Land Bank
2009 NACo Achievement Award Winner
Wayne County, Mich., MI
Best In Category
About the Program
Category: Community and Economic Development (Best in Category)
Year: 2009
The Wayne County Land Bank (WCLB) is an important tool available to the businesses, nonprofit and residential community for redevelopment and revitalization projects. The Land Bank’s goals are to promote economic growth and development by returning properties to the tax rolls, encouraging the redevelopment of Brownfield property and promoting maintenance or demolition of blighted property. Land Bank results include the creation of renewed housing, commercial, industrial, and retail development in targeted areas throughout the County; cleaner and safer neighborhoods; and the retention and creation of sustainable jobs in Wayne County. WCLB’s two primary programs are Project Saved II and TURBO (Transforming Underdeveloped Residential & Business Opportunities). Project Saved II provides economic incentives to nonprofits and residential owners to rehabilitate economic incentives to nonprofits and residential owners to rehabilitate tax reverted property to productive use. TURBO provides incentives to private property owners who develop or rehabilitate unproductive properties in Wayne County. Through an innovative website, the WCLB also helps the citizens and developers of Wayne County connect the dots between the Treasurer and Register of Deeds. Most recently, the Land Bank added to its responsibilities the coordination of $25.9 million in Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds made available through the Housing and Economic Redevelopment Act to address abandoned and foreclosed properties. Using a strategic and targeted approach, areas of the county that typically received less economic investment are getting new development attention. In turn, the Land Bank is helping to uplift the County as a whole and provide a more attractive place to live, work, and play. In its first two years of operation, the Wayne County Land Bank Corporation has helped stimulate millions of dollars in investments and retained and created thousands of jobs.