(Danville) — City officials will turn over more than three-dozen small lots for redevelopment.
Danville City Council voted Tuesday to transfer ownership of thirty-seven surplus vacant lots to the Danville Redevelopment and Housing Authority. Assistant City Attorney Ryan Dodson says the long-term goal is to build new, affordable housing on the properties.
“We identified 37 lots in the city where basically no one had idea why we owned them nor what we intended to do with them,” Dodson told City Council. “We want to put them in the Land Trust with the Housing Authority in order to hopefully get them either used by the DRHA or back on the tax rolls for private development.”
In addition to new housing, Dodson says this also will boost neighborhood property values, eliminate blight and reduce city maintenance costs.
The DRHA has been able to leverage previous land transfers from the city into private development that has expanding housing options in or near the city’s River District.