2019-2024: Cuyahoga Land Bank Launches Bold Efforts Across Cuyahoga County for Next Level Revitalization

Since 2009, Cuyahoga Land Bank has been returning vacant and abandoned properties to productive use and thereby increasing property value, supporting communities and improving the quality of life for County residents. This work has been accomplished through a variety of tactics, including:

• Renovation, specifically through our deed-in-escrow program where we hold on to a property’s deed until the home purchased from the Land Bank is restored to our high standards. This provides homebuyers and renovators alike the opportunity to purchase a reno-worthy home at a low price, while ensuring the home receives proper and quality updates.
• Demolition – used as a last resort to remove blight or create better use of a property when renovation is not possible – removes blight, improves residential community pride and clears the way for new projects.

While these programs are still the cornerstone of the Land Bank’s work, we have added a variety of services, programs and other county-bolstering tools to our repertoire in recent years.  As we work toward our 15 Year Impact Celebration, we reflect on the last five years of progress in Cuyahoga County through new Land Bank initiatives, programs and developments.

Land Bank Charities

While formally established the same year as we celebrated our 10-year anniversary event, Land Bank Charities has taken serious strides. Not only have do we have more than 25 regional philanthropic and/or faith-based partners, but we’ve also dedicated more than $2.1 Million to over 160 projects since 2019.

Connect EC and Circle East District

While the efforts to reshape the westernmost neighborhood of East Cleveland officially began in 2015, the formal placemaking study that involved almost 150 participants across a variety of engagements ran from January through August 2023. The results of all of these interactions were memorialized in a formal publication, Connect East Cleveland, and have been used to create a strategic neighborhood plan that will move East Cleveland forward.

Approximately 30 acres and located about one mile east of University Circle, Circle East District has been designed for longevity by including new underground infrastructure, aboveground recreational and health amenities, sustainable efforts, townhomes, single-family homes and commercial building opportunities. This progressive approach to urban redevelopment is changing the real estate landscape across Northeast Ohio for generations to come.

Realty Reimagined

In 2023, Cuyahoga Land Bank established its own mission-based real estate brokerage, Realty Reimagined, to advance its mission to help potential homeowners. A full-service brokerage for residential and commercial properties, Realty Reimagined is a non-profit brokerage that acts both as an intermediary between buyers and sellers of real estate and provides valuable resources to help people prepare for homeownership by providing free pre- and post-buying education, one-on-one counseling by a HUD certified counselor and financial education sessions.

Realty Reimagined was founded on the belief that wealth is rooted in homeownership and nobody should be excluded. Sonya Edwards, the team’s lead broker and the first broker in Ohio to be completely non-profit, said, “We strive to help renters become homeowners and are focused on providing homeownership and financial literacy education to help make that dream a reality.”

Dedicated Focus on Sustainability

Cuyahoga Land Bank has sharpened its focus on building sustainably. One great example is the sandstone we salvaged from apartments before they were demolished in East Cleveland and used in the community’s new greenway. Incorporating solar panels and EV charging stations in the new homes we are designing is another. In fact, all of Circle East will be positively affected by the community solar power initiative Cleveland Owns is facilitating. These examples are just the tip of the iceberg of our current green efforts, with more being planned.

Site Readiness

Through a federal grant awarded in late 2023, Cleveland Site Readiness Fund is a bold initiative to reactivate blighted and abandoned industrial properties in Cleveland, resulting in the attraction of good jobs, increased neighborhood wealth and reduced blight. The goal is to revive 1,000 acres of vacant or underutilized industrial land, focusing on sites of at least 10 acres and spur the creation of more than 25,000 jobs in the next decade. The Land Bank is a critical partner in this initiative and will facilitate collaboration between government agencies, community organizations and private developers. This synergistic approach ensures responsible development that enhances existing neighborhoods, respects environmental concerns and prioritizes community input.

All our work is designed strategically to bolster Northeast Ohio as a whole and revitalize the historic neighborhoods that have been a critical part of our region’s past. Stay tuned for more stories about the impact Cuyahoga Land Bank has had on our County as we move our way to the formal 15-year celebrations!