Land bank sells its first vacant property

The Tri-COG Land Bank — a multi-community effort to get abandoned and blighted properties back on the tax rolls — has sold its first property.

The vacant lot in White Oak was sold Wednesday for $750 plus closing costs, marking the first sale of a land bank property in Allegheny County. It was sold to a next-door neighbor.

“We are so excited to reach this milestone and put this property back in the hands of a local community member,” James Fisher, Tri-COG Land Bank board chair, said in a statement. “When houses and lots are abandoned, they drain resources from everybody in the community. This property was abandoned and tax delinquent for decades and will now be back on the tax rolls.”

The land bank acquires vacant properties, often through tax foreclosure, then works to return them to productive reuse.

Twenty-two municipalities and six school districts, all outside the city of Pittsburgh, are members of the land bank. It was founded in 2017.

Pittsburgh has a land bank, as well, though it has struggled with

acquiring funds and staff, and transacting properties. It has not had a public board meeting — even a remote one — since March. As of last month, the agency’s interim executive director left at the end of his term, and the future of Pittsburgh’s land bank is unclear.

The Tri-COG Land Bank currently has 37 properties: 31 houses and six vacant lots. It doesn’t necessarily sell properties to the highest bidder.

Rather, it also aims to consider factors such as the property’s intended use, the buyer’s ability to complete the project, and whether the project is in line with neighborhood goals.

Tri-COG Land Bank’s executive director, An Lewis, said the agency aims to grow to include more communities.

“We’re really excited. It’s been a process to get the land bank up, running, figure out how to choose properties, how to acquire them, how to move them through the court system. We’re very excited to be entering this new phase of disposition,” Ms. Lewis said.

The agency is also working with City of Bridges Community Land Trust in Millvale, Etna and Sharpsburg, and will transfer three formerly abandoned properties that can be rehabbed and used for affordable housing in those communities.

For more information: https://tricoglandbank.org/ properties/