WYOMING, Mich. — The six new houses at the corner of 36th Street and Jefferson Avenue Southeast are move-in ready. LINC UP, an organization that advocates for fair and equal housing, was the mastermind behind the construction, which they said will be affordable for potential buyers.
“It’s dire. We’re constantly dealing with families that are in need,” said LINC UP’s Shanika Gordon about the need for affordable housing. “When you think of the amount that’s being charged for rent versus becoming a homeowner for the same amount, if not less, it’s definitely a need, and we’re seeing that daily.”
Gordon is the single family development manager at LINC UP, which is located on Madison and Hall. She said five of the homes are standard with three bedrooms on the second floor. One of the homes is first-floor accessible for people with mobility challenges and/or disabilities. Funding for the project stems from the Kent County City of Wyoming Home Consortium.
“LINC UP not only does affordable housing but attainable housing,” she said. “We try not to sell homes to families that can’t invest 32 percent into the homes. So, that’s their cap. It’s what we try to shoot for so that we don’t have to risk foreclosure.”
Additionally, in order to purchase one of the homes at the Godwin Heights site, potential homebuyers have to go through LINC UP and have to meet HUD criteria.
“You have to have 80 percent AMI or lower,” Gordon said, which means that a person cannot earn more than 80 percent of the Area Median Income.
Gordon said everything will be explained at a Zoom orientation meeting on Monday, August 7 at 6 p.m., which will be followed by a walk-through on the following Wednesday. Anyone interested has to sign up with LINC UP’s housing liaison and get a homebuyer packet.
“I would say our first phase for this project we ended up receiving I believe it was about 15 packets with only six homes being available. And, so we narrowed it down again: first completed, first submitted,” Gordon said. “This time around we have a list of 2,000 interested homebuyers.”
Gordon is a part of a team of three, who are all organizing the event and home-buying process. She said they were shocked by the high volume of interest.
According to Brooke Oosterman, director of Housing Next, demand for housing has jumped 59 percent in the city of Grand Rapids and 54 percent in the rest of Kent County over the last two years.
“We know that it’s impacting everyone from an access and affordability perspective,” she said during a Zoom interview on Wednesday afternoon. “But, we know that it is impacting those with the least amount to spend because they’re not able to compete in the market. And, folks who are middle income or [in the] higher income brackets are taking up housing stock that is more affordable for folks because they have nowhere to go.”
Housing Next is an organization that partners with local government officials, developers, and nonprofits to help solve the housing crisis.
Oosterman said the high demand stems from a rise in costs, interest rates, and construction. However, she believes the solution is to decrease regulatory barriers to provide more diverse housing typologies.
“Then, we really need to see a change at the grassroots level for folks saying ‘yes, new neighbors, yes, new housing, yes new housing typologies,’” she said.
Gordon said the homeowners will be selected by August 28 and their applications will be submitted to funders that assist minority families in the homebuying process.
However, for now, she and her team are focused on meeting the demand ahead.
“We didn’t expect it to be this severe,” Gordon said. “So, we’re just trying to properly prepare because I know it’s going to be overwhelming.”
