Flint, MI– With input from residents, the Genesee County Land Bank has selected 37 Flint properties to demolish using almost half a million dollars in grant funding. 

In August of last year, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation granted $448,029 to the Land Bank for the purpose of reducing blight in Flint through demolitions. Demolitions help neighborhoods look better, and provide opportunities for redevelopment. 

These grant funds were only able to cover just over 1% of the 3,000 blighted properties the Land Bank owns. Because of this, they turned to the residents to find out which properties were the most important to tackle. 

Flint residents were given the opportunity to fill out a survey that asked questions about what types of properties and areas should be prioritized. The survey asked questions like: How important is it to prioritize demolition of blighted houses directly next to occupied houses?  How important is it to prioritize blighted houses close to open schools for demolition? 

According to the Land Bank’s spring newsletter, there were more than 400 survey responses. From most to least important, this is how participants ranked the following factors:

  • Houses directly next door to occupied properties (score of 9.5 out of 10) 
  • Houses in areas where more people live, and homes are occupied (score of 8.9 out of 10)  
  • Houses near open schools (score of 8.7 out of 10)  
  • Houses that are burnt (8.5 out of 10) 
  • Houses with fire insurance funds (8.1 out 10) 
  • Houses near local parks (8 out of 10) 
  • Houses on or near major roads (7.7 out of 10)

The Land Bank scored properties that were candidates for demolition based on the rankings of those factors. The highest scoring properties in each ward were selected for demolition. 

According to the Land Bank’s Director of Planning and Neighborhood Revitalization, Christina Kelly, the amount of funding for demolition in each ward was roughly proportional to the number of blighted structures in each ward. 

This is the list of properties, by ward, that the Land Bank has selected to be demolished using grant funds:

Ward 1

  • 6301 Belltree Ln.
  • 6617 Fleming Rd.
  • 6101 Fleming Rd.
  • 5612 Marlowe Dr. 
  • 621 W. Marengo Ave.
  • 1816 Woodlin Dr.

Ward 2

  • 205 W. Jamieson St. 
  • 1317 Greenway Ave. 
  • 911 W. McClellan St. 
  • 4334 Fleming Rd. 
  • 4202 Kellar Ave.
  • 806 W. Dayton St. 

Ward 3

  • 1645 Belle Ave.
  • 1416 Dakota Ave.
  • 609 E. Stewart Ave.
  • 1729 Oklahoma Ave.
  • 606 E. Pasadena Ave.
  • 1066 Baltimore Blvd.
  • 3514 Lewis St. 

Ward 4

  • 1637 Wisconsin Ave.
  • 1518 Maplewood Ave.
  • 3109 Dakota Ave.
  • 1709 Wisconsin Ave.
  • 3606 Churchill Ave.

Ward 5

  • 559 E. Paterson St.
  • 1643 N. Grand Traverse 
  • 213 E. Baker St. 
  • 610 Josephine St. 

Ward 6

  • 2318 Sloan St.
  • 3811 Joyner St. 

Ward 7

  • 2302 Nebraska Ave. 

Ward 8

  • 1118 Waldman Ave.
  • 4001 W. Court St. *
  • 1402 W. Atherton  Rd. 

Ward 9

  • 924 Pettibone Ave. *
  • 628 Lincoln Ave. *
  • 832 Barrie Ave.

The Land Bank has requested utility cuts and environmental surveys for each of these properties, and will use the surveys to get competitive pricing on the demolitions through a bid process.

“If prices come in too high for a specific property, we may choose not to contract the property for demolition at this time and instead put it out to bid again at a later date to see if we can get a better price,” Kelly said. “In the past, we have had to request pricing a few times before we are able to get a price that works for a specific property. “

She said the Land Bank is also waiting to receive approval from the City of Flint to use a limited amount of fire insurance funding held in escrow, or being held until certain conditions are met, through the City of Flint for the three properties with an asterisk next to them. If the City does not approve the use of this funding in time for the Land Bank to complete the demolitions within the grant period, Kelly said they may not be able to do those demolitions at this time.

These properties, along with other properties that are funded for demolitions, can be viewed on the Flint Property Portal website.  

According to their 2020 report, the Land Bank demolished 317 blighted structures, sold 211 vacant lots to nearby owners, removed 730 tons of garbage from vacant properties, and boarded and secured around 500 vacant structures. Since 2004, the Land Bank has demolished more than 8,300 residential and commercial structures in Flint and Genesee County. 

The Land Bank hopes to pursue demolition on the majority of the newly selected structures by the end of the summer 2021.

Amy Diaz is a journalist hailing from St. Petersburg, FL. She has written for multiple local newspapers in her hometown before becoming a full-time reporter for Flint Beat. When she’s not writing you...

4 replies on “Land Bank has selected 37 Flint properties for grant-funded demolition”

  1. Don’t know why ward 6 has so few. we have a house next to us and right across the street from us on Clement that have been vacant for sereral years.. Do we have to know someone to get these down??

  2. I don’t see any houses on the West Side of flint on the list.What about Zimmerman School? Who do we contact for all these houses?

  3. House on the corner of Center rd an Lorraine Ave has been haven’t for over 30yrs trees growing up thru house an garage an gangs use the house.

  4. I’ve contacted landbank for three years about Reid st. And vosberg. I was told 2213 and 2205 were on a list for being tore down two years ago. I and my neighbor even went down town and spoke with management twice in the last two years. Were afraid of squatters starting fires and were in between both houses. Neither of these. 4yr vacant houses are on this list. So, if we were lied to for two years what’s our next step? My truck or our home being burnt down?

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