LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville Metro Government said it's making progress on vacant and abandoned properties across the city.
Thursday, city leaders and developers announced results from a the first phase of a recent property condition survey conducted mostly in west and south Louisville neighborhoods.
The survey also looked at properties in downtown Louisville and its edge neighborhoods and Old Louisville with structures on them. It found about 1,500 homes were considered unlivable or vacant. Roughly 2,500 more had "slight damage" with another 1,300 with "moderate to significant damage," according to a news release from Mayor Greg Fischer's Office.
City leaders said the first phase of the survey found about 8% of the structures in the surveyed area were given a severity ranking, "ranging from slightly damaged to presumed abandoned and unlivable," and that the condition of many of the structures didn't warrant a ranking.
The second phase of the property condition survey will look at the rest of the city and is expected to be done in the next two years.
Officials with Landbank Authority joined city leaders and developers in announcing the survey results on Thursday.
Landbank Authority is a joint agency between Metro Government, Jefferson County Public Schools and the commonwealth of Kentucky and is staffed by the Louisville Metro Office of Housing and Community Development to acquire, manage and sell "distressed properties and vacant unimproved parcels to responsible developers," according to a news release.
The agency launched a racial equity review in 2020 to look at its policies, programs and procedures. Its board is now reviewing program and policy changes that "prioritize the sale of Landbank properties for owner occupancy" which will result in "more equitable practices."
Those changes include collecting demographic data on buyers, creating a $1 million fund to help with the cost of rehabbing its properties for those going to "owner-occupant" properties, eliminating first-come, first-serve options for several programs "to offer more equitable access to properties," revise scoring criteria for several programs to "favor neighborhood residents and homeownership," and change applicant eligibility to a program allowing long-term renters to buy vacant lots.
In order to start implementing changes, the agency stopped taking applications in June to purchase city-owned properties, but expects to accept them again starting Sept. 15, according to a news release. Additionally, it's now asking for community input on the proposed changes. Residents can review the changes and give feedback by clicking here.
The city is now working on making equity changes so vacant and abandoned properties can be more fairly and easily revitalized.
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