Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Brownfield Housing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Brownfield plan proposed for 39-unit housing subdivision in Oshtemo Township; 20% of units reserved at 100% AMI for 11 years
Summary
The Kalamazoo County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority presented a plan from Green Development Ventures/Allen Edwin Homes to reimburse eligible site and infrastructure costs with tax increment revenue for a 39-unit subdivision west of I‑131. The plan includes 8 income-restricted rental homes leased for an 11-year affordability period.
Kalamazoo County’s Brownfield Redevelopment Authority presented a housing-focused tax-increment finance (TIF) plan for a 39-unit single-family subdivision in Oshtemo Township at a public briefing on Oct. 7, and requested the county set a public hearing for Oct. 21.
Brownfield administrator Macy Walters summarized the proposal by Green Development Ventures and Allen Edwin Homes: 31 homes would be sold at market rate and eight homes would be leased at income-restricted terms for an 11‑year affordability period set at 100% area median income (AMI). That mix represents roughly 20% of the project’s units designated as income-restricted. The developer estimates approximately $17 million in private investment and projects full build‑out by summer 2029.
Eligible expenses proposed for reimbursement through tax-increment capture include site preparation, public and private infrastructure (utility extensions, paving) and a financing gap amount tied to rent-loss calculations for the income‑restricted units. Oshtemo Township would receive reimbursements for its share of nonmotorized path and crosswalk work that connects the project to the library and township facilities.
Walters told the board the plan runs a 30‑year capture window with reimbursements projected over 25 years, and that about half of the current site’s taxable value would grow to an estimated $10.7 million after construction. She noted that the plan had already passed the Brownfield Authority and undergone third-party review and that construction activity has already begun on site prep.
Commissioners praised the developer’s investment in taxable value and the inclusion of a walking-path extension. Several commissioners raised policy questions about the trade-off between rental affordability and long-term homeownership and asked staff to consider whether future housing-TIF policy should favor more pathways to ownership or down-payment assistance. The developer and Oshtemo Township officials said the leasing for income-qualified households would be managed by a local entity that will certify income eligibility and ensure compliance during the affordability term.
The Board of Commissioners was asked to set a public hearing for Oct. 21; the Brownfield Authority requested the county consider the plan now rather than wait for a county TIF policy that the board is developing.
