Land Banks & Brownfields

Across the country, land banks are emerging as entities with unique abilities to tackle brownfield sites and help communities reuse these properties.

A land bank is a public agency with unique powers granted by state laws to put vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties back to productive uses that align with community goals. A land bank’s primary purpose is to acquire properties that some call “blighted” and temporarily hold and take care of them until they can be transferred to new owners.

Brownfields are vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties that threaten community wellbeing. Brownfields are properties where the presence or likely presence of a hazardous chemical or pollutant makes it challenging, risky, and costly to redevelop. Communities struggle with brownfield properties because of these unique challenges, but land banking approaches can help.