MUSKEGON HEIGHTS, Mich. — Officials in Muskegon Heights met a family on Tuesday who will live in the first home built in the city in nearly 20 years.
“My family is excited,” said Montrell Dockery. “You see so much development outside of Muskegon Heights and so to finally be able to bring something within the city of the Heights and get something going is pretty exciting.”
Dockery, his wife, Joy, and their three children plan to move into a home off of Ray Street.
Once completed, it will be the first home built within the city since the early 2000s.
The home is part of larger development project created by Phyllis Loudermill, a local businesswoman.
“Muskegon Heights was a wonderful place and it’s going to be again,” said Loudermill.
According to Loudermill, part of her plan includes building 250 new houses over the next five years.
Right now, rentals make up more than half of homes within Muskegon Heights. Loudermill says the project presents an opportunity to expand the city’s tax base, which would benefit the entire community.
“I knew that if I took block by block, change it, increase the value, then people would not look at it as though nobody wants to live here,” said Loudermill.
There are more than 1,000 vacant lots throughout Muskegon Heights.
Loudermill hopes the project pushes other developers to build within the city too.
READ: New houses being built in Muskegon Heights for the first time in nearly 20 years
To prevent gentrification, the city has previously said it’s pushing developers to offer down payment assistance, credit repair services, and homeownership mentorship to people who want to buy a home.
“We don’t want to make it just about us,” said Dockery. “It’s about our kids and then not only that, we want to take it a step further and be a light to the community. Anybody that’s aspiring to be homeowners - you don’t have to rent the rest of your life.”
