Muncie Land Bank

06/04/2026

❗FIRST FRIDAY IS TOMORROW❗

🎉 Join us TOMORROW AT 12:30 P.M. 🎉

You're invited to attend June’s First Friday: Property Abandonment & Housing Development Monthly Meeting, hosted by the Muncie Land Bank.

📅 Friday, June 5th

🕧 12:30–2pm

📍 Madjax Building (downtown): 515 E. Main Street, Muncie, IN | 2nd Floor

📍 About First Friday

Meeting Overview

Title: Does the Tax Sale Deliver? Evaluating Outcomes in Muncie, Indiana
Presentation Overview: Drawing on a nine-month study, the Muncie Land Bank evaluates whether Indiana's tax sale system, as currently structured, meaningfully advances core policy objectives, including tax recovery, neighborhood stability, and housing reinvestment. The session will highlight the disparate impacts of the tax sale process, identifying key beneficiaries and those left behind, and will offer policy recommendations intended to better align Indiana's tax sale framework with community development outcomes.

Speakers:
Nate Howard, Executive Director
Prior to becoming the Executive Director of the Muncie Land Bank in 2022, Nate Howard spent over 17 years in Latin America working on community and economic development, peacebuilding, and humanitarian initiatives. Nate holds a BA in International Business, an MBA in International Economic Development from Eastern University, and a Specialization in Solidarity Economy from Pontifical Javeriana University in Bogotá, Colombia. In addition to leading the Muncie Land Bank, he serves on multiple nonprofit boards and teaches part-time in Ball State University’s Urban Planning Department.

Zachary Gullion, Director of Operations & Information Systems
Zachary Gullion is a graduate of Ball State University’s Bachelor of Urban Planning and Development program and serves as Director of Operations & Information Systems at the Muncie Land Bank. In this role, he contributes to organizational strategy and oversees data systems, operational workflows, and research initiatives that inform strategic decision-making. His work includes leading property acquisition and disposition efforts, redesigning the Land Bank’s property management system, and developing performance dashboards that support data-driven decisions. Zach also teaches part-time in Ball State University’s Department of Urban Planning, where he emphasizes the role of clear data visualization in strengthening communication and planning outcomes.

🧾 Additional Details:
Signs will guide you to the second floor upon entry

Parking is available on the south side of the building, eastbound on Jackson Street (just after Madison Ave)

Lunch is provided!

Learn More: https://loom.ly/qUw5ZlM

06/02/2026

"In some neighborhoods, more than one in five properties has gone to the tax sale in the last decade."

Take a look at this map of properties that have been offered at tax sale in Muncie over the last 10 years. Orange marks individual parcels, and the blue shading reflects neighborhood-level concentration, with darker shades indicating a higher share of parcels that have gone to sale. Every neighborhood where more than 10% of parcels have gone to tax sale is located on the South and East sides of Muncie.

Why is the tax sale concentrated in only half of our city, how has it affected our communities, and what can meaningful intervention look like?

Join us at our First Friday meeting this Friday, June 5th at 12:30 PM to find out. We'll be sharing findings from our nine-month study on tax sale activity in Muncie spanning the past decade.

📆 First Friday | June 5th at 12:30-2PM
📍 MadJax Muncie | 515 E Main Street, 2nd Floor
🍽️ Lunch provided!

05/29/2026

Check out this 10-year timelapse of properties offered at tax sale in Muncie. Brighter colors indicate properties that have appeared multiple times over the decade.

Why do so many properties keep coming back?

Join us at our First Friday meeting on Friday, June 5th at 12:30 PM to find out. We'll be sharing findings from our nine-month study on tax sale activity in Muncie spanning the past decade.

📆 First Friday | June 5th at 12:30-2PM
📍 MadJax Muncie | 515 E Main Street, 2nd Floor
🍽️ Lunch provided!

05/28/2026

❗FIRST FRIDAY IS JUNE 5TH❗

🎉 Join us JUNE 5TH AT 12:30 P.M. 🎉

You're invited to attend June’s First Friday: Property Abandonment & Housing Development Monthly Meeting, hosted by the Muncie Land Bank.

📅 Friday, June 5th
🕧 12:30–2pm
📍 Madjax Building (downtown): 515 E. Main Street, Muncie, IN | 2nd Floor

📍 About First Friday

Meeting Overview
Title: Does the Tax Sale Deliver? Evaluating Outcomes in Muncie, Indiana

Presentation Overview: Drawing on a nine-month study, the Muncie Land Bank evaluates whether Indiana's tax sale system, as currently structured, meaningfully advances core policy objectives, including tax recovery, neighborhood stability, and housing reinvestment. The session will highlight the disparate impacts of the tax sale process, identifying key beneficiaries and those left behind, and will offer policy recommendations intended to better align Indiana's tax sale framework with community development outcomes.

🧾 Additional Details:
Signs will guide you to the second floor upon entry
Parking is available on the south side of the building, eastbound on Jackson Street (just after Madison Ave)

Lunch is provided!

