What is a Landbank?

Landbanks act as a legal and financial mechanism to transform vacant abandoned and tax-foreclosed property back to productive use. Generally, landbanks are funded by local governments’ budgets or the management and disposition of tax-foreclosed property.

1. Tax-foreclosed property is first evaluated before resale. If the home is no longer repairable, it is removed so that the land can be renovated.
2. In addition, a landbank is a powerful locational incentive, which encourages redevelopment in older communities that generally have little available land and neighborhoods that have been blighted by an out-migration of residents and businesses.
3. While a landbank provides short-term fiscal benefits, it can also act as a tool for planning long-term community development. Successful land bank programs revitalize blighted neighborhoods and direct reinvestment back into these neighborhoods to support their long-term community vision.

For more information, contact Erin Van Dyke at (517) 264-4598

Lenawee County Landbank