trajectory of disinvestment and unlock a pipeline of VAD properties to provide much needed quality affordable housing for current and future generations.
Places like Albany, New York; Atlanta, Georgia; and Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio are pioneering models of how these partnerships can support neighborhood stabilization and prevent displacement of vulnerable residents.
This year, the show house is partnering with affordable housing advocate Kingston City Land Bank to renovate an existing home in need of repair.
With New York City transplants arriving in the region during the pandemic, the average home value rose 30% in the Kingston metro area, according to Zillow. In an effort to help a local resident find affordable housing, Kingston Design Connection has partnered with the Kingston City Land Bank to rehab a property in dire need of repair for the latest show house. The home will be sold to a first-time homeowner who earns 80% or less of the area median income. “It’s the type of partnership that I’d love to see show houses across the country imitate,” Damour says.
See the incredible transformation of this year’s Kingston Design Showhouse, on view on weekends through October 24, here.
OGDENSBURG, New York (WWNY) - BOCES students in St. Lawrence County are helping the City of Ogdensburg to fill in holes left by the demolition of derelict houses. They’re building new homes to replace what’s been torn down.
“It’s a good feeling for me. I feel like we’re going to make the town better, the city better,” said Abbie Rybka, a Northwest Tech building trades student.
The Ogdensburg Land Bank - a non-profit whose mission is to revive the housing stock in the city - paid for all the materials. The Land Bank liked it so much they went and bought another built at BOCES’ Southwest Tech.
“It’s been a really great partnership and opportunity for the Land Bank,” said Andrea Smith, the group’s Executive Director.
BINGHAMTON, NY – The Broome County Land Bank has just completed its 4th affordable housing renovation.
This property is located at 3 King Avenue on Binghamton’s West Side.
This is the first renovated 2- family home the Land Bank has done.
AMSTERDAM — The Common Council signed off on a cooperation agreement with the Capital Region Land Bank on Tuesday to pursue a state funding program aimed at rehabbing dilapidated city-owned properties and getting the fixed-up homes into the hands of underserved families.
The state Homes and Community Renewal Legacy City Access Program is geared toward addressing blighted residential properties in upstate communities that drive down market conditions while straining limited municipal resources as the cost to renovate the languishing buildings exceeds their post-project value.
Land banks can be beneficial to communities because they return vacant, abandoned and tax-delinquent properties to productive use while helping to facilitate neighborhood revitalization and home affordability.
(WIVB) – If you are looking to grab up a piece of the American dream in this red hot housing market, you might be in luck.
Local officials in the City of Tonawanda cut the ribbon on a new build on Tuesday. The property is affordable and competition is limited, because you have to be income-qualified to even be considered for this new build in the City of Tonawanda.
KINGSTON, N.Y. — The Kingston City Land Bank is seeking a request for proposals for substantial renovations of two single-family homes in Kingston.
BINGHAMTON, NY – The Broome County Land Bank is working on renovating 5 properties, one of them is completed and up for sale.
The first renovated home in 2021 is located at 124 Gaylord Street in the City of Binghamton.
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.
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.”
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.
Now a police dispatcher, she could probably qualify for a traditional loan today. But she's glad she went the route she did, purchasing her home from the Albany County Land Bank with a loan from Home HeadQuarters.
Home prices are beginning to respond to previous investments in poor neighborhoods, said Katelyn Wright, executive director of the Greater Syracuse Land Bank. In areas of the city that have traditionally struggled, such as the South and Near West sides, buyers are showing a new willingness to spend.
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.
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.