County Land Bank Provides Annual Report: 16 Lots Back On Tax Rolls In 2015 By: Jimmy McCarthy, Post-Journal

From the Jamestown Post Journal

The Chautauqua County Land Bank Corporation presented a report about the successes and outcomes during a meeting of the Planning and Economic Development Committee on Tuesday. Efforts are continuing to locate homes for rehabilitation in neighborhoods while finding the right buyers to reinvest. Peter Lombardi, chairman of the county Land Bank's Board of Directors, said the corporation is one of the first five land banks in the state approved by the Empire State Development Corporation. Attacking blight by going after foreclosed and disinvested homes is an area of focus, Lombardi said.

"Fighting blight and abandonment has been the mission for the land bank since 2012," Lombardi said, adding that they are looking to end the downward spiral by right-sizing the market.

A total of $2.86 million in grant funding was secured in 2013-14 for the land bank, supporting program operations through 2016. The lion's share of operating revenues, 77 percent, is provided by the Attorney General's Office. Other sources of operating revenues come from the County Legislature, property sales and tobacco settlement money.

Mark Geise, deputy director for the county Department of Planning and Economic Development, said the strategy is going after and controlling properties to resurrect. From there, cleaning, securing, marketing and negotiating sales are able to take place. The county Land Bank is continuing to obtain properties of a wide scale in terms of condition, and the key is investment and reinvestment to bring properties back to life.

Currently, 34 properties are up for sale, while 16 have been sold. The overall private investment of properties, including cash purchases and reinvestments, totals $675,000. Twenty-two demolitions have been completed, with 19 in Jamestown and three in Dunkirk. Gina Paradis, administrative director for the land bank, said the goal of the corporation is to complete 20 demolitions in Dunkirk by the end of the year. A total of 16 side lots are also back on the tax rolls for the first quarter of 2015. By 2016, the land bank is hoping to complete 200 demolitions.

During the presentation, Lombardi and Paradis showed the committee four revitalized properties, two in Jamestown and one each in Dunkirk and Fredonia. Lombardi presented a home located at 1115 Prendergast Ave., a site that was once appraised at $25,000 and assessed at $46,500. With $68,000 in reinvestment, the property is no longer an eyesore.

"We can make sure these bad properties in good neighborhoods are going to get the right kind of care, and fix them up to help the whole neighborhood," Geise said. "Looking 10 years down the road, the property's value will be higher with less blight."