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Board approves amendments for Zion Place housing project; new unit affordability breakdown detailed
Summary
Commissioners approved an amendment to the housing fund agreement and a related ARPA loan amendment for Zion Place 4 LLC; county staff summarized a split financing structure using 4% and 9% low-income housing tax credits and millage/ARPA funds, producing several units at deep affordability levels including three 1‑bedroom units at 20% AMI.
Kalamazoo County commissioners approved contract amendments April 1 related to the Zion Place housing development and an associated ARPA loan amendment.
County staff described the project’s complex financing: multiple sources (about 19) are combined to build senior and affordable rental housing. The amendments align county agreements with the 4% low-income housing tax credit component and clarify named equity investors and notice provisions. The board approved both the housing-fund agreement amendment and the ARPA loan agreement amendment by voice vote.
Staff further detailed unit-level affordability: on the 4% credit side, the project contains 21 one-bedroom units at 60% AMI, eight at 50% AMI, three at 70% AMI, and two two-bedroom units at 70% AMI. The 9% tax-credit side (36 units) includes three one-bedroom units at 20% AMI, three one-bedroom units at 30% AMI, 17 one-bedroom units at 60% AMI, and six one-bedroom units at 60% AMI that will additionally be covered by county housing-voucher support; the vouchers convert the six units to the equivalent of 30% AMI affordability for voucher duration (staff said this is expected to be approximately 15 years).
Housing Director Mary Baukema and a housing staff member who presented the amendments emphasized that the project’s affordability mix includes several deep-affordability units not previously advanced through the housing millage and that the contracts being amended do not change the project’s intended scope and affordability distribution.
Next steps: the developer broke ground the week before the meeting, and staff will continue oversight of funding draws and compliance with affordability covenants.
Ending: Commissioners congratulated the housing department and partners for assembling a complicated capital stack and advancing units at lower AMI levels than the county had previously delivered.
