“The results are exciting. Land banks are quiet game changers in Michigan’s economy. When they first started forming, one of every ten houses was vacant. The rate is now less than half that. Land banks have been key to that progress. If you can think of a property that sat vacant for a long time and is now occupied, the odds are that a land bank had something to do with its transformation,” said Natalie Pruett, the author of the study.

The similarity between land banks across Michigan in places that vary greatly is a dominant theme of the report. “The scenery is a little different between us here in Houghton and the big cities downstate. We have a population of about 38,000 in our entire county. Comerica Park seats more than that. But the land bank stories are so similar. Vacant properties were dragging down the local community – the neighbors, real estate prices, property tax revenue. The land bank stepped in and worked to repurpose them in support of the local community. Finally, after sitting vacant for years, the properties are again reoccupied and contributing to the health of the area,” explains Lisa Mattila, Houghton County Treasurer and Land Bank Chair.

Eric Sabree, the Wayne County Treasurer and Land Bank Chair, agrees, “The Wayne County Land Bank, along with other land banks throughout Michigan, has been working diligently to return tax-foreclosed and blighted properties back to productive use. The land banks are an essential economic development and neighborhood stabilization vehicle.”

Since the Michigan State Legislature passed legislation allowing for the creation of land banks, more than two-thirds of Michigan’s counties have formed one. Land banks operate in every region in the state and currently serve 2.7 million Michigan households.

"This report confirms what we've long known – that Michigan's local land banks are powerful drivers of economic development," said Joseph Rivet, Executive Director of the Michigan State Land Bank Authority. "For the first time, we have statewide data demonstrating their impact, backed by countless success stories—from new housing and revitalized downtown businesses to the redevelopment of former industrial sites and beyond. It's a meaningful milestone that validates the work local land banks are doing every day and reinforces the important role they'll continue to play in strengthening communities across Michigan."

Findings have implications for the future. Land banks present a unique, cost-effective opportunity for addressing Michigan’s housing challenges, improving commercial corridors, increasing industrial production, and more. Michigan land banks currently hold more than 80,000 properties across the state. This includes thousands of vacant houses and hundreds of vacant commercial buildings. Rehabilitating a vacant structure is typically less than half the cost of new construction. Even for new infill construction, vacant lots held by land banks reduce development costs because of drastically lower acquisition costs. Over 20 years, land banks turned approximately $400 million of direct net activity cost into nearly $2 billion of investment in Michigan properties. State and federal funding was an essential piece of the funding puzzle.

The full 20-year impact report can be accessed on the Michigan Land Bank Association’s website at: milandbank.org.

About Land Banks:

There are 57 land banks in Michigan, representing two-thirds of all counties. There are over 300 throughout the country.

Land banks are public entities with unique powers to put vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties back to productive use according to community goals.

State laws give land banks their unique powers, which vary state-by-state. These unique powers enable them to undertake these activities far more effectively and efficiently than other public or nonprofit entities. When thoughtfully executed, land banks can resolve some of the toughest barriers to returning land to productive use, helping to unlock the value of problem properties, and converting them into assets for community revitalization.

Michigan’s land bank enabling legislation was passed in 2003 as the Land Bank Fast Track Act (Public Act 258 of 2003).

Generally, land banks receive properties that the private market has already rejected. Many properties left vacant and abandoned for years have accrued significant property tax debt and substantial repair costs that far exceed their worth on the private market. These legal and financial hurdles deter responsible private investors and can leave the properties in limbo for years. A land bank is designed specifically to convert these properties to assets for neighbors and neighborhoods.