Excellence Award Spotlight: Kingston City Land Bank
"Receiving the Excellence in Historic Preservation Award from the Preservation League of New York State is an enormous honor, and validates many years of hard work for us at the Kingston City Land Bank.,” said KCLB Board Chair Daniel Kanter (pictured above cutting the red ribbon). “When we set out to rehab single family homes to offer at affordable prices to first-time homeowners, we knew we wanted to approach it a little differently than we typically saw affordable rehabs performed elsewhere. Through a careful balance of budget and thoughtful design, we've repeatedly stewarded the worst homes on the block into becoming jewels of their neighborhoods. These homes have not only provided a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our buyers, but have demonstrated that—with enough dedication—even the most ordinary, run-down house can (and should) be brought back to life, returned to productive use, and help reclaim the historic integrity of their respective neighborhoods. We're exceedingly proud of each of these homes, and to receive recognition on a state-wide level is beyond anything we could have imagined when we embarked on this work five years ago."
In 2018, the Kingston City Land Bank was formed to return long-vacant tax-foreclosed properties to the tax rolls. In a city with a relatively low foreclosure rate, rising property values, and a pressing need for affordable housing, rehabbing single-family homes into affordable first-time homeownership opportunities quickly became a top priority. Through their focus on preserving and restoring rather than modernizing and flipping, the KCLB has been creating a new model for how affordable housing can be produced and what it looks like. Their mission is to foster an equitable community where vacant or distressed properties are transformed into community assets that improve the quality of life for Kingston residents, stabilize and enhance neighborhoods, and create new pathways for social and economic development. The League was thrilled to recognize their work this year with an Excellence in Historic Preservation Award, and wanted to take the opportunity to learn more about what makes their model so successful. Board Chair Daniel Kanter (and resident interior designer!) was kind enough to answer a few questions for us.
What role do you see the Land Bank playing in the greater housing crisis in the Hudson Valley?
While there is no single, simple solution to the housing crisis in the Hudson Valley, Land Banks are one tool in a constellation of available remedies. We know that vacant homes are a drain on municipal resources and damaging to their neighborhoods in many ways, but they are also uniquely situated—with the right intervention—to solve the same problems they're creating. Every time we're able to hand the keys to one of our homes to a family, we're as aware of the generations-long positive impact that home will have on that family and that neighborhood as we are of the thousands of families who are still housing-insecure, facing eviction, paying unsustainable rents, or displaced by market forces. Whether Land Banks are undertaking property redevelopment themselves or working in concert with buyers and developers, utilizing structures that already exist to their full potential is a logical and essential first step.
248 Main Street in Kingston circa 1950 and before and after renovation by the Kingston City Land Bank.
What lessons can be learned from your work in Kingston that other communities can emulate?
Holding ourselves to rigorous standards when it comes to restoring and preserving the historic integrity of our homes has paid dividends. The first benefit is to the homeowner—their pride in ownership remains evident years after their purchase, and we've seen that the quality of the renovation inspires a pride of place throughout the neighborhood. It's also allowed us to integrate well into these communities—while our owners are statistically far less likely to fall into foreclosure than a buyer on the open market, we find that just the words "affordable housing" carry a stigma. By performing these rehabs with the utmost respect for the structure we're working on—taking care to draw out and preserve its best qualities—we have turned apprehension and opposition into widespread support. Lastly, by placing restoration and preservation front-and-center when we embark on a rehab, we've built a bridge between organizations focused exclusively on affordable housing and those more focused on the preservation or rehabilitation of our historic built environment. This connection opens up pathways for fundraising, collaboration, and engaging the talents and creative abilities of our community—pathways that would not exist if our sole focus was providing places for people to live without the same regard for how those places look, feel, and stand up over time. Ultimately, it's resulted in a more well-rounded and inclusive organization, which community members are proud and delighted to have operating on their streets.
63 German Street in Kingston circa 1950 and before and after renovation by the Kingston City Land Bank.
The Kingston City Land Bank does its important work thanks to strong partnerships with The City of Kingston, NN; Community Foundations of The Hudson Valley; The Novo Foundation; Enterprise Community Partners; New York State Attorney General's Office; New York State Housing And Community Renewal; Community Preservation Corporation; Liscum Mccormack Vanvoorhis Architects; Dutton Architecture; Maeda Construction.