Land Bank Achieves Initial Success in Erie County, New York

Harold McNeil reports on the first successful renovation of a formerly abandoned house by the Buffalo Erie-Niagara Land Improvement Corp. (a land bank, by any other name), in Lackawanna’s Second Ward.

"It is a first-of-its-kind revitalization effort that seeks to spare uninhabited and unattended properties from wrecker’s ball so they can be placed back on the real estate market – for more than double the investment," writes McNeil.

The success of the land bank's initial effort was first put in motion by a 2012 decision by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to make it easier for counties, such as Erie County in this case, to create land banks for the purposes of reclaiming and rehabbing private properties.

According to Mcneil's reportage, "there are plans to renovate eight more reclaimed properties across the county this year, with the expectation that those efforts will be doubled in 2016."

Hat tip to the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy for sharing the article.