Greater Syracuse Land Bank reports slower pipeline, large inventory and tight finances

The Neighborhood Preservation Committee heard an annual report from the Greater Syracuse Land Bank on its inventory, site-assembly work and finances during a meeting where committee members pressed staff on foreclosure timing, floodplain properties and redevelopment prospects.

Caitlin Wright, a representative of the Greater Syracuse Land Bank, told the committee the land bank acquired 77 properties in the previous year and has acquired more than 2,000 properties from Syracuse City since the land bank began. Wright said the organization currently controls about 800 properties in its inventory, including roughly 150 structures and about 650 vacant lots, and that about half of the vacant lots are “shovel-ready” for new building.

Wright said the land bank’s site-assembly work — the multi-step process of consolidating nearby parcels for future development — proceeds slowly because demolitions require grant money, legal lot-line adjustments and the timing of individual foreclosures. “If we could speed up the foreclosure pipeline and catch up with all that backlog, we could speed up our site assembly process and have a lot more shovel ready sites ready to go,” Wright said.

Why it matters: the land bank’s inventory and pace of foreclosures affect how quickly lots can be cleared and marketed for housing or other redevelopment. Committee members repeatedly asked about specific neighborhoods and properties, and Wright described active programs and constraints in multiple parts of the city.

Key inventory and development updates

- The land bank acquired 77 properties in the last year and more than 2,000 since formation, Wright said. She estimated the city still has “over 1,500 seizeable properties” remaining to work through the foreclosure backlog.

- The land bank reported about 350 building lots in inventory that are ready for development and more lots that are in the process of being assembled with neighboring parcels.

- Site-assembly work cited in the report includes near West Side parcels and a block of properties on the 100 block of West Brighton planned for demolition and eventual multi-family development under R-5 zoning.

- The land bank is pursuing clustered infill and partnerships with developers, including Housing Visions and Home Headquarters for owner-occupied and rental projects, and a planned multi-family rental project being pursued by La Liga and partners on Delaware Street.

Finances and staffing

Wright described the land bank’s core operating cost at roughly $2,000,000 a year to cover essential services — mowing, board-ups, liability insurance and periodic inspections — and said the land bank has an unrestricted cash balance that would cover about nine months of those baseline costs in an emergency. She said the land bank ran a deficit of about $130,000 last year and received about $1,250,000 in direct financial support from Syracuse City to help cover operating needs.

Wright said sales of real estate cover about half of operating expenses in a typical year, but sales volume has been low recently: “Last year was not a great sales year for us. The pipeline of properties coming into the land bank has been smaller and smaller since 2017, 2019. So we just don't have a lot of inventory to sell right now,” she said.

State and federal grant funding

Wright and Deputy Commissioner Michelle Savansky (Neighborhood Development) described the interplay of state Land Bank Initiative (LBI) grants and federal ARPA funds. Wright said ARPA funding to the land bank — roughly $5,000,000 — funded a significant round of demolitions and stabilizations; she said LBI money has continued that work in recent years and that state budget proposals discussed in the Legislature included $50,000,000 for land banks, though Wright said final budget outcomes were not yet known.

Wright described specific uses of grant funds: exterior stabilizations (roof, siding, windows) to make rehabs feasible for buyers, demolition of structures that cannot be rehabilitated, and targeted grants to assist owner-occupant buyers who encounter financial setbacks while renovating.

Floodplain and historic properties

Committee members asked about homes in flood zones. Wright said state programs will not fund new construction or large rehabs in mapped floodplains, and that local permitting rules can require expensive flood-proofing (filling basements, elevating structures) if repair costs exceed defined thresholds. For that reason, the land bank does not list most floodplain houses for sale and has demolished many properties in those areas. Wright said the land bank would look to Syracuse City for guidance on longer-term uses such as permanent green space.

Wright also discussed large, historic structures. She described proactive efforts to nominate some properties for the National Register of Historic Places so buyers can access state and federal historic tax credits; she said that designation can be either a help or a hindrance depending on a project's financing.

Project updates and development hurdles

Wright provided updates on several neighborhood projects: a La Liga-led affordable rental project on Delaware Street that is pursuing Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC), HHAP and other state programs (Wright said those funding streams must be layered and have different timelines); a site assembly on Fitch Street intended to produce space for 25–35 new homes; and a 45-home owner-occupied infill plan in partnership with Home Headquarters on Merriman Street.

On larger commercial deals, Wright said prospective buyers and developers have had difficulty obtaining commercial loans because of high interest rates and lenders’ caution. The land bank is providing outreach to local banks and exploring ways to support predevelopment work (architectural drawings and permitting) so projects can reach a stage where commercial financing is available.

Community uses and interim stewardship

Wright said the land bank leases about 15 lots to community groups for gardens and other interim uses and highlighted a recent stabilization where LBI funds paid for siding, roofing and windows so a buyer could finish interior work and occupy the house. She also described a recapture mechanism: when a buyer fails to complete required renovations, the land bank can foreclose on the development-enforcement mortgage and reclaim the property; in at least one case the buyer returned the property by deed in lieu of foreclosure and the land bank demolished it to prevent long-term blight.

Discussion and next steps

Committee discussion included questions about lead water-service line replacement, coordination with the city's water department during demolitions, the Castle (large commercial) project’s predevelopment financing needs, and whether the land bank would pursue listing a vacant church to enable historic tax-credit rehab. Wright said the land bank coordinates with the Syracuse City water department to avoid wasting resources (for example, the water department will not replace a service line if a house is slated for demolition) and said staff would follow up with additional details requested by council members.

No formal land-use decisions or funding votes were taken at the meeting. The committee adjourned after the presentation.

Ending: The land bank presented a picture of slowed acquisition and sales activity but continued use of state and federal grants to stabilize and prepare properties for redevelopment; committee members asked for more follow-up on foreclosure timing, floodplain policy and financing strategies for larger projects.