Mourning Gus Frangos (1954 – 2024)

It is with deep sorrow that we mourn the passing of Gus Frangos, Founder and President of the Cuyahoga Land Bank. Gus leaves behind a legacy of unparalleled dedication and transformative impact on the field of land banking and community revitalization. He will be dearly missed by all who knew him.

It is not an exaggeration to say that Gus shaped the national landscape of land banking. Beginning with the founding of the Cuyahoga Land Bank in 2009, his approach to land banking set a new standard for what these institutions could achieve. Under his leadership, the Cuyahoga Land Bank became a national model that demonstrated how reusing vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties could benefit neighbors and neighborhoods.

“Gus always looked for opportunities to share what he knew with others,” said Brian Larkin, Director of the National Land Bank Network (NLBN) at the Center for Community Progress. “He cared deeply about the growth of the field and made sure that what he learned in Cuyahoga would benefit communities nationwide.” Community Progress honored Gus’s contributions to the field at the 2021 National Land Bank Network Summit with the NLBN Lifetime Achievement Award, a testament to his profound impact on the field of land banking.

Community Progress co-founder Dan Kildee reflected on Gus’s influence when presenting him with the award. “I spent a lot of hours with Gus working through the challenges that he faced in Cuyahoga. As it turned out, when I was answering Gus’s questions, he was teaching me at least as much as I taught him. No one I’ve worked with on land banking asked more insightful questions and helped me work through the answers. If there is such a thing, he’s a land bank genius.”

“The news of Gus’s death on Saturday reverberated immediately throughout the country, which is itself a wonderful testimony to the powerful impact of his life, his work, and his personality,” said Frank S. Alexander, co-founder of Community Progress. “I still remember clearly our first work together in Cleveland brainstorming the possibility of legislation dealing with this strange thing called land banks.”

We are deeply grateful for the role Gus played in advancing our shared mission. His contributions to community development have improved the lives of countless individuals and neighborhoods beyond the borders of Cuyahoga County. We extend our deepest condolences to Gus’s family, friends, and colleagues during this difficult time.