Metro Atlanta Land Bank reports active acquisitions, sales and inventory management to council committee

The Metro Atlanta Land Bank reported to the Community Development Human Services Committee on its recent property acquisitions, maintenance costs and activity to return vacant parcels to productive use.

The update, delivered by Chris Norman speaking for the Metro Atlanta Land Bank, summarized the authority’s inventory, funding and recent transactions and said the land bank currently controls nearly 275 properties valued at about $30 million on the county tax rolls.

Norman said the land bank is leveraging a $6 million line of credit from Invest Atlanta to make strategic acquisitions in focus areas. He described recent buys including nearly 11 acres near the Bard Road intersection purchased from the YWCA for $1.3 million and a 5.3-acre parcel in Thomasville Heights bought for $1.4 million. He also described arrangements to hold parcels for partners and to use ground leases in some developments, including a 65-year affordability period tied to a light‑tech project.

The committee heard that the land bank has spent roughly $125,000 on maintenance and roughly $30,000 on insurance during the last fiscal year. Norman said the land bank has foreclosed or otherwise taken control of properties tied to demolition liens and delinquent taxes and has extinguished about $1.5 million in delinquent tax liabilities on properties it controls. He also described an ongoing inventory of parcels made available for affordable or market sale; some properties include purchase terms that require affordability covenants.

Council members asked about the tax-extinguishment process, accountability for negligent owners and protections for heirs or relatives trying to reclaim properties in probate. Norman described the mechanics: tax extinguishment is applied after a property transfers into land-bank control, typically where an owner has abandoned a building or where the city has demolished a structure and placed a demolition lien on the parcel. He told the committee the tax commissioner and the solicitor’s office remain involved in foreclosure and tax-sale processes before the land bank finalizes ownership.

The land bank also described a small‑scale program that repurposed plywood boarding at vacant sites into children’s art panels under a community partnership with Atlanta Public Schools; Norman said the project was funded with $20,000 from a community foundation and used school vendors and students to paint interim art on boarded sites.

Norman asked the council to consider more stable operating funding and noted the land bank aims to sell roughly $800,000 worth of property or complete development deals in the coming year to cover a budget gap. He suggested exploring dedicated revenue streams used in other states — for example, a portion of delinquent tax interest devoted to land‑bank funding — and said the land bank is working with the mayor’s housing office and Invest Atlanta on acquisitions and RFPs for development partners.

Committee members raised governance and funding questions, including Fulton County’s comparatively small annual contribution to the land bank and how membership might expand to other cities in Fulton County. Norman said South Fulton has begun the membership process and that any additional members would require changes to board governance.

The land bank update closed with an invitation to developers and community members to review available parcels on metroatlantalandbank.org and with a note that several properties are marketed with affordability requirements.

Ending: The committee did not take legislation on the presentation; members pressed for more information on long‑term funding and methods to protect homeowners and heirs in probate while permitting the land bank to stabilize derelict properties.