Troy land bank gets $700K from state for revitalization efforts

ALBANY, N.Y. >> The Troy Community Land Bank was one of 19 land banks across the state chosen Friday to share in nearly $21 million in grants from the state Attorney General’s Office.

The local group was chosen to receive $701,587 to focus revitalization efforts on one of the most distressed census tracts in the city. The goal is to acquire as many as 24 vacant and abandoned properties, with the group planning to stabilize or rehabilitating as many as 16 of them while demolishing those judged as beyond repair.

“The land banks of New York state are specially crafted tools, customized to each locality, that compliment the private market and the programs of notfor-profit developers and municipalities,” said Joe Fama, director of the Troy Community Land Bank, in a news release from the Attorney General’s Office. “Today’s announcement is a welcome show of continued confidence and support in the accomplishments and potential of New York state’s land banks.”

The grants were awarded under the Land Bank Community Revitalization Initiative established in 2013 with funding secured through settlements with the nation’s largest banks over misconduct that contributed to the housing crisis of the late 2000s. This round of funding, made possible by settlements secured last year with Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, provides renewal grants to the state’s 10 original land banks and startup grants to nine newly established groups, many of which are in rural areas across the state.

“Communities throughout New York are still suffering the fallout from the housing crisis, and my office will continue to support innovative efforts to help them recover,” Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in the news release. “With today’s round of grants, all 19 land banks will build on the significant accomplishments already achieved over the past three years, helping put abandoned properties back into use, revitalizing towns and cities, and creating a safer, more stable and more vibrant environment for New York’s families.”