But Land Bank Chairwoman and Cook County Commissioner Bridget Gainer says the Illinois Constitution and the property tax system has made it almost impossible to redevelop property, and the Land Bank steps in to be a consistent pipeline of property for small developers.
“People can plan a business knowing that there’s going to be a consistent pipeline of this property,” Gainer said. “If I’m a developer, I can say, ‘OK, I know that I can get five houses every year from the Land Bank, because I know that they’re filling this pipeline. The Land Bank will still be a very active buyer in the scavenger sale because we have been the most effective mechanism to get property out of the scavenger sale into development and paying taxes than anyone else in the last 20 years.”