Housing Next’s mission is to partner with local governments, developers, and nonprofits in West Michigan to remove barriers to the creation of housing at all price points. In 2017, the Community Foundation made a five-year, $500,000 commitment from the Community’s Endowment to fund Housing Next. Seven other local partners also stepped forward to support this vital work. A few projects in the Holland/Zeeland area had significant milestones in 2021.
Hom Flats
The first Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) deal for families in Ottawa County in over 20 years. The project has over 190 units of housing, is completed, and people are moving in. This is a mixed income neighborhood that will mostly support households earning from 40% to 80% of the area median income.
Vista Green
Jubilee Ministries and Habitat for Humanity partnered on this housing project to co-develop a mixed-income community of 42 affordable housing units on 36th Street in Holland. Housing Next has been supporting the development team with access to state and federal tools to reduce the overall amount of philanthropy required in support of this project.
Dwelling Place
In 2019, Hope Church and First United Methodist Church approached Housing Next separately – each asking how their church communities might support the housing needs in downtown Holland. The team at Housing Next worked closely with both to facilitate conversations with qualified non-profit developers and to ensure that both churches were talking with each other about their plans and direction. Now, nearly three years later, Hope Church and First United Church have an agreement in place to partner with Dwelling Place to build a 46-unit development in two buildings – one building on each church property. Ten of the proposed housing units will be reserved for adults with disabilities and all of the homes will be affordable to households earning at or below 60% of the area median income. This is a much-needed housing option in downtown Holland, where there has been significant recent investment in higher-income and luxury housing. This investment will offer some balance to the types and price points available for the local workforce and active seniors on fixed incomes.