City Of Muskogee Giving Away Vacant Lots To Home Builders

A free lot to build your home on is a pretty good bargain. Well, that’s exactly what the City of Muskogee is offering.

The program to help grow Muskogee was announced Tuesday, and 40 vacant lots are up for grabs.

Alexandrea Westbrook is helping the city grow by starting a new chapter in her life.

"Why wouldn't I do this? That's like a once in a life time thing I think," Westbrook said.

With help from the City of Muskogee, Westbrook is about to become a first-time homeowner.

Vacant lots, like the one being sold to Westbrook, are free as long as she builds a home there.

"It shows that we've got a lot going on in Muskogee. That we've gone from a situation where we have buildings that we have to tear down, to now, where there's opportunity, and people are taking advantage of it quickly to acquire the property," said Assistant City Manager Mike Miller.

The city is taking an aggressive approach to urban decay. Several incentive programs helped bring homes up to code or lead to their demolition.

3/23/2015 Related Story: Muskogee Demolishes Derelict Homes, Offers Incentives For New

The vacant lots are now giving new homeowners a chance to reinvest in the city.

Miller said, “I don't think it's 100 percent unique with what we're doing, but we like to think that it is a little bit of a trailblazing effort to try and have these urban homesteaders, have people come back and fill into the core part of the community and invest there."

"This is where I grew up. This is, like, my roots. Like, this is where I want to raise my kid," Westbrook said.

Neighbors who live next to vacant lots and want to keep them that way can bid on them for a low price.