NAPOLEON, Ohio — The Land Bank model pioneered in Toledo is starting to make a big impact across Northwest Ohio.
The Henry County Land bank was launched three years ago using federal grant dollars to purchase blighted properties.
Initially, the Land Bank was only demolishing run down homes, but two years ago, leaders purchased a house on Scott St. that had sat vacant for nearly a decade.
Because the home sat on a prominent city street, they decided it would be better to renovate and reintroduce it back into the community.
"Napoleon was going kind of negative as far as housing in the city, and I live here in this city. I didn't want to see that either. You don't want to tear them down unless there is just no hope for them," Henry County commissioner Glen Miller said.
The Land Bank then sold the blighted property to local JT Building Maintenance and Construction which, for the better part of two years, didn't just give this home a face lift, but drastically transformed it back into a modern living space.
The renovation was financed in part through state Community Development Block Grant funding.
"I've been in Napoleon 57 years, I've done a lot and seen a lot of change in 57 years and I'm very proud to live in Napoleon and fix the homes up so it's a better place to live," Jerry Tonjes with JT Building Maintenance and Construction said.
