Philadelphia Land Bank Strategic Planning

A strategic plan to put vacant property back to productive use

We developed the strategic plan for Philadelphia’s brand new Land Bank back in 2015 to help set the ground rules for Land Bank activities. We identified market conditions across the city, synthesized data to understand the inventory of vacant and tax delinquent properties that the Land Bank could bring back online, and established goals for acquisition and disposition of land to meet City goals.

In 2019, the City hired us back to evaluate progress and accomplishments in the first four years of Land Bank operations, and to assess the road blocks and hurdles that impeded progress. We quantified the number of affordable and market rate housing units created on land provided by the Land Bank, the number of gardens preserved and side yards conveyed, and the number of business expansion projects supported. We adjusted the reporting practices and updated the recommendations for annual acquisition and disposition targets based on real life timelines and lessons learned.