As the Cuyahoga Land Bank celebrates its 15th anniversary, we reflect on the key milestones and achievements that have defined our work since inception.
The Cuyahoga Land Bank’s first five years (2009-2013) were marked by significant progress and transformative achievements. From the initial legislative groundwork to the acquisition and demolition of blighted properties, the Land Bank played a pivotal role in revitalizing communities across our state, specifically in Cuyahoga County where our work happens. The timeline below highlights key milestones, grants and funding that contributed to the Land Bank’s success in addressing the challenges that vacant and blighted land creates in our communities. Join us as we look back on these transformative years and explore the impact of the Land Bank’s work on our region.
December 2008: Land Banks Get the Legislative Thumbs Up
From The Plain Dealer on December 10, 2008: A radical plan to help turn around decaying Cuyahoga County neighborhoods through a land bank cleared the Ohio Senate Wednesday by a near unanimous vote.
The legislation, which passed with only a single Republican dissent, allows officials in the state’s most populous county to set up a non-profit land reutilization program to accept or buy foreclosed or abandoned properties. Read more here.
June 2009: Cuyahoga Land Bank is in Business!
As the summer months kicked off, so did the official opening of Cuyahoga Land Bank as an organization that would change the homeownership landscape of Cuyahoga County.
September 2009: Off We Go: Land Bank Grabs, Clears First Properties
Cuyahoga County’s new land bank is likely to acquire its first properties this week, starting a new phase in the local battle to combat an unprecedented foreclosure crisis. Up to six parcels in Cleveland and Brooklyn will be test cases for the nonprofit corporation, which expects to take title to roughly 250 parcels by the end of the year. Read all about our first properties here.
December 2009: Fannie Mae Partners With the Land Bank
Fannie Mae sells the Land Bank foreclosed homes for $1 — and will contribute $3,500 towards demolition for each house that isn’t salvageable. The first 25 properties are slated to change hands this month and most will be torn down. Read more about this agreement here.
January 2010: Funds Begin to Roll in to Help the Land Bank Improve County Communities
Cuyahoga County’s new land bank, along with its partners, received nearly $41 million in federal stimulus funds to demolish blighted homes and renovate others in 20 targeted neighborhoods throughout the county. Learn how they’ll do it all here.
October 2011: First Large Scale Demo Under Cuyahoga Land Bank’s Belt
This is where we began to reimagine seven acres in East Cleveland with the demolition of 27 apartment buildings and 31 homes that had long stood vacant and abandoned on Hartshorn Avenue, in addition to the deconstruction on five apartment buildings on Eddy Road. This is the largest scale joint demolition and deconstruction project that the Cuyahoga Land Bank has undertaken to date. The full story is here.
November 2011: We Prioritize Work for Special Needs Populations
Shelter is essential for all of us, and the Housing First program – offered through CHN – provides that basic necessity for people with special needs. Since 2002, Housing First, a coalition of public and private organizations, has built or renovated more than 470 homes in Cuyahoga County for people with histories of long-term homelessness and disabilities. That number will more than double in the next several years with the Land Bank’s help, and you can read about it here.
December 2011: Land Bank Side Yard Program Takes Off
Like all of Cuyahoga Land Bank’s efforts, the Side Lot program was a quick hit with neighbors. “People put a picnic table there or a big garden or they fence it in,” says Kimberly Steigerwald, Acquisitions Manager for the Cuyahoga Land Bank. “They always find a way to put [the side yard] to good use.” Check out how many side yards sold in the first year.
March 2012: Acquisitions and Demolitions Hitting Their Strides
Cuyahoga Land Bank hit two milestones as it continues to fulfill its mission to strategically acquire properties, return them to productive use, reduce blight, increase property values, support community goals and improve the quality of life for county residents. Check out our March ‘12 numbers here.
September 2012: The Start of Deed-in-Escrow
Cuyahoga Land Bank launched the Owner-Occupant Buyer Advantage Program designed to make individuals and families interested in getting a great deal on a property easy! The new initiative is geared specifically toward prospective owner-occupiers – people who want to rehabilitate a property and make it their home. The program goes by a new name now, but you can read its history here.
March 2013 – Properties Coming in at Breakneck Speed
Land Bank has about 1,300 properties in its county-wide inventory and is adding them at a rate of more than 100 a month!
May 2013: The Land Bank Sets the National Pace – Again!
A Cuyahoga Land Bank-led coalition has completed the distribution of nearly $41 million in Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds – a federal stimulus-funded initiative to stabilize neighborhoods. The Land Bank was the lead applicant and program manager for a consortium that included the City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County and the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA). Read more.
August 2013 – Nationwide Story of Kidnapped Girls Comes to End With Land Bank Demo
Demolition crews began tearing down Ariel Castro’s former house of horror Wednesday after one of three young women held captive there for 11 years brought a bundle of yellow balloons in memory of other missing children.
Cheers erupted on Seymour Avenue as the heavy equipment clawed away part of the roof and walls of the rundown house where Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight were rescued after years of living in chains. The full story is here.
September 2013: Land Bank Accomplishment Stats Keep Climbing
Cuyahoga Land Bank hit two milestones as it continues to fulfill its mission to strategically acquire properties, return them to productive use, reduce blight, increase property values, support community goals and improve the quality of life for county residents. As of September 2013, 700 distressed homes acquired by the Cuyahoga Land Bank from tax foreclosure, HUD and Fannie Mae have been renovated by private owners, using private dollars. These owners purchased the homes on strict conditions that the homes would be renovated in compliance with the Cuyahoga Land Bank’s Housing Quality Standards and Specifications, housing codes and applicable point of sale requirements. More numbers are here.
September 2013: Foreclosures Finally Start to Drop
The number of mortgage foreclosures filed in Cuyahoga County is receding rapidly but left in the wake are thousands of blighted houses that would cost tens of millions of dollars to demolish, a new study says.
At the current pace, the total of new mortgage foreclosure cases will drop to slightly under 7,300 this year, the lowest level in 10 years, according to a study (Read the study) by Frank Ford, an adviser for the Western Reserve Land Conservancy’s Thriving Communities Institute. More here.
October 2013: The Land Bank Builds Another Philanthropic Program
A young couple received the keys to their new house as part of a ceremony that launched a Cuyahoga County veteran-housing program. Michael MacMillan, 28, an Air Force veteran who served two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, and his pregnant wife, Elizabeth, a nurse, moved into their home in a quiet neighborhood off Taylor Road in University Heights – a home they bought from Cuyahoga Land Bank’s “HomeFront” pilot program. The full story is here.