GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Affordable housing continues to be tough to find in West Michigan. On Tuesday, Grand Rapids city leaders approved a plan to help address that shortage.
Four empty homes in Grand Rapids will be renovated and updated to be sold at an affordable cost.
"No matter where you are in the income spectrum, I think people are having a hard time finding the type of house that they can afford and where they want to live," says Jono Klooster, assistant director of the city's economic development department.
The City of Grand Rapids is working to address the affordable home shortage. The city commission approved the sale of four properties around town, each going for $17,000. The houses are at 1624 Lafayette Street SE, 546 Neland Street SE, 914 Sherman Street SE and 854 First Street NW.
"These homes are in, you know, pretty significant state of disrepair," says Klooster. "In fact, they're all what we would call blight cases."
That's where House to Home Restorations comes in. The Ada-based organization, which has done similar work with the city before, is the expected buyer for the houses.
They'll fix them up to living condition before putting them on the market, for specific buyers.
"House to Home will be selling those to households that earn 80% of the area median income, or below," says Klooster.
Grand Rapids city leaders say the four homes are the last few the city owns, and they are excited to use them to address the housing shortage.
"Another one of the efforts that we're undertaking across the city to get more housing out there in the community," says Klooster.
House to Home has a year to purchase the properties, but Klooster expects that will happen much sooner and the project can begin in the next few months.
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