Mid-Year Update Touts Progress In Housing; More Investments To Come

Press release from the City of Grand Rapids:

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The City of Grand Rapids has seen progress from its investments in housing and the community and anticipates continued success going forward. City staff highlighted a number of key accomplishments during their midyear performance update to the City Commission last week.

“The ability to show progress despite last year’s unexpected setbacks is a sign that we can persist through any challenge and that our investments in the community will have a lasting impact beyond the pandemic,” said City Manager Mark Washington. “By partnering with the community, we have invested in ways that will build a foundation for success in our City’s health, economy and social climate and we’re not done yet. There is plenty more to come.”

According to City staff, there was a net increase of 686 housing units created in 2020 with 479 of those units being created since July. Nearly half of the new units – 327 – were affordable housing units. The City has also completed 26 housing rehabilitation projects and approved two payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) projects for Q2 that will create 240 units.

It is anticipated 1,068 new rental housing units and 710 new for-sale housing units are needed annually over the next four years to keep up with demand. “There is plenty of work to do around housing. Balancing supply and demand is important, and it is of critical importance to create and preserve housing affordability,” said Connie Bohatch, Managing Director of Community Services.

In addition to creating new housing units for residents, the City has also made great strides in addressing the needs of those experiencing homelessness. In 2020, 376 people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness became stably housed.

The City is continuing these efforts to stably house more community members by investing more than $2.5 million in a downtown rehousing initiative and services to prevent eviction and to rapidly rehouse homeless persons and families.

To further assist those experiencing homelessness, the City plans to increase its homeless outreach efforts. It also plans to establish the Affordable Housing Fund as a non-endowed designated fund at the Grand Rapids Community Foundation to assist low-income residents, preserve existing affordable housing and make bridge loans for acquisition and pre-development costs with non-profit developers.

“We are seeing great progress in our goals to foster a safe, affordable and prospering city for our community,” said Mayor Rosalynn Bliss. “I am proud of the work that our City has done to develop affordable and available housing and assist with our community members experiencing homelessness.”

To view the full mid-year performance management update presentation, CLICK HERE.

To learn more about the City’s homelessness program, CLICK HERE.

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This press release was produced by the City of Grand Rapids. The views expressed are the author's own.