Cook County Land Bank recently announced a partnership with The PrivateBank as part of its efforts to help eligible buyers become homeowners. The partnership will invest in making vacant homes move-in ready.
The PrivateBank will provide up to $10 million in financing to support the purchase and rehab of homes owned by the land bank.
Home buyers will be selected by local housing nonprofits that will identify and prepare home buyers. According to the Chicago Tribune, outreach efforts will begin this fall.
By improving access to quality, affordable housing, the public-private partnership will help stabilize and strengthen neighborhoods.
“This innovative new program directly addresses the difficulty that many prospective homeowners face when trying to find financing for homes in distressed communities that require extensive rehab because they are vacant and abandoned. By removing challenges faced by communities when tackling neighborhood abandonment and vacancy we can help revitalize our neighborhoods” Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said in a press release.
The land bank is a public agency created to find new owners for empty, abandoned properties.
