Land bank adds home restoration to mission

Published: Monday, 3/2/2015 - Updated: 4 hours ago

BY MARK REITER BLADE STAFF WRITER

When Leitha Sackmann first walked into the abandoned white and green house on South Detroit Avenue, the walls in the bathroom had gaping holes from vandals who had stripped the copper plumbing.

The 60-year-old house is adjacent to the home that Mrs. Sackmann and her husband, Richard, have lived in for more than 30 years.

With its moldy walls and ceilings, the three-bedroom house was clearly a fixer-upper, but sat among homes valued at more than $40,000.

The structure was among tax-foreclosed properties acquired last year by the Lucas County Land Bank, which in turn sold it for $5,000 to the Sackmanns after they offered a detailed proposal to renovate it.

Today, the couple are nearing the end of a $25,000 renovation that includes a new furnace and plumbing, mold removal, kitchen cabinets, and appliances.

Launched four years ago and formally known as the Lucas County Land Reutilization Corp., the land bank has gained the reputation as the agency that demolishes vacant and abandoned homes and buildings, and which sells the plots where the structures stood to neighbors and community groups.

However, the land bank also shores up vacant and abandoned houses to offer for sale so private money can be invested to fix up the property and return it to the tax rolls.

So far, 178 fixer-uppers acquired by the land bank have been sold and renovated by new owners.

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Land bank adds home restoration to mission