The City of Eaton Rapids is finishing up the renovation and creation
of the last two lofts in a five loft renovation project in its downtown. The
city is using a $250,000 Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA)
grant to pay for the improvement.
“We basically took unlivable empty space and made them
into apartments,” says Brian Reed with the City of Eaton Rapids.
The city wanted to help the building owners maximize
their space by turning their commercial building into mixed use developments.
So far, new lofts have been developed or renovated in the Evelyn Bay Coffee Shop
and the Edward Jones building. The city is working on creating two more lofts
above the Family Dollar.
Without the grant, the business owners couldn’t afford
the renovations, Reed says.
“It helps the area by creating affordable living space
and it helps the city by creating activity downtown, getting people to live
downtown and increasing the property value of these buildings,” Reed says.
The city’s working on getting another $250,000 to
refurbish or create five other downtown lofts.
Source: Brian Reed, City of Eaton Rapids
Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.
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