HOUSINGNEWS REPORT
DETROIT’S ROCKY HOUSING REBOUND
possible, demolished. In fact the city’s website has a demolition tracker.
“The goal of every program is to make neighborhoods better and beautify every block of the city. There’s no city in the country that has more unoccupied houses than Detroit.”
According to that site, since 2014 the city has taken down 13,300 vacant buildings, and hopes to take down as many as 40,000 buildings in eight years total. “The land bank is in the media more than anything else because of the demolition program,” said Nick Najor, project liaison for the land bank authority. Najor noted that the number of buildings the city can demolish is limited because it’s using its allocation of the federal Hardest Hit Funds to finance the demolition effort. By law those funds can only be used in federally designated areas of the city. Originally created in 2008, the land bank was expanded in 2014 in the aftermath of the municipal bankruptcy.
NICK NAJOR PROJECT LIAISON, DETROIT LAND BANK AUTHORITY
Putting Properties Back Into Productive Use
Land bank properties are available only to owner-occupants, not investors. The houses are sold at auction and some can be purchased on the spot for as little as $1,000. Additionally, the land bank has a “side lot” program allowing homeowners to purchase the vacant side lot next to their home for only $100. “The goal of every program is to make neighborhoods better and beautify every block of the city. There’s no city in the country that has more unoccupied houses than Detroit,” Najor said.
Najor estimated that the land bank owns about 100,000 properties in the city of Detroit. About two-thirds them are vacant lots and one-third are either single family residences or two- unit houses. “With this gigantic inventory we have different programs to get homes back into people’s hand to be put into productive use. We are the only avenue through which you can buy a Detroit property that’s guaranteed to be to code and move-in ready.”
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JANUARY 2018 | ATTOM DATA SOLUTIONS
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