City to propose deal for 14 townhomes around 25th, 26th streets

Jackie Smith, Port Huron Times Herald
·3 min read
Several parcels owned by the city of Port Huron off of 25th and 26th streets, as well as $650,000 in city-administered COVID stimulus funds, would be part of a proposed deal with a Lansing-based housing nonprofit to build 14 duplex-style townhomes.
Several parcels owned by the city of Port Huron off of 25th and 26th streets, as well as $650,000 in city-administered COVID stimulus funds, would be part of a proposed deal with a Lansing-based housing nonprofit to build 14 duplex-style townhomes.

PORT HURON — Another city-supported residential development is in the works for South Park — one that officials said is aimed to help alleviate long-term goals to combat the area’s housing shortage.

On Monday, Port Huron City Council members will be asked to sign off on a memorandum of understanding with Michigan Community Capital, a Lansing-based housing nonprofit, to develop 14 duplex-style condominiums in exchange for the city using $650,000 in remaining American Rescue Plan Act funds to help finance any gap in funding.

Under the document — a statement about the commitment but not a final agreement — the development would be located on several parcels located on city-owned property around 25th and 26th streets.

On Wednesday, City Manager James Freed said it’d be near Knox Field.

“This is a $4.3 million investment into South Park …” he said. “This is working with Michigan Community (Capital), and they’ve done this all over the state. These units will be homes that will be purchased, they’ll be for sale, and it’ll be affordable. They would sell for between 112,000 and 180,000 (dollars), and the people that buy them can utilize our (Urban) Pioneer homebuyer program to get $10,000 downpayment assistance.”

The maximum purchase price for homes eligible with Urban Pioneer, which uses funds through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, was $218,000 as of 2023. It also assists first-time homebuyers.

According to the city’s memo, three of the 14 units in Michigan Community Capital’s development would be sold to buyers who are at no more than 60% of the area’s medium income if a definitive development agreement is reached.

The rest would go to buyers at no more than 120% of the median income.

Additionally, each dwelling would be anticipated to include 1,342 square feet of livable space, three bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, second-floor laundry space, a primary suite with walk-in closet amenities, and a detached one-car garage near the building.

Financing would include a combination of $2.264 million in developer funds to be repaid upon sales, a MiNeighborhood grant of around $1.4 million and other to-be-determined sources.

A 30-year tax increment financing plan addressing housing needs — such as recently drafted by the Southside Neighborhood Improvement Authority — would be requested with an estimated of $1.292 million in TIF proceeds.

Freed emphasized the need for infill housing as an item in the NIA’s recent TIF and development plan proposals. A public hearing about the plans was also set for Monday’s council meeting.

“So, if you look at the recent (NIA) plan that the TIF board worked on, this is part of it,” the city manager said. “And this nonprofit took notice of it. This is part of our all-of-the-above plan for housing.”

This proposal would mark the third involving city-owned property within the last two years after the proposed 66-unit housing complex at 3550 Electric Ave. with Woda Cooper Companies, as well as another four-story, 37-unit structure that’d be built beside another building rehab for a total of 40 units off Erie Street with Community Housing Network.

Each project, officials have said, is waiting for some type of funding assistance through the Michigan State Housing Development Authority.

Freed said each one is still in the running, depending on MSHDA decisions later this year.

“Some of our biggest developments, they were two, three years in conversations before they actually pulled the trigger,” he said Wednesday. “So, these things take time. We have several others in the pipeline. We have several that are going through MSHDA in October, I believe.”

City Council meets at 6 p.m. on Monday in the meeting chambers of the Municipal Office Center, 100 McMorran Blvd., downtown. Agenda items can be viewed online at https://porthuroncitymi.iqm2.com/Citizens/calendar.aspx.

Contact reporter Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: City to propose deal for 14 townhomes around 25th, 26th streets