You might have noticed a different kind of for sale sign showing up in yards around your neighborhood. These signs, with “VACANT TO VIBRANT” in red letters, show properties that you can buy through Indianapolis’ land bank.
The land bank, called Vacant to Vibrant, operates through the city’s Department of Metropolitan Development. A land bank allows local governments to acquire properties and sell them back into the private market.
Vacant to Vibrant started in 2023 as a program to create more affordable housing. It was originally funded by federal pandemic relief money and is now included in Mayor Joe Hogsett’s proposed 2026 budget.
“We want to take vacant spaces and turn them into vibrant places,” the department’s director, Megan Vukusich, told a City-County Council committee in August.
The city’s land bank previously operated through a nonprofit called Renew Indianapolis.
Now that it’s part of the Vacant to Vibrant program in the Department of Metropolitan Development, Vukusich told Mirror Indy the land bank should be more efficient by getting properties back to the private market more quickly.
She estimated by the end of 2025, DMD will have acquired 140 properties and sold 115 back to the private market over the last two years.
How it works
Most of the properties that belong to the land bank were first available through a tax sale but weren’t purchased. Properties up for tax sale have been foreclosed on by the county because the owner is behind on property taxes.
Four months after the date of the tax sale, the county can apply for a tax deed to sell or transfer the property. From there, the Department of Metropolitan Development can request that the property be transferred to the land bank.
The land bank can then sell the property back into the private market.
There are four sales types.
Affordable
The buyer must make the home available to people making 80% or below the area median income, which is determined by the federal government. For a family of four in Indianapolis, that number is $88,550.
Standard
The buyer must rehab the home or build new construction. The home can become a rental property or resold.
Homestead
The buyer must rehab the home or build new construction. The home has to be used as the buyer’s primary residence for at least two years.
Side lot
These are properties available to adjacent property owners. These properties can be used as gardens, side yards, parks or held for investment.
Interested in buying?
Applications are due on the first Friday of each month and are reviewed the following month. The application process is expected to take two to three months.
Priority is given to developers who commit to selling at an affordable price and individuals who commit to living in the home for at least two years after it’s rehabbed.
You can find more information about Vacant to Vibrant and see a map of properties available on the Department of Metropolitan Development’s website. Click the “Get Started” button to see the map.
Mirror Indy, a nonprofit newsroom, is funded through grants and donations from individuals, foundations and organizations.
Mirror Indy reporter Tyler Fenwick covers housing and labor. Contact him at 317-766-1406 or tyler.fenwick@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @ty_fenwick and Bluesky @tyfenwick.bsky.social.
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