Land with a Plan: Using Design as a Strategic Tool in Land Banking

Land banks often face significant challenges when returning small, irregular, or otherwise atypical parcels to productive use. However, technical and design assistance can help overcome these barriers by providing replicable predevelopment and disposition strategies that shift development risks upstream of property transfer. Houston Land Bank’s Finding Home Initiative is a powerful case study in how predevelopment activities can be coordinated to reduce development risk, improve cost predictability, and accelerate affordable housing delivery. 

Under the Finding Home Initiative, the Houston Land Bank and Auburn University pair banked land with a catalog of resilient, community-informed home designs pre-permitted by the City of Houston. This approach has successfully activated small infill lots in underserved neighborhoods while targeting FORTIFIED Home Gold and ENERGY STAR certifications.  

This webinar will highlight transferable strategies that can help land banks and their partners transform challenging parcels into durable, affordable, and neighborhood-responsive housing at scale. 

Join this webinar to: 

• Understand how shifting key predevelopment activities upstream—like site analysis, design standardization, pre-permitting, performance benchmarking, and community engagement—can reduce development risk and accelerate housing delivery 

• Learn how design standardization, performance targeting, site analysis, and permitting strategies can be integrated into land bank disposition programs 

• Identify transferable strategies for activating challenging or atypical parcels 

Speakers: 

• Christian Ayala – Assistant Research Professor, Auburn University Rural Studio 

• Mackenzie Stagg – Associate Research Professor, Auburn University Rural Studio 

• Lindsey Williams – Director of Community Development, Houston Land Bank