Proposed $12.5M project could bring 90 affordable rentals to Ypsilanti

If a proposed housing project for Ypsilanti's Water Street property moves forward, construction on 90 new affordable rental units could begin in March of 2015 and be open for tenants the following year. The proposal, made by Herman Kittle Properties would place the $12.5 million development project in a key area of Water Street redevelopment area. 

 

"This puts a nice development on the river and it builds the spine we need there. Any other future projects will now have the utilities already there," says Ypsilanti City Planner Teresa Gillotti. "Also, that particular location is on some very difficult-to-build land. We weren't even sure if this site was going to be able to be built out."

 

By building the project on piers, however, the proposed plan would make the site able to be developed. The 90 rental units would include one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom units, available to residents at 50 to 60 percent of the area median income for Washtenaw County, which is currently $59,063, a value that varied depending upon household size.

 

According to Gillotti, the timing for such a project is good, as demand for affordable rentals is on the rise. 

 

"After the housing market crashed, everything stopped, especially for construction," she says, "but what we have seen are rentals really taking off in the last year to year-and-a-half. The demand has gone up."

 

Before becoming a reality, the housing project must first be approved by Ypsilanti City Council, which will hold a public hearing in March. Then, an application for a Michigan State Housing Development Authority tax credit must be approved in July. Gillotti says the city welcomes the public's input on the project.