Baltimore Housing Fights Blight with a Land Bank

Baltimore Housing Creates a Land Bank Plan to Strengthen Neighborhoods

At the request of Mayor Sheila Dixon, the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) announces a plan to create a land bank that can be implemented within 12 months. The Department of Housing and Community Development proposes a 3 step approach that will return abandoned properties to productive use. The plan will require that the City:

(1) Place responsibility for abandoned property suitable for development or redevelopment under management and control of a central agency

(2) Provide that agency with authority to sell abandoned property subject to routine reporting and auditing requirements; and

(3) Create a non-profit land bank entity with authority to acquire, maintain, and sell abandoned property on behalf of the City.

Abandoned properties drain money from innocent homeowners, cost the City money, and reduce the quality of life in affected neighborhoods. There are nearly 30,000 abandoned properties (structures and lots) in Baltimore City. The City currently owns nearly 10,000 vacant properties, or 1/3 of all vacant property in the City. Approximately 4,000 City-owned vacant properties are vacant structures. In other words, the City owns about twenty percent (25%) of all vacant residential buildings in Baltimore. These buildings are uninhabitable and many are either beyond repair or are too costly to repair. Dilapidated buildings are safety and fire hazards, cause damage to adjoining properties, and lower the quality of life for a community.

Mayor Sheila Dixon is dedicated to stabilizing Baltimore neighborhoods, "this is an exciting opportunity to find new ways to create affordable housing and build the types of reinvigorated neighborhoods our citizens deserve. I am committed to cutting through the red tape and making abandoned properties available to developers, non-profits and other organizations who want to invest in our communities." The impact of abandoned property goes beyond dollars and cents. Neighbors must live amid eyesores that attract crime, arson, vermin, and dumping, abandoned properties are a visible reminder of the need for accelerating and streamlining the disposition and property management processes. By simultaneously pursuing the three immediate action steps, the City will benefit by:

• streamlining the process for selling City property by reducing redundant approvals.

• gaining flexibility in recruiting and hiring professional staff and procuring services from vendors.

• adopting sales policies and priorities with input from various stakeholders.

• reducing the time needed for consolidating development parcels.

The plan also identifies the need for state legislation to improve the time consuming and cumbersome tax sale foreclosure processes -- a primary tool in clearing title to abandoned property.

Baltimore Housing Commissioner Paul T. Graziano is optimistic that a land bank can create a positive impact, “we have looked closely at the vacant housing challenges we face in Baltimore, and have developed a strategic approach to build upon the success of our Project 5000 acquisition tool. The land bank will help restore and strengthen the communities that need our support. It will also facilitate exciting opportunities in affordable housing and economic development in Baltimore.”

The immediate implementation of these three action steps will help accelerate and streamline the processes for managing and selling City vacant property. In a city with large pockets of blight and with a shortage of workforce and affordable housing, a land bank entity provides needed tools to efficiently acquire, manage and sell abandoned property for productive re-use.