After more than a decade of addressing blight through the demolition of more than 2,000 units, Mahoning County Land Bank increasingly redirected its resources toward creating opportunity on cleared and underused land, Debora Flora, executive director, reports.
Founded in 2011, the land bank is a community improvement corporation that restores and repurposes land and promotes sustainable neighborhoods.
“Our work demonstrates our belief that every property has promise,” Flora says. “With our inventory of vacant properties and our access to grants and other resources, we are in a very good position to contribute to economic development opportunities.”
During 2025, the Land Bank constructed 17 houses across the region, all built on formerly vacant lots. The construction of eight more new affordable houses also neared completion and they are expected to hit the market early this year.
Through property acquisitions and partnerships, the organization also helped return four vacant and abandoned houses to productive use in 2025, transforming them into quality, move-in-ready homes. Renovation of two additional vacant houses carried over into the first quarter of 2026.
The Land Bank also expanded its brownfield remediation efforts, advancing and completing multiple projects through competitive grant funding designed to remove environmental barriers that prevent reinvestment. The largest project to date was the completion of the industrial cleanup of the former Royal China factory in Sebring, which sat inactive for decades. Remediation work was completed in early 2025.
In addition, cleanup of the Youngstown Flea’s industrial building was completed. That included the removal of approximately 4,000 panes of glass and the installation of new windows, a critical step in removing asbestos-contaminated caulking and properly sealing the building’s exterior to enable future interior improvements. Cleaning these sites makes it possible for businesses to invest, create jobs and bring new life to underused properties.
“People are seeing real change,” Flora says. “The focus has shifted from removing what’s broken to building what’s next. Our goals for 2026 center on expanding affordable housing opportunities and unlocking more ‘stuck’ residential and commercial properties, then restoring them to productive use through our unique capabilities.”
Pictured at top: Land Bank Director of Planning Roger Smith and Executive Director Debora Flora stand with Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. partners Tiffany Sokol and Ian Beniston.
