New report highlights Michigan’s land banks have generated billions in benefits and prevented tens of thousands of vacancies in the state

Michigan State Land Bank and Michigan Land Bank Association release impact report of Michigan’s land banks highlighting economic benefits and how they improve neighborhoods, commercial corridors and communities

LANSING, MICH. – The Michigan State Land Bank Authority joined the Michigan Land Bank Association to release their new land bank report, revealing that local land banks are economic game changers across Michigan – in cities, rural communities and everywhere in between. Results show that land banks improve neighborhoods and commercial corridors, decrease vacancies, increase population and overall, positively impact the communities they serve.

The new impact report quantifies the positive impact of all land banks in Michigan. The findings show that over 20 years local land banks in Michigan:

• Handled more than 159,668 properties, 1 of every 20 Michigan properties.
• Prevented at least 45,000 vacancies, reducing the statewide number of vacancies by 27%.
• Generated more than $4.5 billion in community benefits, including $2 billion of investment in vacant properties and at least $719 million in increased property tax revenue for funding local schools and services. Total benefits could be more than $8.6 billion.
• Created $11+ of local community benefits for every $1 of direct funding.
• Decrease local vacancy rates and increase population, despite existing in communities that have greater challenges with both compared to state averages.

The report, “Game Changers: Rebuilding Michigan’s Cities, Rural Communities and Everywhere in Between” was commissioned by the Michigan Land Bank Association as Michigan reached a 20-year land bank anniversary. Land banks began forming in Michigan in 2004. The study examined the impact of land banks during their first 20 years of operation.

"This report confirms what we've long known – that Michigan's local land banks are powerful drivers of economic development," said Executive Director of the Michigan State Land Bank Authority Joseph Rivet. "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."

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.

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.

“Land banks have spread and evolved over the last 20 years. I witnessed this evolution during my time as the Benzie County Treasurer and Land Bank Executive Director. Land banks aren’t well known or understood. With this report, we want to improve that. While land banks are mostly associated with Michigan’s most urban places, most land banks are small and located in less populated and more rural places – places like Benzie County,” said Executive Director of the Michigan Land Bank Association Michelle Thompson.

“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 and 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.

“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,” said Wayne County Treasurer and Land Bank Chair Eric Sabree.

The full 20-year impact report can be accessed online.

Visit Michigan.gov/LandBank for more information on the State Land Bank Authority.

Visit MiLandBank.org for more information on the Michigan Land Bank Association.