Nitro land‑reuse director describes demolition‑led redevelopment, financing and sales strategy

Kim Reed, planner for the City of Nitro and executive director of the Nitro Land Reuse Agency, told the City of Morgantown Land Reuse Agency that Nitro’s program uses targeted acquisition and demolition to assemble developable parcels and attract private investment.

Reed said Nitro began the effort with about $1,000,000 set aside from the city’s 1% sales tax to acquire and clear blighted commercial and residential properties. She described an early, high‑profile conversion in Nitro’s downtown footprint: the agency acquired an abandoned thrift store property, demolished it and sold the assembled block to a private developer that built a high‑performing Taco Bell and other private development.

Nitro’s work, Reed said, combines publicly funded acquisition and demolition with requirements for future buyers on commercial lots. She said the agency has used ARPA and state program reimbursements to underwrite demolition and that the first phase of a state program provided $350,000, enabling four commercial and 15 residential demolitions (19 properties in phase 1 total). Reed said a second phase award of $234,000 was under way with additional demolitions scheduled to finish in coming weeks, weather permitting.

Why it matters: Reed argued that selective demolition and parcel assembly can…