Developer Day Bus Tour in Allegan County highlights workforce housing needs
- Julie Cowie
- Aug 8
- 6 min read
Lakeshore Advantage, the economic development organization for Allegan County, partnered with the Allegan County Community Foundation (ACCF) to offer a bus tour reviewing housing development projects and development opportunities in Allegan and Ottawa Counties. The bus tour, held on Thursday August 7, included 2 stops in Holland and 5 stops in Allegan County.
A strong focus on the need for workforce housing characterized the event. In welcoming remarks, Lakeshore Advantage President Jennifer Owens informed the crowd about statistics from the Allegan County 2023 Housing study showing that Allegan County is short over 6,000 housing units. The housing assessment was commissioned by the Allegan County Community Foundation and informs a strategy to address the County's housing stock shortage. That effort is led by ACCF's Chris Kleinjans, Community Impact Officer.
The average median income (AMI) in Allegan County is approximately $80,000/year. Households with $80k income can afford to buy a house in the $200-250k range, but the average cost of housing in the county is $360k, and $700k in Casco Township. Thus,"It becomes a math problem," Owens said, as working people make too much to qualify for subsidized housing but cannot afford market rate housing. This is why communities seeking to build workforce housing need to collaborate with agencies who can offset the construction costs. She welcomed additional partners from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), Lakeshore Habitat for Humanity, and Jubilee Ministries Inc. who also participated in the bus tour.
The goal of the tour was to show developers redevelopment-ready sites, share success stories, and provide opportunities for networking.
An informational tour at HoM Flats, 717 E 24th St in Holland, provided the first success story. HoM Flats is being developed by Magnus Capital Partners, self-described as providing "socially responsible housing solutions." The 202 unit development on E 24th Street contains 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom apartments with commercial space, offices, childcare and an early education facility slated for the main floor.
Apartments will be leased to households making 60-120% AMI. Ten to twenty percent of the units will be furnished and rented with short term leases, such as to Hope College for visiting professors. Twenty percent of the units will be leased at market rate.
Amenities, informed by research, include rooftop decks in lieu of individual patios, a co-working space, a community room, a game room, an indoor play area, indoor and outdoor dog parks, a fitness center and yoga room, an open floor plan, two playgrounds, and units plumbed for laundry.
Magnus Capital Partners funded the project with an $81M bridge and construction loan, a low-income housing tax credit allocation from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) and a Low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) equity investment.
Dave Rozeman, Executive Director of Lakeshore Habitat for Humanity (which covers Allegan County), introduced Vista Green, an 8-acre site of 42 homes located in Holland just west of Bus US 31 and south of 32nd St (Allegan County). The front porches of the homes in this neighborhood face inward toward a central greenspace, play area, and gazebo. Rozeman said, "We held a 45 minute HOA meeting with parents recently. They sat in the gazebo while their children played together, within eyesight."
This was an example of "bringing the community together," a Habitat value, Rozeman said.
"The project began about 5 years ago with 4 acres. Then an adjacent property owner made 4 additional acres available when he learned about the plan to provide single family homes to teachers, first responders, people who work at Gentex, D&W, the seminary, the Allegan County Court," Rozeman explained. Lakeshore Habitat for Humanity built 18, 1300 sq ft 3 bedroom/2 bath homes for families making 30-80% AMI. Jubilee Ministries Inc built 20, 3-bedroom, 1580 sq ft townhomes and 4, 2-bedroom, 1215 sq ft townhomes for families at 80-120% AMI.
The project was funded through donations, home sales, a grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank, MSHDA (MI Neighborhood Grant, Community Development Block Grant, and Missing Middle Housing Grant), and Tax Incremental Financing (TIF). The total budget for the collaborative project involving Lakeshore Habitat for Humanity and Jubilee Ministries Inc was nearly $13M.
A well-prepared City of Fennville staff including Kathryn (Kate) Beemer, City Administrator and Micah Machiela, DDA Coordinator welcomed the Developer bus tour to downtown Fennville. A vacant land registry was distributed, along with a QR code to a Guide to Development and a site visioning document. Additionally, Beemer and Machiela oriented the developers to two development-ready sites next door to City Hall.
