Tri-COG land bank buys first properties to battle blight in Pittsburgh suburbs

The Tri-COG Land Bank acquired its first abandoned properties Monday as it attempts to combat blight in suburban Pittsburgh communities.

Land bank officials purchased a vacant lot at 430 Morris St. in Edgewood for $43,338 and a vacant house at 519 Sunnyside St. in East Pittsburgh for $10,013 during a sheriff's sale.

The house will be renovated to at least meet code enforcement rules and then sold to new owners to return it to the tax rolls, while the vacant lot could be the site of a new house, said An Lewis, executive director of the Tri-COG Land Bank.

Land bank officials also planned to buy a property at 1114 Wilkins Ave. in Braddock Hills, where a vacant house sits, for $87,172, but it was postponed until the June sheriff's sale, Lewis said.

Officials plan to acquire six more properties this year, then another 15 to 20 later this year or early next year, Lewis said.

Some of the properties will likely be on the same street.

“If we chose an area or street and take a property there, if there are other viable candidates for the land bank on that street, we want to look at those properties,” Lewis said.

After the land bank acquires a property and gains access to the interior, officials will decide whether to renovate it and sell it to a new owner or do minimal repairs to get it up to code, Lewis said. A third option is to partner with another organization that specializes in redevelopment.

Only properties within the participating taxing bodies can be purchased for the land bank.

The following municipalities are members: Braddock Hills, Chalfant, Churchill, Clairton, Dravosburg, East Pittsburgh, Edgewood, Etna, Forest Hills, McKeesport, Millvale, Monroeville, North Braddock, Pitcairn, Rankin, Sharpsburg, South Versailles, Swissvale, Turtle Creek, White Oak and Wilkins.

The following school districts are members: Clairton City, Fox Chapel Area, Gateway, McKeesport Area, Shaler and Woodland Hills.

Allegheny County Council approved the county's participation in the land bank in June 2016.

The taxing bodies that are members agreed to make contributions to the land bank totaling half the property taxes they collect on a land-bank property for the first five years after it returns to the tax rolls.

Theresa Clift is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 412-380-5669, tclift@tribweb.com or via Twitter @tclift.