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By ANN RICHARDS 

Increasing interest in land banks – public authorities that can efficiently acquire, hold, manage and develop tax-foreclosed properties – has prompted the creation of a new organization, the Center for Community Progress.

Read how the new center plans to help cities across the country eliminate the blight associated with vacant and abandoned properties, and how Michigan’s network of land banks is serving as a national model for reform. 

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Center for Community Progress helps cities put vacant, abandoned property back in use
Changing the systems that lead to property abandonment and giving cities the laws and technical capacity to thrive is the focus of a new national agency, the Center for Community Progress.

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Foreclosure crisis builds national interest in Michigan’s tax foreclosure, land bank model
A land-banking model developed in Michigan is helping cities across the country deal with foreclosed properties and create more viable, livable communities.

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Land banks help revitalize urban communities 
[Q&A with Frank Alexander, Emory University School of Law. April 19, 2006] 

Land Bank Authorities: A Guide for the Creation and Operation of Local Land Bank
[In this guidebook, Emory University Law Professor Frank Alexander explores the development of land banks in St. Louis, Cleveland, Louisville, Atlanta, and Genesee County, Mich., addressing the conditions, history, and legal structures of each. 04/01/2005 PDF 740KB ]

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Genesee County Land Bank: putting property back into productive use 
[A related article in a 2006 issue of Mott Mosaic]