The first site, at the corner of W. Fennville St and S. Maple St currently houses a bank ATM. An area of .375 acres, the parcel is owned by the City, which envisions the site as mid-density residential with 6 townhouse units of 2,000 sq ft each.
The second site, owned by the Downtown Development Authority (DDA), fronts Main St. It is a .84 acre site envisioned for development with 20 residential units and 3,000 sq ft of commercial space. The proposed residential units include 12 apartments ranging in size from 660 to 1575 sq ft; two duplexes of 1450 sq ft each unit; and 6 units of 1100 sq ft in two triplexes.
A proposed alley would serve both sites if they are constructed as envisioned. Both parcels are adjacent to a City Square Park now under construction that will feature green space, a splash pad, and an event venue bandshell.
The bus tour continued to downtown Allegan where Allegan City Manager Joel Dye showed off a 2.85 acre riverfront parcel, the site of a former Ace Hardware. Dye has been leading the City through a $9M investment effort which includes rebuilt Downtown facades, a social district, an improved riverfront, a new streetscape with piped in music, a splash pad, an affordable historic movie theatre and bike racks designed and fabricated by students from the Allegan County Career and Tech Center.
In his comments delivered with facts and urgency, Dye listed events that bring crowds to his city: a Monday night Food truck fest (400 people); Friday night free Riverfront Concerts (500 people); Antique Sundays (10-15k people); and Perrigo's second largest manufacturing facility, employing 3,000 people on a daily basis.
Touting the city as the first to complete the Michigan Economic Development Corporation "redevelopment ready" community (RRC) program, he said Allegan has "removed all barriers to housing." The city's desired use of the 2.85 riverfront site is a multi-story apartment building, hotel, or mixed use residential and commercial development.
The second stop in the City of Allegan was a .65 acre site at the corner of Cutler Street and Water Street. The concrete plaza is envisioned to become a multi-story apartment building.
The last two areas were further east in Allegan County. The City of Otsego showed off two parcels on River St/106th St. One was a county-owned parcel that formerly housed Rock-Tenn paper mill facilities and is now owned by the county. It has a Brownfield plan.
Across the street from that site is a 24.5 acre site owned by the City of Otsego. The city is seeking medium to high density residential for the site.
The tour concluded in Plainwell with a stop at the Plainwell Paper Mill complex. Eight historic buildings on 9.21 acres are available for redevelopment as a business park, mixed use, light industrial, or manufacturing. The site fronts the Kalamazoo River.
Five hundred homes are proposed adjacent to the historic building complex. The superfund site "has been remediated to residential standards," according to Plainwell City Manager Justin Lampaker, who provided the tour of the buildings.
The day was augmented by lunch at Fennville's Salt of the Earth restaurant hosted by proprietor Mark Schrock. Dan Leonard, Director of Regions 2, 3, and 4 of the Redevelopment Services team for the MEDC briefly described how the MEDC can assist communities like Casco Township with the acquisition and development process if land for workforce housing has been identified.
Additional guests joining the developers for lunch included Mayor of the City of Fennville Carlos Lopez; DDA Chair Andrew Schrock; County Commissioner Brad Lubbers; and Dan Wedge, Deputy County Administrator of Services for Allegan County. Lunch was provided by the Allegan County Community Foundation.
Chris Kleinjans introduced the Michigan Association of Planning Michigan Zoning Map, an online map that brings together zoning ordinances and maps of municipalities and townships throughout Michigan. Allegan County is among the first in Michigan to invest in the Michigan Zoning Map technology that makes zoning district and land information accessible to residents, advocates, and developers, due to funding from the Allegan County Community Foundation.
The tour also included a visit to the new ice skating and curling rink under construction across the street from Lakeshore Advantage's location at 65 E. 7th Street in Holland.
Staffing the bus tour for Lakeshore Advantage were Mandy Cooper, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives; Grace Maiullo, Director of Marketing and Communications; Sara Little, Marketing and Events Coordinator; and Ryan Ferrier, Business Solutions Manager, who also provided informative and entertaining emceeing for the tour.
Comments