DuPage County setting up land bank as part of affordable housing push
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct how much money the county has spent from its affordable housing fund.
DuPage County Board members passed a resolution Tuesday authorizing the creation of a land bank as part of a push to expand affordable housing.
The county has a “de facto” land bank through its “clean and lien” neighborhood revitalization program.
“We have inventoried land that we've received through our ‘clean and lien’ program, either through foreclosures or through gifts from property owners who simply don't want to take care of their property anymore. They give it over to us,” said Paul Hoss, the county’s planning and zoning administration coordinator.
In addition to setting up a county land bank, officials also plan to partner with an established nonprofit that could help find developers, among other roles.
“Maintaining the land bank internally gives us the internal controls to address our own unique needs in our community, while partnering with the community land trust gives us the expertise on the development portion and the programming that these folks have already started working … with other communities,” said Jeremy Custer, the county’s senior adviser.
The board also directed staff to put out a request for qualifications for potential nonprofit partners. The resolution comes about two years after county board Chair Deborah Conroy announced an ad hoc committee to tackle the issue of affordable housing.
Since then, the board has set aside a total of $5 million for an affordable housing program from county budget surplus funds.
Board members allocated $200,000 from the county's affordable housing fund to help DuPagePads provide shelter for people this past winter. The board also spent $150,000 for an agreement approved in 2023 with Grounded Solutions Network, a national nonprofit membership organization focused on long-lasting affordable housing. DuPage has participated in the network’s “ForEveryoneHome” initiative.
“A lot of times, land banks are paired — and we're seeing this more and more throughout the country — with a community land trust,” Colby Sledge, the network’s local policy principal, told the county board in March.
“So that way, the land bank provides a pipeline of parcels, whether they be existing homes that are renovated or maybe vacant land that can be built on, and the community land trust can then oversee the stewardship of … those properties to maintain that affordability,” Sledge added.
A land bank would enable the county to turn what are liabilities — vacant or underutilized land — into the potential for housing for residents at a more affordable rate, Sledge explained.
“A community land trust is the private nonprofit corporation that allows you to do the things that you as a community want to do to address affordable housing, whether that is developing property, credit counseling, down payment assistance,” Custer said. “It gives you the ability to address the gaps in service.”