6 West Michigan affordable housing projects receive $6.1M in tax credits

6 West Michigan affordable housing projects receive $6.1M in tax credits
Dwelling Place has received low-income housing tax credits for redevelopment plans at its affordable housing apartments at 50 Weston St. SW in Grand Rapids.

Housing projects in Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Traverse City, Spring Lake and Three Rivers received nearly $6.1 million in the latest round of Low Income Housing Tax Credits administered by the state. 

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced that a total of $14 million in LIHTC will build or improve 683 affordable housing units across 17 projects in Michigan. The development costs of projects getting funding totals around $176.6 million, and the projects could create more than 60 permanent jobs and 1,100 temporary jobs. 

“As rents and home prices go up across the state, it’s clear that quality, affordable housing is out of reach for far too many Michiganders,” Whitmer said in a statement. “We must build more housing, which is what makes this program so important.”

Whitmer also noted the bipartisan Building Michigan Together Plan she signed into law last year that aims to build or rehab 75,000 housing units over the next five years.

“These are the types of steps we need to take to make sure every Michigander has a safe, affordable place to call home,” Whitmer said.

The federally funded LIHTC program is administered by the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA).

Two projects in Grand Rapids received LIHTC funding this round. Nonprofit housing developer Dwelling Place received $748,719 for the redevelopment of 32 units at Weston Apartments. Woda Cooper Development Inc. landed $1.1 million for the second phase of its Breton Grove Apartment development, which involves 35 units at 2400 43rd St. SE.

Funding also will support a tribal-led project in Garfield Township near Traverse City, where the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians and RTHawk received $1.1 million to develop 36 units.

Other awardees include: 

  • Republic Development LLC and Mt. Zion Baptist Church received $1.3 million to develop 36 units at 730 North Burdick St. in Kalamazoo.
  • Samaritas, CCA Developer Two LLC, Pinnacle Ventures LLC and Little River Development LLC jointly received $1.5 million to develop 53 units in Spring Lake.
  • PK Development Co. received $364,219 to develop 32 units in Three Rivers.

Developers that receive a portion of the $14 million in LIHTC funding can claim credits against their tax liability annually for up to 10 years.

“We know that creating affordable housing benefits everyone in the state by stimulating local economic growth, but it also creates opportunities for Michiganders to have equitable access to safe, quality, affordable housing for their families, making for stable and secure living and upward mobility,” Benson, MSHDA rental development director, said in a statement.