On Wednesday, Gina Paradis, land bank executive director, told the land bank board during its monthly meeting that more than 30 properties were pulled from the auction for demolition, 12 were acquired for rehabilitation and five sidelots were also given to the land bank prior to the auction, which was held June 15.

Of the rehabilitation properties acquired, Paradis said one property each was located in the towns of Brocton and Pomfret; one was in the village of Silver Creek; one was in the hamlet of Forestville; and the rest were located in Jamestown.

She said no properties acquired for renovation by the land bank were located in the city of Dunkirk. She added that there were a lot of substandard properties in this year’s tax foreclosure auction.

“We did as well as we could,” she said.

The Chautauqua County Land Bank Corp. discusses how many properties it acquired during the Chautauqua County Tax Foreclosure Auction last month. Land bank officials pulled 36 properties for demolition. Twelve were acquired for rehabilitation and five sidelots were also given to the land bank prior to the auction, which was held June 15. P-J photo by Dennis Phillips

Because of the lack of properties that could be acquired for rehabilitation in the county auction, Paradis said land bank officials have tried to acquire bank foreclosure auctioned properties. However, she said that process hasn’t been successful because the properties usually go for a higher price than land bank officials feel the property is worth.

The land bank runs a rehabilitation program with the goal to stabilize neighborhoods by targeting blight and/or declining properties, which are negatively impacting neighborhood property values or livability. By acquiring these properties, the land bank can clean them up, secure them and offer them at below market value to interested purchasers who will commit to renovating them to specified levels. This reinvestment will not only rehabilitate the target property, but will hopefully also help reverse the trend of declining property values in the neighborhood.

Last month, the board discussed how the land bank might be a “product of its own success” because the organization has renovated many properties throughout the county and there are fewer properties that could be rehabilitated in the auction.

For example, the land bank sold 26 properties for rehabilitation that represented $1,288,407 in assessed property value that will return to the county tax rolls and $1,286,000 in private reinvestment in county neighborhoods. The county had one of the state’s first five land banks, which was established in 2012.

In other business, the land bank approved the disposition of a property located on Newland Avenue in Jamestown. Paradis said the recommended purchaser, who was approved by the board, has redevelopment experience. She said the property will be owner-occupied once the renovation is completed.