Detroit nets $1B affordable housing investment with East Jefferson development

A milestone East Jefferson Avenue residential development has just pushed Detroit affordable housing investments since 2019 past $1 billion, officials announced Friday.

Gathered at the construction site, a 150-unit riverfront affordable housing development near Van Dyke Avenue, Mayor Mike Duggan, investors, developers and other government officials celebrated 71 affordable housing projects built or under construction in the past five years.

Across the projects, development costs with city, state and federal funding, alongside private funding and developers, total $1,009,177,000, according to a city press release.

"There's no doubt about it, we're leading America in appreciation and home values," Duggan told reporters at the site. "It's a different day, and that's why what we're doing here is so important. We've got to make sure there's a ready supply of affordable housing."

The new developments will bring their investments with them into 46 Detroit neighborhoods they impact, alongside tens of thousands of residents able to access quality, affordable housing, said Julie Schneider, director of the housing and revitalization department.

The East Jefferson $45 million riverfront development offers 20 units for residents earning 30 percent or less of the area's median income, or AMI, according to the city press release.

Another 36 units will be available to residents earning at or below 50% AMI, while 96 units will be for residents at or below 60% AMI.

City council surveys consistently reflect housing as the number one priority for Detroit residents, said Fred Durhall III, a Detroit City Council member.

The city's ability to land 71 projects is a major step forward for longtime Detroiters, he said. The developments reflect a range between 30% and 120% AMI in a stunning show of housing diversity across the city, he added.

"That is not something that is done across every city in America," Durhall said.

Friday's landmark investment also comes on the heels of a recently approved $2.8 million infusion to the city's Affordable Housing and Preservation Fund. The council adopted the funds Tuesday as part of the city's $2.76 billion budget for the 2025 fiscal year.

Developer David Alade of Century Partners recently broke ground for The Claire, a 1920s apartment building redevelopment on Clairmount. The effort is one of many projects to revitalize housing in Piety Hill and other neighborhoods along Woodward near downtown.

Of The Claire's 42 units, 27 will have rent set to between 50 and 80 percent of the area median income. The project is another step forward for Detroit as the city approaches its 2014 goal to preserve 8,000 affordable units and build 2,000 more units, Duggan said at a groundbreaking celebration for the site.

The 71 multi-family housing projects comprise a total of 4,646 affordable housing units, according to the city's press release Friday.

Of those units, 1,612 units are in newly constructed apartment buildings and renovated, formerly vacant buildings. Another 3,036 of those units are in renovated buildings, according to the release.

The majority of the 4,646 affordable units, a total of 1,682 units, also have rents affordable to households earning 60 percent or less of AMI, according to the release.

"Over the past five years, we have seen a communitywide commitment to affordable housing that is unprecedented in Detroit and, quite possibly, the country," Duggan said in the release. "It is the reason you do not see tent cities in Detroit like you do in other places."

Detroit isn't out of the woods yet, with much work remaining for the city to achieve fully accessible, affordable housing for all, Durhall said.

Increasing affordable also remains a priority for President Joe Biden's administration, said Mike Polsinelli, Detroit field office director for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Detroit has far exceeded initial goals with $1 billion in investments so far and miles to go on keeping local housing affordable, Polsinelli said.

As part of that work, HUD is currently working on the finance application to revitalize Lee Plaza, a vacant high rise off of West Grand Boulevard, he said.

"Our city has worked to partner together with these developers to ensure we're not including just affordable housing for our residents, but creating a path for generational wealth, entrepreneurship and a pipeline," Durhall said. "So our developers can continue to do their passion, which is to put our residents into affordable housing."

Business practices to acquire Detroit land without engaging neighborhood residents or respecting the city's strategic plan are long gone artifacts of the past now, and Friday's investment achievement represents that, said Amin Irving, president and CEO of Ginosko Development Co.

"Detroit has gone from a city of 'I'm not sure,' to a city of 'Yes,'" Irving said. "Now we're here today celebrating the city of 'Yes.'"