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April 15th, 2025. We're pleased to announce that Carthage is the first community who has voted to officially join the Prairie Hills Land Bank Authority! Their representative on the board, Amy Graham, Community Development Director, had this to say following the announcement: "As a member of Prairie Hills Land Bank Authority (PHLBA), the City of Carthage is looking forward to partnering with PHLBA to transform vacant properties into thriving neighborhoods and putting unused land back into productive use. We appreciate the PHLBA team spending several hours in our community and educating our governmental leaders on this land acquisition tool, which we believe will boost local tax revenue and create job opportunities." Other communities are expected to join in the upcoming months. A community can join the landbank at any time, with the expectation of a three year commitment to start.
Keep checking back for more updates. For questions, please contact Dr. Victoria Livingston at PHRCD (309)833-4747 or Email [email protected]. In 2024, Prairie Hills retained eProperty Innovations, a nationally recognized consultant, to conduct a land bank feasibility study with grant support from the Kansas State Brownfield Technical Assistance Program. Our objective was to determine if a land bank could be beneficial to our 5-county west central Illinois region. The study revealed a land bank could help to address the vacant property situation, especially if different municipalities and agencies coordinated their efforts to maximum effect. The consultant recommended a land bank be formed of county and municipal members, have a minimum staff to get started, and be funded with contributions from members that are commensurate to their population size.
In 2025, we continued meeting with local leaders to develop a governance framework for a new land bank. We are modeling our land bank on successful land banks in the state. In addition to our consultant, we are assisted with pro bono help from Denzin Law LLC, a nationally recognized law firm specializing in land bank operations and governance, and Teska Associates, a nationally recognized planning firm with broad expertise in community and economic development planning. Both firms are provided pro bono to local governments through the Illinois Housing Development Authority and its Land Bank Technical Assistance Program. For now, we propose to house the land bank at Prairie Hills, though it would operate and be governed independently of our organization. Keep checking this page for updates as we move through the process of formalizing our inter-governmental agreement. We hope to launch the Prairie Hills Land Bank Authority sometime in Spring 2025 and to begin operations soon after! |
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Prairie Hills RC&D is an equal opportunity provider.
We do not discriminate in admission, access to, treatment or employment in programs or activities on the basis of a handicap in violation of section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
Prairie Hills RC&D is an equal opportunity provider.
We do not discriminate in admission, access to, treatment or employment in programs or activities on the basis of a handicap in violation of section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.