Land bank offering properties for sale

VW independent/submitted information

The Van Wert County Land Reutilization Corporation (land bank) is now offering properties to the public.

In its two years of existence, the land bank has acquired 51 properties throughout the county and revitalized 47 that were vacant and blighted. Certain properties will be sold to the general public and others will be offered to owners of land adjacent to the lot being sold by the land bank. All potential recipients must complete an application to determine eligibility. 

A list of available properties and an acquisition application are available at the Van Wert Area Economic Development Corporation’s website at vanwerted.com under the Land Bank tab.

“Anyone who travels through our target communities will notice our trademark white corner fences marking revitalized properties,” said JoAnne Simmerman, program manager for the Land Reutilization Corporation. “Our work is not done. We enter 2019 with renewed effort and energy.” 

In addition to cleared sites, the land bank owns a home at 202 E. Jackson St. in Middle Point that is eligible to be rehabbed. That property will be put out to bid, with packets now available at the VWAEDC office, 145 E. Main St. in Van Wert.

The land bank has received $1.15 million in federal grant funds since it was formed in 2017. Properties that have been improved are located in the city of Van Wert and the villages of Willshire, Middle Point, Venedocia, Ohio City, and Convoy. Land bank activity has led to a decline in the county’s tax delinquency rate from 2.7 percent in 2016 to 1.3 percent in 2018.

Proceeds from the sale of the properties will be returned to the Neighborhood Initiative Program, the federal grant program administered by the Ohio Housing Finance Authority. Proceeds from properties sold more than three years after the land bank acquired them will be returned to the local land bank.

“The land bank was recently given permission to include properties on the fringe of its existing target areas,” Simmerman said. “We will continue to make a significant impact throughout the county for as long as the funding programs exists.” 

The land bank is able to acquire property through purchase or donation. Anyone who owns a vacant property and is interested in selling or donating it may contact Simmerman at 419.238.2999.