Slow and steady wins the race.
But given the lack of affordable housing in the county, the finish line is some distance away.
However, some hurdles are already being cleared. Leelanau Christian Neighbors announced Thursday the purchase of a home on the corner of M-204 and Lake Leelanau Drive aimed at mitigating the affordable housing crisis in Leelanau County.
This initiative was made possible through LCN’s Affordable Housing Fund, underscoring the organization’s commitment to aiding those with inadequate resources the opportunity to live and thrive in the community. The purchase marks a significant step towards expanding affordable housing so young people can afford to live here and families to grow.
LCN is partnering with HomeStretch Nonprofit Housing Corporation to manage the property, formerly owned by the Zip Flees Trust, safeguarding it as an affordable option.
HomeStretch is known for its dedication to providing affordable housing solutions, will oversee the property’s management, ensuring it is rented at a modest cost to support the community’s needs. HomeStretch’s Vineyard View apartment complex, which included eight units on Marek Road in Suttons Bay off M-204, opened around Christmas 2023.
Elsewhere in Suttons Bay Township, the nonprofit community land trust Peninsula Housing is looking to develop a 10-acre farmstead and a neighboring parcel on Herman Road. The same organization wants to build multi-family housing north of the intersection of Fourth Street and St. Mary’s Avenue in Suttons Bay Village.
Peninsula Housing President Larry Mawby is working with the township on an ordinance that would allow annual service payments in lieu of taxes, making the Herman Road development more economically feasible. He is also requesting the township and the village enter an agreement allowing the latter to extend water and sewer services to the former.
And although the village council has twice declined applications for the St. Mary’s Avenue development, saying the three-story buildings were not in character for the village’s “welcoming corridor,” Mawby says he’s been encouraged by Peninsula Housing’s design workshops over the summer.
Over in Elmwood Township, the 14-home New Waves development welcomed two families into its first completed homes in June. New Waves was started in 2021 as a partnership between the New Waves United Church of Christ and Habitat for Humanity.
The church withdrew from the project after Habitat dedicated their first two homes earlier this summer, finding that management and fundraising was beyond the scope of their abilities. Habitat now owns all 14 lots in the New Waves development and is actively seeking partners for Habitat homeownership.
State Representative Betsy Coffia (D-Traverse City) and State Senator John Damoose (R-Harbor Springs) also recently announced that they are working on bipartisan legislation that could allow housing to be built on state-owned property. Coffia and Damoose said this was the result of a conversation with Glen Lake Community Schools staff, who are interested in developing affordable “educator housing” on state property near the school. These bills have not been introduced in Lansing yet, however.
Meanwhile, the 10th annual Housing Summit scheduled next month in Traverse City could keep that momentum going.
Remember, slow and steady wins the race.
