Mayor Gainey Offers New Legislation to Transform Land Bank

Since its creation over a decade ago, the Land Bank struggled for many years to make progress. In fact, during the first seven years of its existence, the organization was unable to move a single property. That began to change under the Gainey Administration. Over the past two years, the Land Bank has successfully returned over 150 properties back to productive reuse, helping residents and local organizations advance community-driven goals like building affordable housing and preserving greenspace in neighborhoods that need them most. These advances were made possible by efforts undertaken by the Gainey Administration to establish clear standards and procedures and adopt necessary agreements between the City, URA, and Land Bank governing the interactions between the three agencies. 

"I am proud of the progress we’ve made in addressing blight and revitalizing our neighborhoods through the Land Bank,” said Mayor Ed Gainey. “This new legislation will strengthen our ability to continue our efforts and is another important step toward building safer, stronger, and more vibrant communities across our city.” 

This new agreement, if authorized, would put into place the final structures necessary for the Land Bank to take advantage of the full suite of powers granted to it under state law by extending that coordination to Allegheny County and Pittsburgh Public Schools, codifying procedures for how the taxing bodies collectively process property sales and extinguish tax delinquencies on the properties to allow the Land Bank to clear their titles and position them for resale. The City, County, School District, and Land Bank administrations have each agreed to a draft agreement and are now seeking authorization from their legislative bodies for approval to sign it into effect.  

This administration believes the proposed legislation will unlock the full potential of the Land Bank, allowing it to operate more efficiently, equitably, and transparently in cooperation with our local taxing body partners. The agreement will improve our land recycling and blight remediation systems and return unproductive real property to productive reuse. The outcomes are revitalized neighborhoods and long-term positive impact on the City and local taxing bodies finances. We are confident that members of City Council share these goals and support our efforts to empower the Land Bank to revitalize communities across Pittsburgh.