Learn More: https://muncielandbank.org/first-friday/

05/20/2026

Visit the City of Muncie page to watch the livestream!

05/15/2026

The Muncie Land Bank held its Monthly Board Meeting today, May 15th. We apologize for not publicizing it on Facebook ahead of time as we normally do. If you missed it, you can watch the full recording of the livestream at the link below.

Meeting minutes, agendas, and past recordings are also available on our website:
https://muncielandbank.org/agendas-minutes/

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

05/04/2026

A great turnout for May’s First Friday with the Muncie Land Bank this past Friday at Madjax.

Colby Gray led a thoughtful and insightful discussion on “A Memory of Muncie: Understanding the City We Have, Building the City We Want.” From infrastructure realities to long-term planning strategies, it sparked important conversations about how we move Muncie forward.

These monthly meetings continue to bring together community members, planners, and leaders who care deeply about the future of our city—and it shows.

Thanks to everyone who joined the conversation. We’re looking forward to next month!

04/30/2026

❗FIRST FRIDAY IS TOMORROW❗

🎉 Join us TOMORROW AT 12:30 P.M. 🎉

You're invited to attend May’s First Friday: Property Abandonment & Housing Development Monthly Meeting, hosted by the Muncie Land Bank.

📅 Friday, May 1st

🕧 12:30–2pm

📍 Madjax Building (downtown): 515 E. Main Street, Muncie, IN | 2nd Floor

📍 About First Friday

Meeting Overview
Title: A Memory of Muncie: Understanding the City We Have, Building the City We Want

Speaker: Colby Gray is an urban and environmental planner focused on Midwestern issues, with a research emphasis on infrastructure systems. His work uses publicly available GIS data to create practical frameworks that help communities understand long-term infrastructure maintenance liabilities and make more informed planning decisions in clear, accessible ways.

Presentation Overview: This presentation explores how Muncie’s current quality of place is the result of long-term infrastructure growth, maintenance obligations, and development patterns that evolve slowly over time. It highlights the need for better public information, clearer decision-making, and greater investment in planning and GIS capacity to support long-term recovery and investment.

🧾 Additional Details:
Signs will guide you to the second floor upon entry

Parking is available on the south side of the building, eastbound on Jackson Street (just after Madison Ave)

Lunch is provided!

Learn More: https://loom.ly/qUw5ZlM

04/28/2026

A huge thank you to everyone who made this work possible!

We are incredibly grateful to the Ball State Urban Planning Department, Dr. Yoo, PLAN 203 students for their dedication and thoughtful work throughout the semester. We also extend our thanks to the neighborhood partners and community leaders who welcomed students, shared their experiences, and made this research meaningful.

Special thanks to:

- Frank Scott, Yvonne Thompson, John Beatty, and Roxie Williams, Whitely neighborhood leaders

- Heather Williams, RNC Neighborhood Association President

- BSU Immersive Learning Progam

- Chris Palladino, Director Real Estate Development Program

- Trinity Lutheran Church

- MadJax Muncie

- Union Missionary Baptist Church

- Walisha Scaife and Eva Zygmunt, The Whitely Institute

- Cameron Sarah, Campus Rentals

- Zach Starkey, local developer and business owner

- And all residents and stakeholders who took time to speak with students and share their insights

Your collaboration, openness, and commitment to your neighborhoods made this work possible. This kind of community-engaged research is at the core of Muncie Land Bank’s partnerships and helps guide real, informed redevelopment efforts.

Here’s a look at what this collaboration made possible:

PLAN 203 students spent the semester conducting hands-on neighborhood research in partnership with the Muncie Land Bank. Through parcel-level field surveys, data analysis, mapping, and community engagement, students moved from observation to spatial analysis and ultimately to planning insights that can inform future redevelopment efforts.

In the Whitely neighborhood, students focused on understanding patterns of housing distress and pre-development conditions. They surveyed over 1,500 parcels, analyzed structural and infrastructure conditions, and identified clusters of distressed properties to help guide rehabilitation and reinvestment strategies.

In Riverside/Normal City, students explored opportunities to transition student rental housing back to homeownership. Using surveys, interviews, and data on ownership patterns, amenities, and market conditions, they identified key areas where reinvestment and policy strategies could support stronger, more stable residential blocks.

To watch the final presentation from April 24th, visit https://youtu.be/L1FgEIUOw-8?si=b9i6PX_EuN7fxPf9

View the Whitely Group slide deck here:https://muncielandbank.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/PLAN203_Assignment-VI_Final-Presentation-Whitely.pdf

View the Riverside/Normal City Group slide deck here:https://muncielandbank.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/RiversideNormal-City-Homeownership-Opportunities-1.pdf

04/23/2026

In addition to all our work the BSU's Urban Planning Department, the MLB has been partnering with 4th-year BSU Architecture students this semester. The students have been working on design concepts that connect our Old West End Neighborhood housing development project to downtown...envisioned as a creative, multi-use quality-of-life corridor. The students will be exhbiting their work at ecoREHAB this Friday, April 24th from 4-6pm. We’d love for you to come out and take a look!