Grand Rapids’ $40 million Plaza Roosevelt is a mixed-use “Neighborhood-Driven Development” taking shape on the City of Grand Rapids’ southwest end of town. Included is affordable housing that Habitat Kent claims is unlike anything it has ever done before.
Plaza Roosevelt will include health care facilities, venues for arts and culture, retail space and a new $20 million Grand Rapids Public Schools high school. Habitat for Humanity of Kent County is taking the lead constructing affordable housing - approximately 45 rental units and 17 single and multi-family homes. Habit Kent explains breaking ground on them is unlike anything it has ever done before.
“This project is unique for Habitat because we really spent the last 30 or so of our last 35 years of an organization really building houses that we sell to qualified families, kind of one house at a time.
And Plaza Roosevelt really represents, not only us taking a more holistic neighborhood approach, but doing so in a very collaborative way and using land that we’ve owned to not just think about building and selling homes but what else does the neighborhood need in order to continue to have opportunities to thrive.”
BriAnne McKee is Habitat Kent Executive Director.
“So it’s really groundbreaking both literally and figuratively in that it’s stretching Habitat beyond our traditional way of creating access to affordable homeowner opportunities, but doing so within the context of building broader community development strategies as well.”
Thirteen homebuyers have been identified. They’ve all agreed to contribute “sweat equity” putting in hundreds of volunteer hours either constructing their home or other habitat homes.
