FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 9,
2020
City
of Kingston and Kingston City Land Bank Announce First Acquisitions
KINGSTON,
NY – Mayor Steven T. Noble and the Kingston City Land Bank (KCLB) are pleased
to announce that the Land Bank has completed the purchase of three vacant homes
from the City of Kingston. The homes will be renovated and returned to the
City’s tax rolls at full value once completed.
With
this first acquisition, the KCLB has purchased three homes: 248 Main Street,
174 Hasbrouck Avenue, and 64 Van Buren Street from the City of Kingston for the
full value of unpaid real estate taxes. As a part of this Phase I of the KCLB’s
program, a total of five homes are scheduled to be purchased and then renovated
with funding provided by Enterprise Community Partners. Requests for Proposals
for the construction renovation contracts will be posted on the KCLB’s website
when available.
Once
construction is complete, the homes will predominantly be sold to families
earning at or below 100% of the Area Median Income in Ulster County. Currently,
this limit for a family size of four is a gross household income of $83,700.
Sales will be made through a public application process, details of which will
be available on the KCLB website. No homes are currently offered for sale by
the KCLB at this time.
“These
first acquisitions are a landmark achievement for our community,” said Mayor
Noble. “Not only will the City recoup back taxes for these properties through
the sale, once they are renovated, these homes will reinvigorate their
neighborhoods -- at a time when we desperately need housing stock. I would like
to thank the Community Foundation of the Hudson Valley and Enterprise for their
generous grants to help the Land Bank get started on what will be a tremendous
endeavor.”
“The
KCLB was formed with the task of transforming the city's vacant tax-foreclosed
housing stock from community burdens into neighborhood assets, and we've
spent the past year and a half working to do exactly that,” said
Daniel Kanter, Board Chair of the KCLB. “These first three homes represent not
only the enormous effort it took to get to this point, but also a first step
in putting these programs into action and meeting the mission we set out to
accomplish. We are deeply grateful for the patience of our community as we've
gotten up and running, and are thrilled to enter this new stage for the KCLB
and the City's approach to equitable housing at large."
“This
Phase I milestone is just the beginning,” said Mike Gilliard, Executive
Director of the KCLB. “Due to the tireless work of our dedicated Board and
staff, over the next few months we will begin to implement a full range of Land
Bank tools to transform delinquent properties into occupied homes on the City’s
tax roll.”
The
Kingston City Land Bank was formed with the purpose of acquiring title to
tax-foreclosed and other distressed properties in the City of Kingston, removing
barriers to redevelopment and returning properties to the tax rolls. Its
mission is to foster an equitable community where vacant or distressed
properties are transformed into community assets that improve the quality of
life for Kingston residents, stabilize and enhance neighborhoods, and create
new pathways for social and economic development.
For
more information about the KCLB and to join our mailing list for updates, visit
www.kingstoncitylandbank.org and
follow us on Instagram at @kingstoncitylandbank