Habitat Kent’s latest project: 27 units in its own backyard
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Habitat for Humanity of Kent County is working on a major project in its own neighborhood.
The Pleasant Hills project aims to bring 27 affordable housing units, split between duplexes and townhomes, to the Roosevelt Park neighborhood. The project moved forward Thursday when the Grand Rapids Planning Commission approved a rezoning request and a construction approval request from Habitat Kent.
Habitat for Humanity of Kent County is a nonprofit focused on helping people own their first homes. Pleasant Hills is one of the largest developments Housing Kent, which recently celebrated building its 500th home, has ever taken on.
Sarah Hotchkiss, the director of development and communications for the organization, said her team has spent the last few years looking for the best way to leverage the land around its headquarters, located at 425 Pleasant St. near Cesar E. Chavez Avenue, to bring more housing to the community. They bought up some nearby church properties that had become unsalvageable as part of the project.
“We’re really just looking at how we can best leverage the resources that we currently have to bring more housing to the Roosevelt Park neighborhood,” she said.
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The organization has worked to engage with neighbors, canvassing the neighborhood, doing surveys and leading focus groups. Hotchkiss said her team has “definitely done our due diligence to make sure that we’re bringing in community resources that are needed and wanted here.”
The first phase of the project will bring a five-unit townhome complex and a duplex to 444 Pleasant St. SW, located across the street from Habitat Kent’s offices. An existing church building on the church property is set to be demolished.
In the second phase, crews will build 10 duplexes at 425 Pleasant St. and next-door 535 Church Place. The duplexes will be have four bedrooms, plus space in the basement where a fifth bedroom could be added.
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A community garden and pavilion at the organization’s headquarters will be demolished to make way for the project, as will the remaining structures at 535 Church Place — the main building on that site was demolished in 2017, before Habitat Kent bought it in 2022.
The office space currently used by Habitat Kent staff, originally built in 1952 as a school building, will be turned into a mixed-use building with both office space and a preschool.
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Working on a project within the organization’s neighborhood is a “dream come true,” Hotchkiss said. Her team believes there’s a significant need in the community for the project.
“We’ve been really invested in the Roosevelt Park neighborhood for a long time,” she said. “To look around and be able to say, ‘Hey, like how can we do more? How can we scale up, how can we leverage the resources that we have to help further our mission and help our community?’ It’s just an amazing experience to be able to watch ourselves make that dream come true and just do more — and we’re always looking at opportunities to do more.”
Habitat Kent hopes to break ground on the project in 2025.
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