The Lansing Housing Commission (LHC) wants the city’s support to construct two affordable housing projects downtown.
The LHC presented two proposals to the City Council Monday night to build more than 100 subsidized rental units.
Riverview 220 would create seven market rate apartments, and 55 rentals reserved for low-income residents near the intersection of Kalamazoo Street and Grand Avenue. The $23 million project would also include new retail space.
The second building, Grand Vista Place, would include 55 additional subsidized units on Grand Avenue.
Lansing Housing Commission Executive Director Doug Fleming said the two projects will be close to the Capital Area Transportation Authority’s main bus station.
“It's a significant convenience in terms of making the lives easier of our residents, in terms of them getting to services and other things that they want to get to,” he said.
The proposals would be funded in part through state and federal tax credits. Citing rising construction costs, the LHC is asking the city for a 40-year agreement to hold off on collecting property taxes for the two projects. Instead, the group would pay a share of rental income from tenants.
Fleming said the two spaces are currently underutilized, arguing the project would help address the demand for affordable housing in Lansing. He said it would also generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in new tax revenue.
“The downtown would also think adding 125 new residents down there to walk down to Washington Avenue and buy pizza and eat at the restaurants and do the other things that we want them to do in downtown Lansing...that it'll have a compounding effect of additional revenues to the city as well,” Fleming said.
David Ellis, a downtown Lansing resident, spoke at the meeting in support of the two projects, citing nearby development plans for a new city hall and performing arts space.
“It’s affordable housing for downtown in an area that’s in a giant upswing,” said David Ellis. “Vote yes on this, it’s a no brainer.”
Others were more critical of the LHC plans. Jody Washington, a former city councilmember and current member of the Charter Commission, criticized Fleming’s leadership at the organization and said she didn’t trust the group to manage new housing projects.
“You are creating a ghetto if you pass this,” Washington said. “You are creating warehouses of poverty that we have created in this city over and over and over.”
The City Council scheduled a public hearing on the projects for Sept. 23.
Produced with assistance from the Public Media Journalists Association Editor Corps funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.