A new initiative led by the Genesee County Land Bank plans to significantly increase investment in rehabilitating homes in Flint and Genesee County over the next four years.
The program, called Renovate Genesee (RenGen Housing), is wrapping up a pilot in which 13 home renovations have been completed, with another 13 currently under construction and expected to be done later this year. The homes are then sold at affordable, market rates as a way to strengthen neighborhoods and make home ownership more accessible. One of the recently completed homes was unveiled in the College Cultural Neighborhood on June 30.
“The pilot year demonstrates that we have successfully built the organizational capacity necessary to scale housing rehabilitation in Genesee County,” said Sam Muma, Genesee County Land Bank Board Chair and Genesee County Treasurer in a news release. “We are no longer operating a small rehabilitation program — we are creating a housing production system capable of delivering quality homes at a scale that can meaningfully impact neighborhoods and housing availability.”
The Land Bank, originally founded in 2004, was created to acquire, develop, and sell vacant and abandoned properties as a way to return them to productive or profitable uses that benefit the community. Over the next four years, the Land Bank plans to complete 125 renovated homes. That significantly outpaces previous redevelopment — according to a news release, the Land Bank would typically renovate 6-9 formerly tax-foreclosed homes per year.
In order to meet growing needs for housing in the community, the Land Bank recently established a new construction and development department that includes expertise in project management systems, contractor relationships, development processes, and staffing required to increase production. That department, with more than $1 million in support from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, has allowed for renovations to take place on the homes in the RenGen pilot phase. Those homes from the pilot phase will be sold to income-qualified households.
“Our goal is to unlock homeownership opportunities for residents in Flint and Genesee County while bringing stability back to our neighborhoods,” said Land Bank executive director Michael Freeman in a news release. “Our vision is to build ‘complete streets.’ Too often, we see a beautifully maintained street marred by a single foreclosed property. We want to transform those individual eyesores into some of the nicest homes on the block.”
The Land Bank is working to secure $6 million in funding needed to renovate approximately 100 more homes over the next three years, bringing the four-year total to 125 renovated homes. Plans include a mix of market rate homes that will be rehabilitated and sold without direct subsidy and affordable homes that will be sold to income-qualified households and supported through targeted subsidy investments.
These investments will provide the working capital needed to advance rehabilitation projects, while proceeds generated from market-rate home sales will be reinvested into a revolving development fund that supports future housing production and reduces reliance on subsidy.
“By combining affordable housing development, market-rate rehabilitation, and a sustainable reinvestment strategy, the Land Bank is creating a scalable model for neighborhood revitalization that will return vacant and distressed properties to productive use, expand homeownership opportunities, and strengthen communities throughout Genesee County,” Freeman said in a news release.
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