Albany/Dougherty Land Bank Authority could grow from five to seven members

ALBANY – The Albany/Dougherty Land Bank Authority is looking at an expansion by two members at a time the group is being tasked with providing more housing opportunities for residents.

Albany-Dougherty Planning Services Director Paul Forgey presented the proposal this week to the Albany City Commission, which gave its approval. The Dougherty County Commission also has to approve the measure. If approved, it would allow for the appointment of one member each by the city and county, increasing the number of authority members to seven.

“Any time your intergovernmental agreement is changed, both have to agree,” Forgey said during a Thursday telephone interview.

The director said he will take the proposal to the county within the next month.

“It was requested by the city commission, specifically by Commissioner (Diane) Brown,” he said. “She requested that it be considered, and I think she would like to serve on the land bank board. She attends all of our meetings.”

The purpose of the land bank is to put properties that are in tax arrears and are often unused or blighted and put them back into productive use, Forgey said. In many instances, the property owner has not paid taxes for as many as 10 years or more and are not likely to bring payments up to date.

“The primary function is to take tax-delinquent property and put it in new hands, to promote ownership (with) somebody who will take care of it, hopefully for residential ownership,” Forgey said.

The land bank was initiated in 2017 and has returned 329 properties on which no taxes were being paid to the tax rolls. The properties are usually sold to individuals at below-market value for development as a residence, rental property or other use. Although the Dougherty County School Board is not part of the land bank, it does participate by extinguishing the school tax on properties sold to the authority, allowing it to acquire and resell those properties.

“We’re building wealth in Albany for people who would not be able to get into the development game otherwise,” Forgey said. “These are commonly people who are not developers; they don’t own their own home. This becomes their first home. Or it’s a piece of property they’re going to build something on.”

Recently, the city has requested that the land bank expand its reach to help provide affordable housing in the city. The city has earmarked $2 million in funding toward that goal. Earlier this year Forgey announced several projects under that initiative.

They include $350,000 in funds available for individuals purchasing homes in a south Albany housing development. The funds will allow for payments of up to $50,000 each for new homeowners to help offset the cost of the structures that are under construction.

A loan  of $165,000 is for a structural insulated panel home, a single-family house that will be built off-site as modules and installed on a lot. The project will help gauge the feasibility of bringing in additional pre-built homes, which can be up to 25% cheaper than stick-built homes.

The largest project is the East Yard development on Oglethorpe Boulevard near Albany State University for which the land bank has issued a $1 million loan.

That project is projected to bring 44 townhouses, 200 apartments and more than 30 single-family houses to the location.