News articles on CCLBA

By: Brady Dale In the age of Big Data, these decisions are becoming less complicated. Last month, fellows with the University of Chicago’s Data Science for Social Good began working with the Chicago area’s newly born Cook County Land Bank Authority (CCLBA). The aim is to create a tool that will make it easier to process data on foreclosures, real estate trends and the like to determine which properties are the best candidates for redevelopment. Think of it as a data-backed triage unit for vacant land... Read More

By: Fran Alarcon "On January 16th of this year, the Cook County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to establish the Cook County Land Bank Authority, an independent, quasi-governmental agency spearheaded by Commissioner Bridget Gainer (D-Chicago) aimed at reviving Cook County’s vacant properties." Read More

By Dennis Rodkin “Vacant foreclosed properties dot the map of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs. So think of the new Cook County land bank as housing’s Georges Seurat; it’s trying to arrange all those individual dots into something new and better (much as the pointillist painter did with A Sunday on La Grand Jatte). According to Cook County Board President…” Read More

By Ashlee Rezin "Chicago has not reached the other side of the foreclosure crisis, a new report from the Woodstock Institute has revealed. But with new ordinances like the Cook County Land Bank Authority, the Windy City may be headed in the right direction. Last year, Chicago’s six county region saw the highest year-over-year growth in completed foreclosure auctions since the beginning of the foreclosure crisis in 2008, according to the Woodstock Institute report. Foreclosure auctions, which indicate the foreclosure process is finished, grew by 73.8 percent, from 20,281 auctions in 2011 to 35,244 auctions in 2012." Read more

By Steven Ross Johnson "In an effort to reverse the problems that have cropped up in a number of communities over recent years as a result of the rise in vacant and abandoned properties, the Cook County Board voted last week to create a countywide land bank, a move Board Commissioner Bridget Gainer is hopeful will act as a first step towards economic..." Read More

By: Lisa Donovan What is being dubbed the nation’s largest landbank — an independent agency set up to acquire vacant land and foreclosed homes and commercial property in Chicago and the suburbs — moved one step closer to setting up shop Tuesday. The Cook County Board’s finance committee signed off on creating the new landbank – in hopes of cleaning up neighborhoods and returning abandoned property to the tax roles. Because the finance committee’s membership is identical to the full County Board, the measure is expected to sail through final approval during Wednesday’s meeting." Read More

By Dave Lee Mathews "Cook County officials succeeded Wednesday in establishing a land bank to address the thousands of vacant properties blighting the area. Now, they just need to pay for it. The nation's newest land bank, and now largest by geography, will not draw from county funds." Read More

By: Mary Ellen Podmolik “If approved Wednesday by the Cook County Board, the Cook County Land Bank would be the largest land bank in the nation, in terms of geography. Its creation is considered the next step in addressing the foreclosure crisis, and numerous similar efforts to form such organizations are under way around the country. Locally, the…” Read More