Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan five new affordable housing projects
DETROIT - Five new affordable housing projects in five different Detroit neighborhoods were announced on Monday.
Hundreds of new and refurbished units will be built in Midtown, Corktown, North End, Forest Park, and New Center as part of the city's extended effort to bolster housing availability around Detroit.
The plan represents nearly 400 affordable housing units and more than $120 million in federal investment.
"There has never been more construction going on in the city in half-a-century than what's happening this week," said Mayor Mike Duggan.
The five projects represent the preservation of 125 affordable units and the construction of 157 new units.
The acting director of the Michigan State Housing Development Authority said that Detroit was selected for funds (Low Income Housing Tax Credits) because of the locations of many of the proposed units.
They include:
- Midtown Square on Seward Avenue, 73 units and $18.5 million in investment
- Friendship Meadows on Leland Street, 52 units and $6.6 million in investment
- Brush Watson on Brush Street, 49 units
- Left Field on Old Tiger Stadium, 60 units and $15 million in investment
- Jim Holley residences in North End, 65 units and $17.8 million in investment
Duggan said when he came into office, the city received no LIHTC grants for affordable housing. Now, up to five, he says the progress is evidence of the city's well modeled-approach to reducing systemic housing issues in the city.
Among the reasons MSHDA picked five locations in Detroit is because some of the apartments like in Brush Park are mixed-income units.
When development caters to people of all socioeconomic classes, it can improve the livelihoods of everyone.
"These five developments represent a lot of characteristics that we look for when we look at good affordable housing development," said director of rental development Chad Benson, MSHDA, "such as being mixed-income housing, in very strategic areas of the city, and also close to the types of amenities that frankly all residents need by affordable housing residents definitely need."
That includes easy access to public transportation, grocery stores, pharmacies, and doctor's offices.
The announcement works in conjunction with another announcement that came two weeks earlier when the city announced more than $48 million in private available financing for development.
The extra funds are meant to supplement necessary federal and state money that would go to affordable housing advancement.