By Mark Bashore, WKAR
LANSING, MI –
A high-ranking Obama administration official visited the Lansing Center on Wednesday. U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan says federal Neighborhood Stabilization Project money is revitalizing blighted city neighborhoods in Lansing and around the state.
"This isn't just a house at a time," he says. "The scale of the investment is going to allow, where necessary, re-thinking entire neighborhoods and really restarting their economies, not just restarting their housing."
Lansing has received $23 million of NSP funding. It's been used it to demolish about twenty blighted properties with plans to raze about 200 more.
Donovan also used the occasion to announce a $25 million initiative that will enhance energy efficiency in 2,000 affordable housing units in Michigan. He was the keynote speaker on the final day of Michgan's 12th annual Conference on Affordable Housing at the Lansing Center.