The Emporia Land Bank is looking to foster additional local development with the potential acquisition of a local park.
During the Emporia City Commission’s regular meeting Wednesday, City Community Development Coordinator Jeff Lynch delivered the annual land bank report. Lynch noted that in 2022 the land bank managed to sell off three different properties.
The annual report comes as the land bank is considering the potential acquisition of Emporia’s Urbanside Park located in east Emporia and borderd in part by Elba, Eveningside and Whildin.
According to Lynch, the land bank would like to acquire the 1.3-acre tract for potential development use, however, the exact details are still being ironed out. Lynch says the land bank is hopeful the acquisition and use of the property could spur developers to begin work on a tract located directly to the west.
Lynch says the land bank would not have control over any projects on the property located to the west of Urbanside. Lynch expects more discussions on Urbanside in the coming weeks, however, no official dates have been announced.
At this time, the land bank still has one parcel of land, 417 State Street, in its possession.
