The Land Bank

300+ Properties Transformed • 200+ Blighted Properties Removed • $44M in Local Investment

Welcome to The Land Bank

Our Mission

The Buffalo Erie Niagara Land Improvement Corporation (BENLIC) seeks to confront and alleviate the problems distressed properties cause to communities by supporting municipal and regional revitalization efforts and strategically acquiring, improving, assembling, and selling distressed, vacant, abandoned, and/or tax-delinquent properties.

Board of Directors Meeting Notice

Our next regular meeting will take place on Thursday, December 19th at 2:30pm at 403 Main Street (Brisbane Building at Lafayette Square) in Conference Room 521, Buffalo, NY 14203

All of our meetings are recorded and posted on this website. If you would like to attend the meeting live, it will be livestreamed on BENLIC’s YouTube Channel.

Brand New Affordable Infill Homes

The first 12 new homes of the ARPA Infill Initiative are complete and for sale! Applications to purchase one of these homes are open until December 19. Please submit an application to Belmont Housing Resources of WNY.

Cheektowaga Addresses:
297 Hyland Ave, 301 Hyland Ave, 195 Northcrest Ave, 257 Chapel Ave, 44 Long Ave

Black Rock Addresses:
18 Calumet Pl, 362 East St, 92 Gorton St, 153 Thompson St, 248 Laird Ave, 111 Austin St, 57 Hoffman Pl

Home Ownership Opportunities

ARPA Affordable Infill Housing Initiative

$23.5 Million of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding has been committed to BENLIC from the City of Buffalo and Erie County. These funds are being used to construct forty-seven new homes on select vacant lots throughout the City of Buffalo and five new homes in the Town of Cheektowaga.

BENLIC is happy to announce that construction is currently underway in Black Rock/Riverside, the First Ward, the West Side, and Cheektowaga on twenty-two of the forty-seven homes.

Click here to apply to purchase one of the ARPA Infill Homes through a lottery conducted by Belmont Housing Resources of WNY.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
VIEW PRESENTATION

Adams Street Infill Initiative

NYS Homes and Community Renewal’s (HCR) Affordable Homeownership Opportunity Program provides funding for the new construction of affordable single-family homes. The homes must be sold to households that earn 100% or less of the Area Median Income (AMI) at an affordable sale price.

Twelve single family homes are currently under construction on the 500 block of Adams Street on the East Side of Buffalo. The former demo sites on the block were strategically chosen for this infill initiative due to the high rate of homeownership and proximity to downtown Buffalo. If you are interested in applying to buy a home, please contact MMB Realty Group.

SITE PLAN
TWO STORY HOME
RANCH HOME
HCR AHOP
149 Northland
Before
After

BENLIC Rehabilitations

The NYS Land Bank Initiative (LBI) grant provided to land banks across the state by NYS Homes and Community Renewal. BENLIC is using this grant to fund ongoing rehabilitation projects throughout the City of Buffalo and Erie County. The rehabilitated properties will be listed on the market upon their expected completion in 2025. No income restrictions will apply.

The following properties in Buffalo are part of this round of rehabilitations:

249 East Street - Sold
702 Norfolk Avenue - Under Contract
236 Brunswick Boulevard - Listing Soon
249 Northland Avenue - Listing Soon

Legacy City ACCESS Program

The NYS HCR Legacy City ACCESS Program provides resources to small developers for renovating vacant properties. This initiative aims to address the significant homeownership gap in communities of color, promoting affordable homeownership for underserved families, especially first-time homebuyers.

BENLIC is partnering with NYS HCR to fund the restoration of three long-vacant homes in Buffalo. Local minority contractor Darold Fountain of Aurora Window Systems will develop the properties. To support this effort, BENLIC has sold the homes from its inventory at a reasonable price and will administer additional LBI grant funds to the developer. The goal of this program is to invest in a local minority contractor so they can grow and improve their business while revitalizing the community.

HCR Legacy Cities
273 Cable
55 Urban