A building located at 2046 Springwells St. in Southwest Detroit had thriving retail but its second-floor apartments were vacant. Thanks to a pilot program that launched recently as a full-fledged City of Detroit-funded program, those apartments are now affordable housing.
Efforts to combat housing insecurity in Detroit are evident. With a steady stream of announcements about affordable developments coming online, it can be easy to think that finding housing for residents looking to live somewhere within the city’s roughly 140 square miles would not be a challenge.
Just recently, Mayor Duggan and Develop Detroit announced an $18.2 million project in the city’s North End representing 71 units of affordable housing.
Duggan and nonprofit developers Develop Detroit and Vanguard Community Development Corporation recently announced the plan to officially open the $18.2 million Marwood + Marston project in the city’s North End, adding and preserving 71 housing units, all of which are reserved as affordable housing, including 37 that will be rented to Detroiters earning no more than 50 percent area median income (AMI).
Marwood + Marston, located at 53-111 Marston St., includes the renovation of the 59-unit Marwood Apartments, an historic 1925-built building just east of Woodward that is on the National Register of Historic Places. It includes fully renovated studios and one- and two-bedroom apartments.
The development also includes six newly built, two-bedroom townhomes with attached garages, as well as a new-construction, six-unit building featuring two-bedroom apartments and a community room for residents of the entire development. The new buildings replaced previously vacant land, so it adds not only affordable housing to the North End but also density.
The properties are now leasing at a range of affordable incomes, ranging from 30 percent to 80 percent AMI. This equates to $19,200 to $51,200 annually for a family of two.
“This is the type of city we are building, where people of all income levels can afford to live in any neighborhood they wish,” Duggan said of the announcement.
“This project will serve as an excellent example of how inclusive development can be done,” Develop Detroit CEO Sonya Mays added. “We are proud to help build a community and work with the existing neighborhood to expand opportunities for its residents to succeed.”
“This development is not only bringing quality affordable housing to Detroit’s North End but helping to revitalize the neighborhood in an equitable way,” said Julie Schneider, director of the City’s Housing & Revitalization Department.
Residents can also get more information on the City’s affordable housing website, Detroit Home Connect, at homeconnect.detroitmi.gov.
Another housing development project in Detroit was also unveiled in late January with the city’s Housing & Revitalization Department (HRD) and the Southwest Detroit Business Association (SDBA), which announced its Second-Floor Residential Grant Program, which aims to convert vacant, second-floor space above commercial spaces into affordable apartment units in Southwest Detroit.
The program, which will reimburse property owners up to $10,000 for performing eligible improvements on their unused second-floor apartments, is expected to result in 24 new affordable housing units. Property owners can apply from now until 5:00 p.m. March 31.
“The City of Detroit is always looking for ways to create affordable housing and opportunities for Detroiters,” said Julie Schneider, director of HRD.
Laura Chavez-Wazeerud-Din, vice president of Programs at Southwest Detroit Business Association, agrees.
“I think it’s beautiful for our program to be partnered with the City of Detroit and bring economic development to Southwest Detroit and increasing safe and affordable housing for Detroit residents, [which] is crucial when we talk about our community,” she told the Michigan Chronicle recently.
Eligible properties must have unused second-floor apartments located above ground-floor commercial space. They also must be located within the geographic boundaries of West Vernor Highway from Woodmere to 15th Street; Springwells Street from West Vernor to the West Fisher Service Drive; Junction from Michigan Avenue to Konkel Street; and Bagley Avenue from the West Fisher Service Drive to 25th Street. Anticipated rental rates for apartments are $780-$1,250, making them affordable to residents earning between 50 percent and 80 percent of area median income. More information can be found at southwestdetroit.com.
HRD is exploring ways to possibly expand the program into other areas of the city.
For more information about the Second-Floor Residential Program, contact SDBA Real Estate Advocate Greg Mangan at 313-283-6533.
Other city-led initiatives include even more affordable housing opportunities downtown including a mid-January announcement of a new Downtown Development Authority fund.
The decision comes as demand for multi-family housing downtown remains strong, as evidenced by a low vacancy rate of 5.9 percent, down from 12.1 percent in 2020. If approved, the loan program would be the first time the DDA has targeted financial support for downtown affordable housing since the DDA was established in 1976 at Mayor Coleman Young’s request.
“We have a clear vision to create a city, including our downtown, where Detroiters of all income levels can afford to live side by side in the same buildings as people of much higher income,” said Mayor Duggan, who Chairs the DDA and appoints board members. “This new fund gives us the ability to make downtown living accessible to Detroiters of all income levels.”
Even at the federal government level plans are also in place to help residents looking for a place to live while addressing a housing crisis at the local level.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow said previously to the Michigan Chronicle that assistance from the federal government looks like using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars, which is significantly assisting cities like Detroit that benefit from the distribution of these funds.
The $1.9 trillion federal stimulus bill was signed into law in March 2021 to help alleviate the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic. The payments were broken up into two payments of $413 million.
Detroiters have already identified increasing neighborhood rebuilding, tackling poverty and improving public safety as top priorities for the ARPA funds, according to a press release.
Sen. Gary Peters agreed and said that “there is no question” that building community within the community means acknowledging the areas that have been underserved for years, but luckily the Biden-Harris Administration’s understanding of “urban areas” goes a long way.
“We have a crisis across the country,” he said ,adding that FEMA is expanding its equity footprint to ensure that unequally disadvantaged communities need resources that wealthier ones already have.
Tasha Gray, executive director of Homeless Action Network of Detroit (HAND), told the Michigan Chronicle recently that while HAND does not provide any direct services to people experiencing homelessness, they are a network of organizations that work with nonprofit service providers, government entities and beyond.
“What we do is really coordinate system-wide response to homelessness in Detroit, Highland Park and Hamtramck,” she said, adding that HAND also helps obtain needed funding for organizations that help provide housing options for area residents in the established geographic zones HAND covers.
From her view, she sees the scale of homelessness and said that one of the biggest things that HAND tries to do working with partners like those at the City of Detroit is as an advocate for resources to be dedicated to people who have a lower AMI.
“Oftentimes when you hear about affordable housing, many times it is dedicated to people who may be at like 80 percent AMI or even like, you know, 60 percent AMI or higher,” she said, adding that most people that HAND encounter who are experiencing homelessness are typically at a 30 percent AMI. “So, our advocacy to the city has been to target developments that are going to cater to those who are at 30 percent AMI or lower. You know, pair [them] with other opportunities.”
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