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Genesee County Land Bank marks decade of progress

Flint Area

Meeting Evolving Community Needs

A white house sits in a field of dirt and construction debris.
The Genesee County Land Bank has demolished 4,946 properties and positioned a number of vacant properties for more than $70 million in investments. Photo: Rick Smith

One of seven land banks profiled in the Center for Community Progress (CCP) new report, “Take it to the Bank: How Land Banks Are Strengthening America’s Neighborhoods,” the Genesee County Land Bank in the Mott Foundation’s home community of Flint celebrated a decade of work in 2014.

The first of 36 established in Michigan, the Genesee County Land Bank has accepted 14,803 tax-foreclosed properties over the past 10 years. It has demolished 4,946 properties and positioned a number of vacant properties for more than $70 million in investments. Working in collaboration with other county agencies, the land bank also has:

A pristine home sits next to two that appear to be abandoned.
By removing blighted properties and whenever possible, selling the cleared lot to adjacent homeowners, the Genesee County Land Bank has helped stabilize and protect otherwise intact neighborhoods. Photo: Rick Smith
  • Removed more than 4,000 tons of trash.
  • Boarded and secured more than 2,000 vacant structures.
  • Mowed more than 65,000 vacant properties via its Clean & Green Program.
  • Leased 701 vacant lots for care and reuse.
  • Sold 947 vacant lots.
  • Planted clover on 700 vacant lots, with 500 more anticipated by Spring 2015.
  • Sold more than 2,200 houses, more than 1,700 through land contracts.