Written by Tanya Terry, with photos courtesy of the Genesee County Land Bank Authority
Michael Freeman, the executive director of the Genesee County Land Bank Authority, recently shared with the Courier about the excitement surrounding their new rental opportunity, The Gatehouse. He also discussed the Land Banks’s approach to addressing housing needs in Genesee County with the Courier.
According to Freeman, the Land Bank has received 88 housing inquiries for the 16-unit mixed income rental community, with 12 applications nearly complete and four rental units already occupied. These numbers are a reflection of what happened after less than two weeks.
This could be great news for Flint as a Michigan State Housing Development Authority study revealed a deficit of approximately 5,000 housing units in the county.
The Land Bank’s strategy focuses on renovating existing properties and creating mixed-income housing opportunities, rather than building new housing units.
“So basically, when we initially conceived the house, we thought, you know, this is the definitive housing,” Freeman said. “And this is something that might be attractive, and it was attractive.”
“But for people who wanted to rent- four out of five people who contact the Land Bank, or a realtor about purchase, were actually looking just for rental, and we were turning it away. Four out of five people who were interested in that property because we were only supporting or electing to do homeownership. “
The Gatehouse project offers a unique approach, with 50% of units designated for low-income residents (at or below 60% of area median income) and the remaining 50% at market rate.
Freeman acknowledged there have been other mixed-income housing opportunities to recently be made available in Flint.
“The categories are like, we say low, low, moderate income,” Freeman said. “And then market, and low would be 60% of area median income and below 80% would be moderate. And then 120% is kind of that missing middle, which is now allowable…That kind of opens the threshold up because 60% is not a lot of money in Flint and Genesee County, and so now people can be at at 120% of area median income.
“They may be a household of two making $50,000, you know, and that’s two people with $25,000, a year in income…It’s like they desperately need housing they previously have not had access to. So now we are, we’re really looking at that threshold of 80% to 120% in the modern day. And then above 120 is actually now considered like that would be the market rate, where households don’t necessarily require the additional subsidy on rent.”
The Land Bank currently offers other mixed housing opportunities. University Avenue features historic single-family homes, apartment complexes and new mixed-income developments. Eddy’s Place is in the Central Park historic neighborhood, just east of downtown. Additionally, BerrIdge Place, located at 421 Garland Street in the Carriage Town neighborhood, is often recognized as part of the revitalization effort by the Land Bank.
An open house for the Gatehouse, on W. Fifth Avenue, is scheduled for April 16 from 4-6 p.m.
“It’s really a beautiful development and one that’s worthy of being in the city,” said Freeman. “A lot of people, they’ve kind of set the bar pretty low. And I think we need to set the bar higher in our community. There is no reason why we should see the same sort of revitalization as in Detroit, or Kalamazoo or Grand Rapids. Flint deserves good quality housing. And we have an entirely new kind of product that I think will really meet the market.”
Freeman stated the 2 and 3 bedroom townhouses have basements and upstairs decks so residents can see a skyline of part of Flint. The affordable 2 bedrooms are $769, and the market rate 2 bedrooms are $1725. All current availability can be found here
“I’m also excited about what we’re doing in the housing area and home ownership because we are taking these houses, which were the worst houses on the block, and now we’re making those some of the best houses on the block. We’re kind of looking at how we stabilize our neighborhoods and invest.
“I’ll give you a perfect example. We renovated the house on Mackin Road. We did a really beautiful job with the renovation. The woman who lived two houses down came and said ‘I want you to be successful here. I want you to sell this property and increase property values in the area, because my kids move to Atlanta. They keep telling me: You need to leave Flint. Your house isn’t worth anything. So, I want to call my daughter back and say the house down the road sold for over $150,000, and my house does have value – because I’m not leaving Flint.’
“That’s the kind of thing that we need to do as advocacy for the market and to stabilize our neighborhoods and community.”
For more information about The Gatehouse, or to apply visit the link below or call (810) 238-5555.
https://uptownreinvestment.org/properties/property-details/?pid=63&unittype=Residential
