Five Innovative Approaches from Land Banks Across the Country

In 2023, the National Land Bank Network (NLBN) launched the Innovative Approach Award to support land banks doing innovative work, providing grant awards of up to $25,000 per organization. The first round of awards helped five land banks launch creative initiatives to address problem properties, supporting work that would not normally occur within regular land bank operations.

A year later, our awardees have seen success. Read more about each land bank and their Innovative Approach Award project below:

Tri-COG Land Bank – Solar Farm Planning Study

The Tri-COG Land Bank (TCLB) is a multi-municipal, member-based land bank located outside Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. TCLB currently has 38 members: 28 municipalities, nine school districts, and Allegheny County.

TCLB used its Innovative Approach Award to conduct planning study for a solar farm on abandoned, vacant land in North Braddock Borough. A 2020 TCLB study found 33 percent of parcels in North Braddock were vacant land. TCLB’s project proposed a solution to both the challenges of vacant and abandoned land and increased energy costs.

TCLB and North Braddock Borough identified four potential site locations for ground-mounted solar. The Pennsylvania Solar Center evaluated the proposed sites to determine each site’s capability for solar energy generation. The preliminary analysis showed that any of the sites would completely offset the North Braddock Borough Building with a large amount of energy to spare. Once the study is completed, it will serve as a model for other land banks looking for partners to address climate change and bring renewable energy technologies to their communities.

Omaha Municipal Land Bank – Ambassador Program

The Omaha Municipal Land Bank (OMLB) serves the City of Omaha, Nebraska. Over 85 percent of OMLB’s inventory is in North and South Omaha neighborhoods, which are impacted by historic redlining, neighborhood decline, and disinvestment.

OMLB used the Innovative Approach Award to improve the reach and programming for its Ambassador Program. Many land banks find it challenging to engage residents and recruit for their boards; OMLB’s Ambassador Program works to expand the bench of stakeholders and community members who engage with the land bank.

With 28 participants and representation from every one of Omaha’s council districts, OMLB’s 2023–2024 Ambassador Cohort was the largest class in the program’s history. OMLB’s recent successes include:

• Hosting the first Reignite2United Developer’s symposium
• Revising acquisition, maintenance, and disposition policies and procedures to more equitably reflect the needs and desires of the community, with changes coming from ambassadors’ input
• Growing interest from high-schoolers and their parents, which has led OMLB to consider a student-oriented offshoot of the Ambassador Program
• As of 2024, three former ambassadors sit on the OMLB board

OMLB’s success serves as a model for other land banks looking to more deeply engage with and learn from residents.

Lucas County Land Bank – Revitalizing St. Anthony’s Church

The Lucas County Land Bank serves communities across Lucas County, Ohio including the City of Toledo.

With its award, the land bank is transforming St. Anthony’s Church—a historic but long-vacant structure—into a vibrant community space. Working with residents, the land bank created a redevelopment plan for the building that integrates community feedback and will ensure long-term stewardship. Residents have been engaged at every step of the project, offering feedback and advocating for funding alongside the land bank.

As of 2025, the finalized redevelopment plan has strong community support, and the land bank secured the necessary permits for the project. Its goal is to transition stewardship of St. Anthony’s Church to the City of Toledo by October 2026. In this revitalization effort, the land bank has modeled how other land banks can prioritize community engagement and sustainability planning.

Genesee County Land Bank Authority – Automated Demolition Scoring Tool

The Genesee County Land Bank Authority (GCLBA) serves Genesee County, Michigan, including the City of Flint.

With limited demolition funding and over 3,000 deteriorated structures needing attention, GCLBA sought an innovative way to prioritize demolitions based on community needs. The land bank used its Innovative Approach Award to develop an automated demolition scoring tool.

The tool integrates multiple datasets, including the Flint Property Portal—which aggregates data on each of Flint’s 56,000 properties—and resident surveys. This information helps rank and prioritize demolition candidates based on resident input, assigning scores to properties slated for demolition and updates these scores as new data emerges.

The automated scoring tool has streamlined the process for prioritizing demolitions as funding becomes available and made GCLBA’s decision-making process more transparent and efficient. Residents have appreciated the clarity about how GCLBA is making demolition decisions based their input.

Land banks struggling with large inventories of deteriorated properties and limited demolition funding can consider similar approaches.

Louisville Landbank – LTOOLS: Landbank Training Opportunity for Louisville Students

The Louisville Landbank serves the Louisville/Jefferson County metropolitan area, which includes residents spread across nearly 400 square miles along the Ohio River.

The Louisville Landbank launched a tool inspired by Pittsburgh’s Lots to Love Mobile Toolbox, which makes a trailer of work tools available to neighborhoods planning neighborhood cleanups. Its Innovative Approach Award supported LTOOLS: Landbank Training Opportunity for Louisville Students.

The land bank purchased a trailer, garden tools, solar panels, batteries, charging station, and rechargeable lawn equipment, all of which are now available for neighborhood groups to rent for neighborhood beautification efforts. The land bank team also created user guides to go along with each tool. LTOOLs led to increased collaboration between city agencies, including the Facilities and Fleet team and Brightside, Louisville’s clean and green team.

LTOOLs is a powerful example of how land banks can learn from and adapt successful programming in other municipalities to serve their own community.