Authors

Qingyi Zheng, Sai Krishna Tej Talluri, Yue Liang

Research Question

How can the City of Trenton monitor, at scale, whether buyers of city-sold properties are meeting their time-bound redevelopment commitments? The project designs a data-driven system that flags properties falling behind, so the city can focus limited inspection capacity on the highest-risk cases.

Background

Trenton is a post-industrial city working to reverse decades of disinvestment. Since May 2025, it has sold nearly 200 vacant city-owned properties to private buyers, each bound by a fixed-term agreement to rehabilitate or rebuild. But the city has no reliable way to verify that these commitments are kept, and only a handful of inspectors cover a growing portfolio. Some buyers have acquired properties cheaply and left them unimproved, undermining the program and stalling visible change. Homeownership in Trenton sits at 37.9%, roughly half the national average.

The city has found this is a visibility problem, not one solved by hiring more inspectors. It recently consolidated property data from Housing, Zoning, Tax, Inspections, Police, Fire and other departments onto a single GIS platform, creating a chance to combine disparate signals. A successful pilot could shape how Trenton manages its broader portfolio of over 1,500 city-owned properties.

Methodology

The project involves:

• Using the city's consolidated GIS platform alongside code violation records, water usage and permitting data.
• Assessing property condition through computer vision, remote sensing or another method the team judges best.
• Building a system that flags properties falling behind their redevelopment obligations.
• Prioritizing inspection capacity toward the highest-risk cases.

Deliverables

• Compliance Monitoring System: A data-driven tool that flags at-risk properties across the portfolio.
• Shared Compliance View: A transparent view of compliance for city staff and residents.
• Phase 2 Foundation: An approach that could extend to identifying and tracking privately owned abandoned properties (potential 2027–28 capstone), as the city operationalizes the Abandoned Property Rehabilitation Act.

Data Sources

• City of Trenton consolidated GIS platform (Housing, Zoning, Tax, Inspections, Police, Fire and other departments)
• Code violation records
• Water usage data
• Permitting data
• Property condition indicators (computer vision, remote sensing or other methods)