Plans for any attainable housing projects at the Village of Northport’s 7th Street property will be put on hold after the village council unanimously voted last week to table a proposal from Influence Design Forum (IDF) for a request for proposals (RFP).
The village council and public got a first look via renderings of conceptual designs for the municipality’s 7th Street and High Street properties in April at a community housing workshop. The design scenarios provided for both properties was the first step in evaluating the specific area’s development potential and exploring opportunities to address Northport’s ongoing need for housing.
Since the village council’s last discussion in May regarding attainable housing at the 7th Street property, village manager Jered Ottenwess reported in his October memorandum that two developers, both who are currently pursing other attainable housing projects in the northwest Michigan region, have declined to work with the village. Ottenwess said based on the feedback he’s received, developers “are not interested in small projects at the end of the peninsula.” Local stakeholders, Ottenwess said in his report, also do not seem interested in doing the work to assemble a team and organizing a corporate structure to carry out the work.
