Nearly 200 people packed the City Club of Cleveland on June 30 to hear Cuyahoga Land Bank President Gus Frangos discuss lessons from the last eight years of strategic demolition, rehabilitation, and community rebuilding. Frangos’ speech, “The Land Bank Eight Years On: Evaluating a National Model,” highlighted the progress made since the creation of legislation which enabled the creation of the Cuyahoga Land Bank.
Frangos cited estimates that there were nearly 17,000 abandoned houses desperately needing to come down in Cuyahoga County when he and his team set out in 2009 and that today’s estimate is closer to 7,000 houses in need of demolition. “We still have a way to go, but this is an identifiable problem that we can solve,” said Frangos. Over 1,500 abandoned, blighted and tax delinquent properties have also been renovated through the Land Bank’s innovative Deed-in-Escrow Program, its In-House Renovation Program and its network of Community Development Corporations. The audience engaged in a thoughtful question and answer session following Frangos comments. To listen to the program audio or view the event video, click HERE.