The Detroit Land Bank Authority, an entity responsible for selling vacant homes and lots in the city, expects to sell most of its structures by the end of 2023.
Spokeswoman Alyssa Strickland told the Free Press in an email “people doubted the DLBA could do this, but over the last eight years, we’ve proven not only that we can sell houses and target residential blight, but that we’re able to successfully do it at a speed that’s unprecedented anywhere in the country.”
The dwindling inventory does not mean blight is eliminated from the city, Strickland added, but the focus moving forward will adapt to vacant land sales as the Land Bank’s mission is to return blighted and vacant properties to productive use.
“There are still blighted houses and buildings out there that are privately owned and there will still be houses on the City’s demolition list, but the City is making great strides in wiping out blight and the Land Bank has tools to further that effort,” Strickland said.
In a Wednesday hearing on proposed budgets, Land Bank officials asked the city for $11 million from the general fund for the 2023 fiscal year, which begins July 1, to help maintain operations and properties that could be put up for sale. Interim Executive Director Tammy Daniels said she expects to list the remaining 5,400 salvageable properties the end of next year.
“We don’t have enough money to maintain our properties. We have to be very strategic with the dollars that we have,” Daniels said. “What we have done strategically is to focus on salvageable structures to get those into the hands of private owners so that they can take care of them as quickly as possible. We have increased our sale of vacant land to transition that into private ownership so they can take care of it.”
The discussion was part of financial asks and previews this week from different departments to City Council as budgets are considered for the upcoming fiscal year.
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The $11 million from the city’s general fund, which is consistent with last year’s budget, would cover Land Bank operations and staff to maintain current and expanding sales and inventory programs, Daniels said. The Land Bank also seeks $150,000 in private funding from the Kresge Foundation and the Berman Foundation, according to the proposed budget. The agency also projects structure sales to amount to more than $5 million.
The Land Bank contributed $14.5 million in annual property tax revenue and expects to drive that to $17.7 million by the end of the next fiscal year, Daniels said. But she expects sales revenue to decrease due to the declining inventory of structures.
“We expect to list all of our structures by the end of fiscal 2023. … That’s a major source of our revenue,” Daniels said. “We’re going to be pivoting our efforts to vacant land sales. Those sales don’t move as quickly. The vacant land sales require oftentimes a project plan so it’s a little more difficult.”
Daniels said she hopes vacant lot sales will help offset potential decreased revenue from structure sales. Since 2014, the Land Bank has sold more than 15,000 structures and 20,000 side lots, and 70% of homes were bought by Detroit residents. It currently has less than 5,400 salvageable structures left, along with 62,000 vacant lots — 40,000 of which it plans to list for sale by the end of this year.
“We anticipate there will still be some structures available after that because they didn’t sell at first. Listings that go unsold are cycled back through the Auction or Own It Now listings or moved to other programs depending on the property and neighborhood,” Strickland said in an email.
Anyone can track the agency’s inventory and sales online.
Land Bank officials also touted a new Create a Project program, which allows residents to purchase vacant land for $250 per lot to transform into community spaces.
Daniels said the entity will also expand its Nuisance Abatement Program to address private blight in new areas, to create a streamlined process for private owners to donate properties to the Land Bank and, using a survey coordination effort with Detroit’s demolition and general services departments, to identify and track blighted homes.
Several council members expressed concerns about the Land Bank’s operations and the ability for Detroiters to access properties. Councilmember Gabriela Santiago-Romero asked Daniels about barriers to giving low- to moderate-income households access to the Land Bank’s Rehabbed and Ready program, which replaces vacant properties with homes ready for purchase.
“The rehab portion is 100% funded by our philanthropic partnerships. The goal of the program is to activate the private market in these neighborhoods,” Daniels said, adding some homes are eventually sold for $100,000 to more than $250,000.
“We are limited because we have philanthropic dollars and the cost of rehab has gone through the roof during COVID. We’re trying to find ways to expand the program and trying to find dollars to help us expand the program so we can be particularly sensitive to issues of low-income people accessing our homes. We are going after additional dollars to expand the program,” Daniels continued.
Council President Pro-Tem James Tate’s concern was residents being scammed into signing rental contracts with people who don’t actually own the property. Tate asked what the Land Bank plans to do to eliminate the issue.
“We coordinate with (the Detroit Police Department) who have deed fraud investigators and then obviously, we would pursue that either through the civil chain … or through the criminal side with the Wayne County prosecutor,” legal counsel Tim Devine said.
Those who were victimized can have the opportunity to buy the house back if they prove their connection to the home, such as providing utility payments in their name, Devine added.
Councilman Fred Durhal III also raised concerns about a lack of response from Land Bank officials to residents who attempt to reach the agency with questions or concerns.
“It never was acceptable but it’s totally unacceptable for us to be nonresponsive. That is the mandate that I am issuing to the staff that we need to recognize that we are servants,” Daniels said.
She added that she aims to shift the culture of the Land Bank.
“There are a lot of persistent misconceptions about the Land Bank, and we want to show people we are accessible and so are the opportunities to purchase DLBA property,” Daniels said
Dana Afana is the Detroit city hall reporter for the Free Press. Contact Dana: dafana@freepress.com or 313-635-3491. Follow her on Twitter: @DanaAfana.
Read More:Detroit Land Bank Authority seeks $11M from city in budget hearing
2022-03-17 21:39:29
