GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The former funeral home in Garfield Park used to celebrate lives well lived. Bolstered by a grant from the city of Grand Rapids, a local church is trying to make it hold life, turning the old Ivy K. Gillespie Memorial Chapel into housing.
On Thursday, Messiah Baptist Church received a $19,000 Emerging Developer Grant from the Grand Rapids Brownfield Redevelopment Authority (GRBRA), allowing the 133-year-old Black congregation to begin the "pre-development" process.
"What are the possibilities for this site? How much development can we put on this site?" Jono Klooster, executive director for the GRBRA, said. “We need housing across the income spectrum. We need housing in every section of the city.”
In the southeast section of the city, the for-sale- and rental-housing project titled MVillage will cut into a small — but meaningful — portion of the city's need for 14,000 new housing units by 2027.
"We also know that 2 and 4 and 6 and 10 units at a time are going to be needed if we want to get anywhere close to meeting that need," Klooster said.
While Messiah Baptist Church consults with professionals to determine the development's next steps, Klooster says he and the authority are "very supportive."
"I think that's an important property for the community," Klooster said. "I think it's great that a community-based organization is stepping up and taking a look at that."
READ MORE: Grand Rapids mayor tours Garfield Park affordable housing project
