Council committee presses Land Bank on transparency, schedules resolution seeking public hearing on Gibraltar

The Wilmington Neighborhood Conservancy Land Bank presented program results and plans to the Community Development and Urban Planning Committee and answered sustained questions from council members and public commenters about transparency, inventory management, contractor use, neighborhood impacts and the status of the historic Gibraltar property.

Bud Friel, former city council member and executive director of the Land Bank, reviewed the organization's founding, mission and outputs. He said the Land Bank was created after a 2016 report on vacant properties and noted state enabling legislation followed by a city ordinance establishing a board with state, administration and council appointments. Friel summarized portfolio activity through the end of 2024: 166 rehabs for affordable homeownership, 46 rehabs for affordable rental, 113 nonprofit joint affordable housing projects, 25 side-yard lot sales, 73 unsafe structures cleared, 12 urban gardens and a buyer composition he described as 92 percent minority. He said current staff totals four and reported an inventory of about 62 structures and 70 lots.

Friel described two major projects: the East Side initiative, begun under a prior administration with more than $30 million invested and which has touched more than 250 properties and produced over 50 rehabbed properties sold to first-time buyers; and the Lower Hilltop initiative, started with roughly $1,000,000 in city ARPA funds plus about $850,000 in state bond funds, where phase 1 has seen 14 properties rehabbed and sold and other parcels under construction or held for future work. Friel said the Land Bank works frequently with Habitat for Humanity, Woodlawn Trustees, Cornerstone West, Reach Riverside and the Delaware Affordable Housing Group.

Council members repeatedly pressed the Land Bank on gaps they said exist in public-facing information. Council Member Willower and Council President Ernest Congo asked for an up-to-date, permanently posted inventory showing property location, purchase price, transfer history and any restrictions; Friel said the Land Bank’s website and disposition lists are out of date, attributed delays to staffing and capacity constraints, and committed to an update in the coming weeks. Several members raised concerns about perceived favoring of certain nonprofits or out-of-town buyers; Friel and board members said many nonprofits acquire parcels to create affordable units and noted the Land Bank now must accept bids on most properties rather than giving them away.

The Gibraltar property — a long-vacant, deteriorated mansion that carries a conservation easement — generated the most public attention. Friel said the city acquired the site and placed it in the Land Bank after prior ownership failed to stabilize the structure, and he said the Land Bank has played primarily a custodial role while the Department of Real Estate and Housing directed specific remediation work and invoices. Committee members and public speakers recounted a long history of contested proposals, conservation easement restrictions and community opposition to some prior redevelopment plans. Attendees and speakers pressed for clarity about the conveyance terms, the parties performing work, and the spending to date on stabilization and repairs; committee members noted that approximately $2.9 million has been transferred to the Land Bank related to Gibraltar with a remaining balance reported around $675,000 and that outside estimates to repair complete interior damage run into the millions.

Public commenters and some council members urged additional procedural changes: quarterly Land Bank updates to committee, clearer online publication of meeting minutes and disposition lists, regular community engagement sessions, and review of potential conflicts of interest tied to board members or development partners. Several nonprofit and community representatives described projects that used Land Bank parcels to produce affordable housing (Todd Morton Foundation, Habitat for Humanity examples were cited) and listed contracts awarded to minority developers; the Land Bank said most contractors used on projects have been minority-owned and that many buyers have been city residents or Wilmington employees.

Council Member Darby introduced a companion resolution requesting a public hearing by the Land Bank regarding the acquisition and future use of the Gibraltar property. The committee did not hold a committee vote; the chair said the resolution will be placed on the full council agenda in April and that members should continue follow-up with the Land Bank. The meeting closed with council members and public speakers reiterating the need for better documentation, a posted, maintained inventory and transparent decision-making about large expenditures and high-profile properties such as Gibraltar.