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(Photos by Tony Dejak\/AP Photo and Stephanie Strasburg\/Pittsburgh\u2019s Public Source)<\/p>\n(Photos by Tony Dejak\/AP Photo and Stephanie Strasburg\/Pittsburgh\u2019s Public Source)<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh\u2019s Public Source is an independent nonprofit newsroom serving the Pittsburgh region.\u00a0Sign up for our free newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n When Pittsburghers think of their rivalry with Cleveland, they often feel quite superior. The Steelers are 31-8-1 against the Browns over the last 20 years, after all.<\/p>\n Some people think, though, that the Steel City could learn something from Cleveland when it comes to affordable housing programs.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bobby Wilson, a Pittsburgh city councilor and board chair of the Pittsburgh Land Bank, said Pittsburgh\u2019s relatively new land bank is doing \u201csimilar stuff\u201d to Cleveland\u2019s, but at a much smaller scale.<\/p>\n \u201cCleveland, they\u2019re just lightyears ahead of us in terms of their land bank and how they\u2019re funding their land bank,\u201d said Wilson, a Democrat who represents part of the North Side. \u201cIt\u2019s what we seek to do that they\u2019re doing on steroids.\u201d<\/p>\n A land bank is a tool for local governments to cut through red tape to turn tax-delinquent, vacant and abandoned properties back into quality homes. Some local leaders see it as a key to helping more Pittsburghers get into homeownership, as a decaying housing stock and rising prices keep young people\u00a0renting later into life<\/a>.<\/p>\n Pittsburgh created its land bank in 2014, but it\u00a0didn\u2019t process even a single property until nine years later<\/a>. It wasn\u2019t until 2023 that the city, Allegheny County and school district made an agreement to clear tax liens from transacted properties, clearing the way for a more productive operation in the last few years.<\/p>\n But the Cuyahoga Land Bank\u2019s achievement towers over Pittsburgh\u2019s like a Steelers linebacker over a hapless Browns quarterback. A\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0produced last year boasts that the bank facilitated just under 10,000 property demolitions since its 2009 inception, raising values by an average of $148,000 per property.<\/p>\n The report estimates that the land bank restored $48 million in property tax revenue that otherwise would go uncollected from previously abandoned properties.<\/p>\n Pittsburgh and Cleveland both have sustained major population loss since the middle of the 20th century, leading to a large number of vacant and abandoned homes. And Pittsburgh could certainly use an infusion of new property tax revenue; the city is\u00a0slated to spend down much of its reserve fund<\/a>\u00a0as tax revenue stagnates and the county, in a similar bind, had to raise its tax rate last year.<\/p>\n The Cuyahoga Land Bank also renovated more than 2,600 homes in the last 15 years and oversaw the construction of 243 brand new ones, most of which became affordable homeownership opportunities.<\/p>\n By contrast, the Pittsburgh Land Bank completed eight sales during 2024, according to its annual report, and held 62 properties in its inventory at the end of the year. Earlier this year, Mayor Ed Gainey\u2019s administration held a press conference this spring to mark the completion of three new homes in Hazelwood, built by public and private partners on property sold by the land bank.\u00a0<\/p>\n Funding hampers Pittsburgh<\/p>\n The biggest thing keeping Pittsburgh from catching Cleveland is money. Pittsburgh\u2019s land bank has no regular funding stream. It received a one-time sum of $3 million in 2021 from the city, which has fueled its work since, but its future is unclear.<\/p>\n Ricardo Le\u00f3n, the president and CEO of the Cuyahoga Land Bank, said Ohio\u2019s legislature set up a stable flow of money to county land banks in the state. The land bank can take a cut of the late fees residents pay on delinquent property taxes, totaling between $5 million and $7 million annually, Le\u00f3n said.<\/p>\n In Pennsylvania, there\u2019s no state law designating money to land banks and the state is an uncertain partner at the moment, with a budget impasse extending over three months and no deal to prevent the collapse of public transit.<\/p>\n \u201cTo actually get to that scale, you need some sort of state funding,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cObviously conversations with the state are quite difficult these days.\u201d<\/p>\n The Cuyahoga Land Bank brings in and spends about $30 million annually. Le\u00f3n said the delinquent tax money is supplemented by grants from nonprofits, philanthropies and the private sector.