When the Real Estate Market Ruins Your Plans

Planners in Houston finally establish a municipal land-bank program for redevelopment, but find after years of delays, that the real estate market has changed.

1 minute read

July 15, 2004, 1:00 PM PDT

By Connie Chung


"In the mid-1990s, when officials decided to establish a land-bank program in Houston, the Third Ward seemed an ideal laboratory for the city's newest experiment in urban redevelopment....The land bank would sell abandoned property to developers at below-market prices to promote construction of low- and moderate-income housing." The city finally established the Land Assemblage Redevelopment Authority, which oversees the land bank program, but "finds itself at a disadvantage as it competes with Houston's freewheeling development tradition." Unlike the municipal land bank program in Dallas, the Houston program currently does not "have the authority to acquire tax-delinquent property before it becomes available to the public." In addition, the demand for property near downtown Houston "regardless of its condition, is rising."

Many people have raised concerns over the land bank concept. Some are skeptical, saying that that there is no need for city intervention if the market is already addressing the blighted area of the Third Ward on its own. On the other side of the spectrum, community groups are concerned that "there is always a risk that such programs will benefit private development interests rather than neighborhood residents."

Thanks to Connie Chung

Sunday, July 11, 2004 in The Chicago Tribune

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Aerial view of town of Wailuku in Maui, Hawaii with mountains in background against cloudy sunset sky.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly

Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

July 1, 2025 - Honolulu Civil Beat

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 2, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

White and purple sign for Slow Street in San Francisco, California with people crossing crosswalk.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths

Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

July 1, 2025 - KQED

Google street view image of strip mall in suburban Duncanville, Texas.

Adaptive Reuse Will Create Housing in a Suburban Texas Strip Mall

A developer is reimagining a strip mall property as a mixed-use complex with housing and retail.

5 hours ago - Parking Reform Network

Blue tarps covering tents set up by unhoused people along chain link fence on concrete sidewalk.

Study: Anti-Homelessness Laws Don’t Work

Research shows that punitive measures that criminalized unhoused people don’t help reduce homelessness.

7 hours ago - Next City

Aerial tram moving along cable in hilly area in Medellin, Colombia.

In U.S., Urban Gondolas Face Uphill Battle

Cities in Latin America and Europe have embraced aerial transitways — AKA gondolas — as sustainable, convenient urban transport, especially in tricky geographies. American cities have yet to catch up.

July 6 - InTransition Magazine