Community members gathered for a Leelanau Township special meeting on August 6 to review responses from requests for proposals (RFP) for housing on township property located at 824 North Warren Street where the recycling center is currently stationed in Northport.
The objectives of the meeting was to hear from the companies that responded to Leelanau Township’s RFP, as well as to gather community input. The township board consulted with Housing North, a nonprofit focused on creating housing solutions in the community, to develop a request for housing proposal for the townshipowned property. The proposals were for attainable housing projects that would be situated on three and half acres of the five acre township-owned parcel.
The deadline for the township to receive proposals was June 15. The township received three housing proposals, including from Allen Edwin Homes, LC Consultants II, and HomeStretch. Allen Edwin Homes pulled out their proposal from the running, so the township reviewed the other two proposals.
The township asked an ad hoc panel of people in northwest Michigan and locally who have evidence and interest in or completed attainable housing projects to review these proposals. Leelanau Township Supervisor Barb Conley said the committee met on June 22 and solicited additional response from two of the offers. The ad hoc committee is meant to serve as an advisory to the township board, Conley said at the meeting, and the township board previously voted to have a community input meeting prior to approving a proposal.
HOUSING PROPOSALS The HomeStretch affordable housing development would include a 26-unit affordable multifamily rental property at the site. The 26 two-bedroom rental units would be approximately 900 square feet each and would serve households earning 40% to 60% of AMI (area median income). The project would average 50% AMI affordability, with monthly rents averaging $1,200.
In response to township residents’ concerns about design and scale, HomeStretch also prepared two alternatives. The first alternative would be made up of 13 duplex rental units across the site, however, rent would need to average 60% AMI, or approximately $1,480 per month, due to increased building costs of duplex construction. The second alternative plan would include 16 townhouse rentals and 10 one-and two-bedroom garden style homes for sale. The HomeStretch proposal states that this “hybrid approach” would provide affordable rental options and lowentry cost ownership opportunities.
In all scenarios, preference would be given to current township residents and people employed within the primary market area. HomeStretch would own and operate 100% of the rental units in cooperation with the township through a 45-year payment in lieu of tax (PILOT) deed restriction and land transfer restrictions to ensure long-term affordability. Groundbreaking and construction work is estimated to occur between May 2027-July 2028.
The LC Consultants II proposal highlighted the creation of a “permanent, village-scaled residential neighborhood” that combines a 20-unit (multi-family) building financed through the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program with a complimentary neighborhood of detached homes intended for workforce and attainable housing households.
The 20-unit multi-family building of all 2-bedroom units, approximately 850 square feet, will serve households at 30%80% AMI. The proposal also envisions 20 detached homes/ attainable rentals serving workforce and moderate-income households earning up to 120% AMI, with rents set below the maximum allowable to reflect what the local market will support. The proposed development would deliver 40 total units across a broad income spectrum, with all units subject to deed restrictions prohibiting short-term rental use and requiring long-term residency.
LC Consultants would partner with MHT Housing Inc. and Peninsula Housing, a community land trust, to complete the project. The proposal states that full project completion is anticipated by 2030 if its low-income housing tax credit application receives an award from the October 1 2026 funding round.
PROPOSAL RESPONSE Leelanau Township trustee Elizabeth Schwind, who gave the report from the ad hoc committee at the meeting, said that overall, there was preference for the HomeStretch proposal versus the LC Consultants project. She said they felt the proposed townhomes fit the character of the community a bit more, and would be an easier sell to the public.
Several community members asked questions regarding the proposals and what they would entail. One resident and attorney, Will Conley, spoke up during public comment on behalf of his clients, who are current residents of Peninsula Housing. He said he wanted to bring to the board’s attention the residents’ specific concerns regarding the inclusion and consideration of Peninsula Housing in the RFPs. Conley said his clients would like to see promises of affordability made by applicants verified, specifically requesting that “any approvals be conditioned on independent review of both the affordability claims of any applicant and Peninsula Housing in particular in the legal documentation each applicant will require its residents to sign.”
“Peninsula Housings’ lease structure requires a disproportionate share of ongoing costs and maintenance, which I’m glad has been brought up, to be borne by the residents so that they become locked into worsening economic position with very little ability to exit,” Conley said.
Several other residents inquired about concerns such as the sewer hook up fees for the attainable housing projects, while others clarified what developers would be responsible for in terms of the upkeep and maintenance of the buildings/ homes.
In addition to public comments heard, community members had a chance following the conclusion of the meeting to view and comment on the types of housing presented using paper set up in the Northport school small gym. The public comments and ad hoc committee recommendations were then used to take action at the township’s regular meeting held on August 11, in which the township board voted 3-1 to approve the housing proposal from the nonprofit HomeStretch.