<\/p>\n Four years after receiving an initial $3 million from the city, the Pittsburgh Land Bank has no regular budget allocation other than funds to employ two staff members.<\/p>\n As for the city, Wilson is starting small with his ask: His task force wrote to the mayor requesting\u00a0 $1.5 million for the land bank in the 2026 city budget.\u00a0<\/p>\n The mayor\u2019s preliminary 2026 budget released Sept. 30 included no funds for the land bank in 2026, though Deputy Mayor Jake Pawlak said it included $500,000 for the effort in 2027.<\/p>\n \u201cFor them to not fund the land bank in 2026,\u201d Wilson said of the administration, \u201cI guess they just don\u2019t believe that the land bank can spend down that money or that it should continue to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n Pawlak said he was assured by the land bank that it could continue getting by on the initial 2021 grant of $3 million. Wilson disputed that, saying the only formal conversations with the mayor\u2019s office were with the land bank funding task force, which includes members of the mayor\u2019s office and formally requested more than $1 million for next year.<\/p>\n Responding to a follow-up inquiry from Public Source, Gainey\u2019s Press Secretary Olga George acknowledged the land bank requested $1.6 million, but said the mayor \u201chas had to make difficult decisions\u201d and that he \u201ccarefully considered\u201d the request.<\/p>\n \u201cWe could always get by and just sell less properties,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cBut I think the goal is to provide more affordable housing, not less.\u201d<\/p>\n Neighborly advice<\/p>\n Le\u00f3n, who has been with the Cuyahoga Land Bank for three years and worked in community development in Cleveland before that, said the organization has had a tangible impact on the city in the 15 years since the mortgage foreclosure crisis emptied out entire swaths of neighborhoods.<\/p>\n \u201cIn those communities, you can see a drastic difference,\u201d Le\u00f3n said. \u201cIn those neighborhoods, the bulk of the demolition work has already occurred. A large chunk of the homes have been changed. There\u2019s new construction happening that even five years ago wasn\u2019t happening.\u201d<\/p>\n He fronted advice for land banks in cities like Pittsburgh with an acknowledgement that much of their operations are only possible because of their reliable funding stream, which land banks in most other states don\u2019t enjoy.<\/p>\n He said the Cuyahoga Land Bank works with Cleveland\u2019s significant philanthropic network and receives grants from nonprofits to fund a significant portion of its programming.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOne dollar stretches way further when you have two or three other people at the table,\u201d Le\u00f3n said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Pittsburgh mayors have been trying for years to lock in more financial contributions from local nonprofit organizations, with little success. Most recently, Gainey has taken a combative approach,\u00a0taking legal action and receiving little in return<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Le\u00f3n suggested resisting the urge to \u201cspread the peanut butter evenly,\u201d instead surging resources to the neediest areas and making significant gains there.<\/p>\n He also said it makes sense to take a more holistic approach than simply focusing on housing; his team supports business corridors and parks that mesh with housing development to build communities.<\/p>\n \u201cThe houses themselves don\u2019t solve all the issues,\u201d he said. Where there are housing issues, \u201cthere\u2019s probably also a deficiency in commercial space and green space and public transportation.\u201d<\/p>\n Correction: The Pittsburgh Land Bank sold Hazelwood property that was later redeveloped. The land bank\u2019s involvement was mischaracterized in a prior version of this story.<\/p>\n Charlie Wolfson is the local government reporter for Pittsburgh\u2019s Public Source. He can be reached at\u00a0charlie@publicsource.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/png-1024x683.png\")
In May 2023 the Pittsburgh Land Bank sold its first property on Mount Washington\u2019s Boggs Avenue. (Photo by Alexis Wary\/Pittsburgh\u2019s Public Source)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/png2-1024x683.png\")
Councilman Bobby Wilson speaks to KDKA at a political event in May 2025. (Photo by Quinn Glabicki\/Pittsburgh\u2019s Public Source)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AP100909116772.jpg\")
Downtown Cleveland seen from Cleveland Lakefront State Park Thursday, Sept. 9, 2010. (AP Photo\/Mark Duncan)<\/p>\n