During public comment on Nov. 6, Dave, secretary of Lakeshore Habitat, told the commission that the organization secured a $35,000 Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) predevelopment grant to pay for initial civil engineering on a potential for-sale project in Holland. He said the city supported the application and that civil engineering work has begun.

Dave said Habitat often faces a funding gap at the predevelopment stage—expenses such as engineering or wetland investigations can halt projects before they start—and described the MEDC grant as an example of a resource that helped overcome that barrier. He also said the organization will have a staffing gap next summer and asked the commission and attendees to share leads on small, buildable lots suitable for turnkey projects of a few units.

Commissioners thanked him for the update and noted the availability of state predevelopment tools and local partnerships to move projects forward.