Housing Next: Kent County needs thousands more homes; corridor strategy would reduce sprawl and infrastructure costs

Ryan Kilpatrick of Housing Next presented the county’s housing needs assessment update on Nov. 25, telling the Community Health and Safety Committee that Kent County faces substantial deficits across the housing market — especially for lowest-income households — and that concentrating growth in identified corridors can reduce infrastructure costs and preserve rural land.

Kilpatrick said a key finding is more than 55,000 Kent County households are “severely cost burdened,” meaning they spend at least half their income on housing. He said the county needs roughly 2,000 units for households earning more than 120% of median income (about $123,000 per year) and that production for the lowest-income households is off by a factor of about 15 due to limited subsidy availability.

“The federal government provides about $28,000,000 of federal subsidy to the state… $28,000,000 to put that in perspective allows us to build about 200 units per year,” Kilpatrick said, arguing subsidy alone cannot close local need. He said Kent County currently produces roughly 1,000 new rental units each year, and about 17% of those are income-restricted; the region is short of for-sale units for middle-income buyers by roughly fivefold.

Kilpatrick described demographic trends contributing to demand: household formation among young adults who remain in the region (he cited an 83% retention rate for college graduates) and an 80,000-worker commuter pool that could generate additional local demand if affordable options exist. He emphasized that building supply at multiple price points — market-rate, middle-income and subsidized — is necessary to create vacancies and downward pressure on rents over time.

To limit sprawl, Housing Next identified 32 corridors where targeted development could produce similar unit totals using about 3,000 acres and an estimated $250 million in infrastructure upgrades, rather than consuming roughly 120,000 acres and needing about $8 billion to extend roads, sewer and water under a status-quo growth pattern. Kilpatrick said local policy levers — zoning reform, reduced parking requirements, allowances for missing-middle housing types and incentives for mixed-use neighborhood centers — can lower development costs and help achieve the needed unit mix.

Commissioners pressed on implementation choices and rural impacts. Kilpatrick said he is working with municipalities on zoning amendments (examples: Sparta, Gaines Township, Plainfield Township) while encouraging village-center or hamlet-style clustering in rural townships to preserve farmland and open space. He also cited Kentwood’s city-center planning as a model for concentrating growth near existing sewer and water.

Kilpatrick concluded that meeting county needs will require both subsidy and supply-side strategies, collaboration among local governments on zoning and infrastructure priorities, and targeted incentives for developers. The committee did not take formal votes on policy changes at the meeting; Kilpatrick offered to engage further with commissioners and local staff.