KALAMAZOO, Mich. — The city of Kalamazoo is making efforts to increase housing in the area. On Tuesday, they held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of a new development in the city’s Vine neighborhood.
“This is the beginning of what is going to be, I think, a great progression of infill work that we're doing here in Kalamazoo, and I just want to say thank you to everyone who's participated,” said Kalamazoo Mayor David Anderson.
The ceremony took place on Wall Street, showing off a newly renovated duplex.
The city and Kalamazoo Neighborhood Housing Services are working to develop pre-permitted housing designs in the area.
“80% of our old lots in Kalamazoo, a few years ago, we couldn't even build on; they were considered too small under our zoning standards. So we had to change that first,” the mayor said.
Each newly built home will be made to fit into an existing lot and will be designed to match current houses in the neighborhood.
“What we're attempting to do is create more opportunities for density right here in Kalamazoo. So not only do we get housing, people desperately need housing, that's number one, but we can also address other things that are important to us, like climate change and energy efficiency,” said Anderson.
The duplex they showed off was once a single-family home, but it will now be able to serve two.
The 2,024 square-foot development features four bedrooms and two full bathrooms.
Kalamazoo Neighborhood Housing Services is currently building three more homes in the vine neighborhood, which is expected to be completed by early spring.
