A study by Bowen National Research found that Kent County needs 22,000 units of housing in the next five years in order to keep up with the demand for affordable housing. This includes 10,000 units for households making 0-80% of the area median income.
The need drawing the attention of Adrianne Todman, HUD’s Acting Secretary who toured the low-income housing units at Campau Commons. Todman spoke with residents and the media about how the Biden-Harris administration is working to lower housing costs and boost the supply of affordable homes for Michigan families.
“We’re doing two things: One, we’re making sure we are investing in units for people to purchase and investing in units for people to rent. I just came from an amazing site and heard about some investments that the Congresswoman and the city is making to make sure that we’re helping people who are first-time home owners.”
U.S. Representative Hillary Scholten, a Grand Rapids democrat, spoke about affordable housing challenges and solutions that are unique to West Michigan and the importance of Todman to see it first-hand.
“I think that we have an incredible model of private/public partnerships. I think the through element is that we’re committed to quality affordable housing. Not just putting it up quickly. People want a nice place to live that they can afford and we can do both.”
