Ideastream Public Media | By Des Torres
The man many credit with stabilizing the housing market in Northeast Ohio in the wake of the 2008 housing crisis and who helped write the state law that allowed for the creation of the nearly six dozen county land banks in Ohio has died.
Gus Frangos passed away unexpectedly on Aug. 10, according to the Cuyahoga Land Bank. He was 69.
In 2008, Frangos founded the Cuyahoga Land Bank, the first in Ohio.
“His work directly stabilized the housing market across Northeast Ohio and across the country,” said Ricardo Leon, the interim head of the land bank. “If we did not have this land bank, we’d probably be in a situation where we would still be dealing with a significantly higher amount of vacant and abandoned properties.”
Frangos was also an incredibly kind man said former Cuyahoga County Treasurer Jim Rokakis, Frangos’ long-time friend and colleague, who described Frangos as a dedicated public servant.
“He gave a lot of himself to this issue of the land bank and just lived, breathed and slept land banks,” said Rokakis. “We would not be where we are in the land bank movement without him.”
The two men devised strategies to deal with vacant and abandoned properties that were affected by the foreclosure crisis, Rokakis said.
“We first passed a bill that helped us speed up foreclosures, and then we passed a bill that allowed for the creation of county land banks,” Rokakis said. “The bill passed in 2008. There are now seventy land banks in Ohio, and they have raised over $2 billion — that is a major impact on the landscape in the state of Ohio.”
County land banks aim to acquire vacant lands to revitalize their communities, according to the Ohio Land Bank Association.
Frangos also served as a magistrate judge at the Cleveland Municipal Court and was a former member of the Cleveland City Council.
“He really is irreplaceable,” Rokakis said. “Now a lot of different people are going to have to step up and fill the hole that he leaves. But I don’t think you could ever find that much talent in one person. How fortunate we were to have him work on this issue with us.”
Frangos touched many lives with the work he did, said Leon, who has succeeded Frangos at the land bank.
“On our ten-year anniversary we did an impact analysis and found that the bank had about a $1.5 billion impact in our region,” Leon said. “But I think beyond the dollars and cents of the work, there have been countless folks whose organizations were assisted by Gus.”
After Frangos’ death, his executive assistant told other staffers a story about Frangos that Leon said captured his character.
“This was maybe six or seven years ago,” Leon said. It was raining and Frangos had an important meeting to go to.
“He had his umbrella, and he was good to go,” Leon said. When he came back Frangos was soaked from head to tow.
His assistant asked, “Why are you wet?”
“He said that on his way back he saw a woman in a wheelchair that didn’t have an umbrella,” Leon said. “He gave her his and just walked the rest of the way in the rain.”
Frangos’ impact was immeasurable, and his legacy will continue even after his passing, said Leon.
“It’s been nothing but nonstop showering of folks reaching out and telling us how he helped them,” Leons said. “Gus’s work is going to live on for years and years and beyond. He may no longer be with us, but he left us with a plan and a vision. He gave us the keys to keep the work moving forward.”
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