Little Rock Land Bank Commission

Mission Statement

The mission of the Little Rock Land Bank Commission is to reverse blight, increase home ownership and stability of property values, provide affordable housing, improve the health and safety of neighborhoods within the City of Little Rock (the “City”), and maintain the architectural fabric of the community through the study, acquisition, and disposition of vacant, abandoned, tax delinquent, and city lien property while collaborating with citizens, neighborhoods, developers, non-profit organizations and other governmental agencies.

2009 Meeting Calendar

Click here to view or download the Land Bank Commission 2009 Meeting Calendar

GOALS

Programmatic

1. Acquire at least 100 properties during each of the program from 2009 – 2011 with the purpose of returning the property to its best and most productive use.
2. Establish a side lot program and convey at least 20 side lots per year, to assist in the elimination of abandoned property that is not on the tax rolls.
3. Use the Land Bank disposition program to promote the construction of new homes in blighted areas by allowing the considered use for vacant lots to be the building of new single-family homes.
4. Participate in the preservation of historic properties by acquiring and disposing of historic properties with development agreements that prohibits demolition and provide for the redevelopment of the historic properties.
5. Collaborate with other agencies to develop a comprehensive approach to revitalizing neighborhoods with the focus of the revitalization efforts to include real estate development, crime, schools, business and code enforcement.

Organization

1. Keep the Land Bank Commission operating as efficiently as possible by collaborating with existing capacity at the City of Little Rock and other nonprofit and governmental agencies.
2. Create a communication plan that emphasizes making the public aware of the Land Bank programs and how to access them. In addition, the plan should create a system to collect, review, and respond to public input on a continuous basis.
3. Establish a board and staff development and training program to increase the capacity of the organization. This can be accomplished in several ways including mini-trainings at board meetings, literary reviews, conference attendance, and consultant visits.
4. Expand the existing GIS system to allow LBC staff to collect and analyze data and generate charts and maps.

Financial

1. Utilize tax Increment financing (TIF) to leverage existing funds to increase the amount of development occurring in Little Rock. Consider lobbying for the use of TIF for property acquisition and redevelopment by the LBC.
2. Fully utilize the funds existing for the LBC to purchase strategic properties.
3. Establish a requirement for developers to leverage other private and public funds from outside Little Rock to finance real estate development projects.
4. Create a toolbox of financial tools and resources to share with interested developers.
5. Develop a toolbox of financial resources to fund Land Bank Commission activities.