Washtenaw County Invests in Affordable Home Ownership Development
ANN ARBOR – The Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners voted to invest $3.6M of the County’s American Rescue Plan allocation into a housing development in Ypsilanti that will bring an affordable, home ownership opportunities to residents on the eastern side of the county. 200 N. Park is a mixed-income, for-sale, residential property development in partnership between Washtenaw County, the City of Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor Community Foundation and Renovare Development.
Washtenaw County’s $3.6M investment will help to develop 46 units (cottages, townhouses, & duplexes) of owner-occupied homes. 23 units are deed-restricted and permanently affordable up to 80% AMI. 23 units are slated to be market rate, currently capped at a sale price of $205K. The partners plan to break ground in fall of 2022 with construction scheduled to be completed by the end of 2024. Total cost of the project is an estimated at just over $13M. The project will also adhere to the County’s Responsible Contractor Policy, so has the potential to provide safe, living-wage jobs.
“The Board’s decision to invest one-time, ARPA resources in this way is a ‘win’ for equity in Washtenaw, “says Justin Hodge, (District 5), Working Session chair, “I am excited because this $3.6M represents one step towards what we hope will be a new, generational wealth-building, and poverty elimination strategy to our residents, “
Shannon Polk, President, and CEO of the Ann Arbor Community Foundation, attended Wednesday’s meeting to express her support for the project and the on-going partnership with Washtenaw County.
“We look forward to working together to address what we know is an affordable housing crisis in our county.”, says Gregory Dill, County Administrator, “This project will make homeownership accessible to residents for whom it may not have been a possibility. Homeownership is a bedrock for economic stability and community.”
While the 220 N. Park development has been in the works for quite a while, American Rescue Plan Act resources provided a unique funding source for the project. The County’s investment will be used to subsidize the affordability of the units, making home ownership possible for residents, starting with resident’s whose Section-8 vouchers are eligible to be used for home purchase and/or mortgage payments.
“This investment has the potential to be deeply transformational, “says Alize Asberry Payne, Racial Equity Officer, “the County has not invested in the new construction of affordable homes, FOR SALE, in nearly 15 years, and never a community-of-choice.”
