The Kingston City Land Bank is asking city officials to resume responsibility for 12 vacant parcels that were among 36 residential properties tentatively transferred three years ago to the housing non-profit for rehab and marketing to first-time homebuyers.

Of the remaining 24 properties, the land bank says it’s already purchased or is ready to purchase 13. The land bank said it’s willing to buy six more properties on the list if the city can resolve state tax liens or other obstacles to obtaining a clear title. The group also asked for more time to evaluate four more properties on the list to determine if rehabilitation was feasible.

The KCLB report, dated April 13, is expected to be on the Kingston Common Council’s agenda this month. Mayor Steve Noble is asking lawmakers to amend the 2018 resolution to remove the 12 properties in question from the list of authorized transfers to the land bank. The properties had been held by the city for back taxes.

In his letter to the council, Noble said City Hall staff are working on an alternate plan to deal with the 12 properties. Noble also needs the council to pass a second resolution, which would give the land bank right of first refusal on tax-foreclosed properties going forward. KCLB staff are expected to present the plan to lawmakers at their May 3 caucus meeting.

The Kingston City Land Bank was incorporated in 2018 to give the city an alternative to property auctions and other city-led efforts to sell off tax-delinquent properties. Funded by the NoVo Foundation, the land bank’s mission is to acquire and restore those properties and market them at below market rates to qualified first-time homebuyers. The nonprofit is part of Noble’s plan to create more stable neighborhoods by giving city residents living in rental housing a chance to buy their own homes. The transfer of the 36 properties was, however, contingent upon the land bank paying the back taxes.

Two and a half years later, however, the land bank has taken title to just four of the 36 properties. At a March meeting with lawmakers, Land Bank board Chair Daniel Kanter blamed the slow pace of acquisitions on unexpected problems like obtaining clear title to some properties and the difficult balancing act between the hefty up-costs of rehabbing long-vacant homes with the group’s core mission of affordable home ownership.

Kanter told lawmakers that going forward the group would focus more narrowly on properties that had a viable path to rehabilitation.

“We would like to kind of reach a point with the city and the council where the land bank can evaluate properties that have been foreclosed on for suitability for us to acquire and then make decisions from there,” Kanter said. “So we’re not just expected to buy all of these properties and figure it out, which is sort of what we walked into and I think we’ve seen that was not the best strategy.”

Land Bank Executive Director Michael Gilliard said the group had carefully evaluated all 36 properties before drafting the report. Of the 12 rejected properties, nine are vacant land and two more sit on a flood plain and would need to be demolished.

Land bank officials said they would consider buying other properties on the list, contingent on the city lowering the price to offset the costly renovations. Among the potential purchases were also a number of homes that had been declared “tear downs” by other housing agencies but which the land bank felt might have a viable path to rehabilitation. The report also found nine properties, in addition to the four already acquired, that land bank officials said they were prepared to purchase as soon as feasible.

“This was a really vigorous discussion on the land bank board,” said Gilliard of the paring-down process. “I was really proud of all of the different opinions and I think the right ideas won out.”

Common Council President Andrea Shaut is expected to refer Noble’s request to one or more council committees for review. A vote on the issue could come next month.