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Housing Commission seeks city land for proposed CityView workforce apartments on E. Eighth; commission approves conveyance step
Summary
The Traverse City Housing Commission presented a conceptual workforce housing project (CityView Apartments) and asked the commission to convey a small triangular city parcel and to forgo future city claims on part of former railroad right-of-way held by the county land bank so the parcels can be unified in project design. Commissioners voted to
The Traverse City Housing Commission asked the City Commission on Feb. 17 to support initial land‑conveyance steps for a proposed workforce housing project at 314 East Eighth Street (working name: CityView Apartments).
Carl Fulmer, director of the housing commission, said the commission has the Copy Central parcel under contract and is exploring combining an adjacent 0.05‑acre triangular city parcel plus a portion of former railroad right‑of‑way currently held by the county land bank to create a consolidated site of roughly 0.75–0.9 acres for a potential 40–50‑unit workforce housing project. Fulmer said the housing commission intends to target units affordable to households at about 40–60% of area median income (AMI) and will pursue 9% LIHTC tax credits; he emphasized the project is in early due‑diligence and design phases and that Consumers Energy relocations and right‑of‑way clarifications remain to be resolved.
Commissioners discussed details: some commissioners supported the project as an early step toward expanding workforce housing; others asked for clarity on definitions (AMI bands), voucher availability for permanent supportive housing and whether the city’s electrification policy would apply to any conveyed land. Fulmer noted that project‑based vouchers for permanent supportive housing are capped and not currently available to assign to new units, so the commission should be cautious about promising deeply subsidized supportive units at this stage.
The commission authorized the mayor and city clerk to execute necessary documents with the Traverse City Housing Commission and/or Grand Traverse County Land Bank Authority to carry forward conveyance of the small triangular parcel and related steps outlined in the city attorney’s Feb. 7 memo, with documents subject to the city attorney’s form review and the city manager’s substantive review. The motion included language asking the housing commission to attempt, “to the extent possible,” to include roughly 10% of units as permanent supportive housing but made that a nonbinding encouragement due to voucher limits.
The commission did not authorize sale prices or final financing; Fulmer said purchase for the Copy Central parcel is under contract at market value and that the housing commission is still in due diligence. Staff will return with detailed conveyance documents, any necessary easement adjustments, and potential conditions tied to electrification policy or affordable‑housing commitments.
