Nearly $8M awarded to support blight elimination efforts

The Michigan State Land Bank Authority (SLBA) recently awarded nearly $8 million in grants to local land banks and municipalities to help revitalize 198 properties across the state. The funds, made available through round one of the Blight Elimination Grant Program announced by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in September, aim to assist communities in addressing vacant, abandoned and deteriorated properties and are part of the governor’s larger $75 million budget to eliminate blight in Michigan.

“With the help of this blight elimination funding, we are continuing to work with local governments and communities to spur economic growth and provide a better quality of life for all Michigan residents,” said Emily Doerr, executive director of the SLBA. “Returning more properties to productive use will have a critical, positive impact on the safety of our communities, surrounding property values and local tax revenue.”

Eligible grant applicants included local land banks, and county, city, village and township officials who do not have a local land bank. SLBA provided funding to a total of?46 different counties?statewide, including 33 county land bank grantees. Of all the grantees, 25 were from rural counties and 21 from non-rural counties.

Round-one grant applicants were given the opportunity to apply for up to $200,000 to support projects to stabilize, protect and rehab vacant properties, demolish properties that cannot be rehabilitated, or as match or gap funding for environmental remediation.  

Of the properties awarded, 159 will be demolished, 37 will be stabilized and two grants will provide gap funding for environmental remediation.  

As part of the ongoing blight elimination efforts to revitalize communities, SLBA also launched the Requests for Proposals (RFP) process for round two of the Blight Elimination Grant Program. There have been some changes from round one, including a cap of $1 million maximum award per county and the inclusion of additional resources to help local communities prepare their proposals. Applicants are encouraged to visit the SLBA webpage (www.michigan.gov/leo/bureaus-agencies/landbank) for additional details and resources, including a submission checklist and budget format.  

Responses to the RFP are due May 31. Projects must be completed by August 31, 2024, and reimbursement requests must be submitted by September 30, 2024.?

Local communities, counties or county land banks who have questions or need additional assistance in understanding the round two process and eligible properties are encouraged to contact the SLBA staff member assigned to their region. To view SLBA contact information by region, visit https://bit.ly/41LO34q.