The Opportunity Zones program was established as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed in December 2017. GOPC published a blog following the creation of the program as a resource to understand program details in its beginning stages.
Ohio House Introduces Bill on Forfeited Land Sales (HB598)
Getting Ohio to Work: Reaching Opportunity through Public Transportation Part II
Media Coverage of $180 Million and Growing: The Economic Impacts of the Land Banks
Last month, Greater Ohio Policy Center released a report documenting the economic impacts that the City of Columbus and Franklin County land banks had on the local economy. These economic impacts include:
- $90 million in protected home values from demolition of nearby blighted structures
- $7.8 million in direct land sales
- $442,000 in property taxes collected from former land bank properties in 2017 alone
- $80 million in new private and non-profit investment on vacant lots or blighted, abandoned structures
- $3.3 million in grants and loans awarded to local non-profit partners
The collaboration between the City of Columbus and COCIC has served to jump-start real estate activity in some of Central Ohio’s most disinvested housing markets and after more than 1,600 demolitions in the past five years, the land banks have successfully dealt with the worst of the worst properties. Today, the land banks are strategically pivoting to address properties farther up the blight pipeline through rehabilitation and blight prevention.
Below is a wrap-up of the media coverage this report has generated:
Land Banks in Central Ohio Restore Nearly 1,300 Properties in 5 Years
Non Profit Quarterly 4/3/2018 Reporter Steve Dubb
Group says land banks are boosting local economy
Columbus Dispatch - 4/2/2018 Reporter Mark Ferenchik
Columbus-Franklin County land banks report $180M in economic impact
Columbus Business First - 3/20/2018 Reporter Carrie Ghose
GOPC's Upcoming Events
Below is a short list of events GOPC will be presenting at and/or attending this Spring. We hope to see you there!
April 11: Richland County Economic Club Quarterly Luncheon in Mansfield, Ohio
May 11: Small Cities Conference at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana
May 15-17: Reclaiming Vacant Properties Conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
GOPC Presents at Eastgate Council of Governments Annual Meeting in Youngstown
Hollingsworth presented on GOPC’s research into revitalization opportunities for Ohio’s older industrial cities with smaller populations – like Youngstown and Warren. She focused in on two factors that GOPC’s research has shown makes the biggest difference for revitalization in these places: strong civic infrastructure and quality of place.
New GOPC report finds City of Columbus and Franklin County Land Banks Significantly Impact Local Economies
Affordable housing leaders in Ohio share ideas at GOPC’s Learning Exchange
Greater Ohio Policy Center (GOPC) organized a statewide affordable housing learning exchange at the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) offices. The learning exchange brought together practitioners from Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Toledo to discuss the current housing affordability challenges in their regions and share policies and practices that seek to address the problem.
Highlighting GOPC’s Decade of Impact
2018 marks the 10th Anniversary of the founding of Greater Ohio Policy Center (GOPC) as a nonprofit 501(c)3 focused on championing revitalization and sustainable growth in Ohio. To celebrate this occasion, GOPC has compiled A Decade of Impact to look back at the success GOPC has realized as a public policy organization.
