Land Bank Authority Created

Alders unanimously voted to form a land bank, issuing the final seal of approval on a long-brewing plan to create a quasi-public nonprofit designed to purchase blighted houses, rehabilitate them, and sell them at below-market prices to owner-occupants.

All of the 25 alders present on Monday evening in the Aldermanic Chamber on the second floor of City Hall voted to pass an ordinance establishing a new land bank authority — a nonprofit created by and closely tied to the city capable of buying, renovating, and selling property. 

The Elicker administration has pitched the land bank as an avenue for the city to create more affordable homeownership opportunities for residents.

While the city’s Livable City Initiative (LCI) already works on developing owner-occupant housing in place of vacant lots or dilapidated buildings, the land bank will have the power to purchase and sell land more quickly — without the same degree of legislative oversight required for a city department.

“This ability to seize rapidly-emerging opportunities will allow the land bank to compete” with the city’s largest landlords, who may be vying for similar kinds of properties, Westville Alder and Finance Committee Chair Adam Marchand argued at Monday’s meeting. 

Per the ordinance, the land bank authority will be governed by a seven-person board comprising of the mayor, the economic development administrator, the Livable City Initiative director, the City Plan director, an alder, and two other New Haven residents eligible to vote. 

As city officials presented to the Board of Alders in August, the land bank will begin with $5 million (from either the state’s Urban Act Grant or the federal American Rescue Plan Act) and will have an executive director and two project managers as full-time staff.