LSJ: Affordable housing rally today at the Capitol. Here's an article about the rally at the State Capitol on Wednesday. You can check out the LSJ's photo gallery here.
"We're rallying to draw attention to the need for more state funding to support development of Michigan's cities, towns and villages, " said Angie Gaabo, executive director of Community Economic Development Association of Michigan (CEDAM) and a coalition spokesperson in a press release.
The coalition supports the Michigan Housing and Community Development Fund, which received its first allocation by the legislature of $2.2 million in 2008. The group would like to see its funding double in 2009 to $4.4 million.
Lansing City Pulse: Performing downtown. The historic Knapp's building in downtown Lansing is one of the few structures left along Washington Avenue that hasn't received a facelift in recent years. That could change soon, however:
Jim Anderton, president-elect of the Lansing Symphony’s board of directors, thinks that Knapp’s is the last major building in downtown Lansing that hasn’t been addressed.
So they two men launched a plan: Turn the 69-year-old art deco building — a department store until 1980, it was partially occupied by offices, a restaurant and retail operations until 2002 — into a downtown performing arts center.
Anderton, a former president of Lansing Community College, is a make-things-happen kind of guy. The pair snagged an architect and some engineers from the Christman Co., which built Knapp's, plus folks from the Eyde Co., Knapp's owners, to look at the possibility of placing an arts center there. Then they went to the Lansing Economic Development Corp.
Knapp’s is “a very cool building, and we’re proud to have built it. It’s a unique and rare architectural specimen. But it would take lots of millions of dollars to save it,” Cash said.
On the other hand, maybe the money can be found. Dorshimer, of the EDC, said part of the financing for a performing arts center would come from the Tax Increment Financing Authority (that’s also where the money for the RFQ is coming from) for the downtown, and he projected money would come from the state. Historic tax credits could be used to leverage other dollars. And Anderton said surely community fundraising would be undertaken. He vowed that he would be a contributor.
LSJ: ACORN gets $7.8 million to aid homeowners. ACORN has been leading the charge against foreclosures here in Michigan, so hopefully these funds will help more residents keep their homes:
ACORN Housing, a nonprofit agency that assists homeowners in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure, plans to use some of the money to expand its outreach efforts in the Lansing area.
The funds will be used to bring as many financially troubled homeowners as possible into assistance programs that will stave off foreclosure, said Carrie Guzman, local financial justice coordinator for ACORN - the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.
LSJ: Grants could help rehab houses. Help is available for those looking for affordable housing. Sometimes you just have to know where to look:
CHARLOTTE — Amy Summers had help when took on the challenge of finding affordable housing last year. The Charlotte resident and single mother of two applied for a Home Purchase and Rehabilitation Assistance grant through Eaton County.
The funding — aimed at aiding low-income families — helped Summers make a down payment on her home, built in the early 1950s, and paid for 21 new windows, insulation and siding.
"The experience was wonderful," Summers said. "I'm thankful to have come across something like that. I think a lot of people don't know that there's assistance out there."
Eaton County is preparing to implement $300,000 in Home Owner Rehabilitation grants throughout the county. The funding should pay for improvements on 10 homes owned by low-income families.
Those applying can't make more than 80 percent of the medium income in their area, meaning that a family of four can't bring in more than $51,900 a year to qualify. But the payoffs are big. The loans carry no interest and don't need to be repaid until a homeowner sells the property.
Midland Daily News: Local poor struggle to find housing. Unfortunately, despite programs like the ones in Eaton County, the demand for affordable housing often outweighs the supply:
The Midland County Continuum of Care noted the rising need as it asked the Midland City Council how the two groups could partner to find solutions.
"People that are living with incomes far below the median income for our community are struggling," said Sharon Mortensen, the continuum's chairperson.
She said poverty in Midland County has risen to 13.7 percent from 8.4 percent in 2000. A growing concern now is the working poor."That's where we're seeing the real needs right now," she said.
West Mich Biz Review: MPI jobs give Kalamazoo housing market new hope. Remember... housing = jobs:
3,300 jobs MPI Research expects to bring to the Kalamazoo area will have a huge impact on its housing situation, those in the industry say. Economic developers expect the life-sciences company's expansion to mean some 600 new homes and many more existing-home sales over the next several years. But the area's largest home builder anticipates an even faster effect.
"The people who live here have a renewed sense of confidence," said Greg DeHaan, co-founder of Allen Edwin Homes in Kalamazoo. "If they were thinking about (buying) a home, they now feel good about it."
WXYZ: New Homes In Grandmont Rosedale. Channel 7 in Detroit did a nice feature on Trust Fund borrower Grandmont Rosedale in a newscast this week. Follow the link to watch the video.