Land Bank - July Voice 2022

Land bank as an economic development tool

Revitalized properties, increased property values

By Gabrielle Torina, R1 Planning Council

Summer networking is back and was officially jump-started with a luncheon hosted in partnership with Region 1 Planning Council (R1) on June 1. But this wasn’t your normal luncheon. Attendees experienced a diverse crowd that combined both the business community, small developers and residents, all looking to learn more about how the land bank works and why it’s such an important economic development tool for the Rockford region.

The Region 1 Planning Council Land Bank exists to effectively acquire abandoned and tax delinquent properties, to allow for private sector redevelopment. Hundreds of properties each year qualify as legally abandoned under Illinois state statute. These properties sit at length, often years, vacant and deteriorating, with no payment of property taxes. With a land bank, vacant properties that are unmarketable due to tax liens can be acquired and returned to the private sector in a cost-effective manner, putting an end to the vicious cycle of declining equalized assessed valuations and abandoned properties in communities.

The event kicked off with an address from Rockford Mayor Thomas McNamara, a board member of R1, who boasted about its positive impacts and how the land bank program overall improves lives for residents. Michael Dunn Jr., executive director, then led the audience through the history of R1, why planning councils exist, and the value they provide for regional collaboration and planning efforts.

First Multi-County Regional Landbank

In 2017, Illinois gave grant funding to eight applicants to start land banks. R1 received one of the largest grants due to having existing infrastructure ready to begin operations and was the first to form a land bank and successfully complete a sale. The R1 Land Bank also is the first multi-county regional landbank in the state of Illinois and continues to set a standard of excellence for regionalized collaboration.

“We have become a mentor to cities like Peoria, Quad Cities, Kankakee and more in a very short time. That says a lot about the quality of our team and the impact we’re making on removing blight,” explained Dunn.

Eric Setter, land bank coordinator at R1, walked the crowd through the cycle of how a land bank property is acquired, clears its title, and land is returned to productive use. Most commonly, properties are acquired through the abandonment statute. The statute allows a property to be deemed abandoned if the property is 1) two or more years tax delinquent or has two or more years unpaid water invoices 2) vacant and 3) an impairment to public health.

If you know of problem properties, you are encouraged to send them to property@r1planning.org.

Finally, a panel featuring David Reyes of Advantage Realtors and Land Bank attorney Brent Denzin finished out the event answering questions from the audience regarding laws and upcoming legislation, and positive success stories of revitalized properties were shared.

The estimated economic impact of R1 property sales is:

■ $18M in EAV (equalized assessed value) growth from total number of parcels sold,

■ $6M in renovation costs spent by developers,

■ $3M in building materials utilized from R1 property buyers, and a

■ $2M increase in adjacent property values, simply from a neighboring house going from vacant to occupied.

Stay abreast of more land bank news, upcoming events and property sales by visiting R1planning.org and clicking on Properties!

Gabrielle Torina is communications specialist at R1 Planning Council.

Region 1 Planning Council received the Medium Metro Achievement Award at the National Association of Regional Councils’ 56th Annual Conference and Exhibition in Columbus on June 14 for creating a regional multi-jurisdictional land bank and embedding its operation and governance in the regional planning council.