One Community Update
March 22, 2025
Source: www.oswegocountynewsnow.com
The Oswego County Land Bank has secured a $2 million state grant to rehabilitate more than a dozen vacant and dilapidated properties throughout the county and return them to private ownership.
The $2 million grant was awarded to the Land Bank through the Housing Trust Fund Corp. and Office of Homes and Community Renewal as part of the state’s Land Bank Initiative capital funding.
The Land Bank has identified 10 properties in the city of Oswego — including nine complete rehabilitations and one demolition — that will be improved with the funding in the coming year. Plans are underway to identify several more rehabilitation and demolition projects throughout Oswego County.
“This funding allows us to continue the work we’ve been doing that’s been very successful,” said Kim Park, executive director of the Oswego County Land Bank. “Obviously, that’s good news for residents of the entire county.”
The Land Bank works to rehabilitate vacant and abandoned properties, turning them into affordable housing and putting them back on the tax rolls.
“These properties are often among the most challenging and extensive renovations that do not appeal to homebuyers and private developers,” Park said.
The Land Bank Initiative (LBI) grants were awarded competitively and provide money for a wide range of activities that will help the Land Bank complete property rehabilitations and prepare homes for sale. The Land Bank previously was awarded $1.6 million through the LBI, but that money was restricted and could be used only for building stabilization, demolition and other pre-development activities.
Park said that the new round of funding will allow the Land Bank to finish the rehabilitation of many properties that were previously stabilized and take them to completion, meaning they will be ready to be sold and owner-occupied.
The current properties being targeted are in the city of Oswego because that’s where the Land Bank’s property inventory came from, but the money can be used for properties anywhere in the county. Park said.
She said the Land Bank completed work on two properties outside the city of Oswego with the last round of funding.
Over the past two years, the Land Bank has secured nearly $4 million to ensure the organization’s long-term financial health and further its mission of improving Oswego County communities. Since its inception in 2016, the Land Bank has improved more than 80 properties and returned more than $5.7 million in property sales to Oswego County tax rolls. These properties are often abandoned and in severe disrepair, adversely affecting the surrounding neighborhoods and generating no property tax revenue.
“These are properties that were previously generating no taxable income or community value,” said Land Bank President Shane Broadwell. “Each time the Land Bank improves property and returns it to the tax rolls, we are increasing its property value, helping to further distribute the property tax burden for all the county’s residents.”
The LBI funding is to be used over 18 months in 2025 and 2026, but the Land Bank expects to complete all deliverables ahead of that timeline.
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