KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – The city of Kalamazoo may be getting into the affordable housing business along with Portage.
Kalamazoo has the land and the plans. What they will seek next is public approval.
Deputy City Manager Rebekah Kik presented preliminary plans to the city commission this week, to rebuild the neighborhood at the site of the former Michigan State Health and Human Services Department on Stockbridge.
She says it’s a real opportunity.
The plan is to build a variety of new homes, single family, apartments, duplexes, quad-plexes and even cottages, and to make them affordable.
There are lots of ways they could reduce the costs of construction, including using the city’s set of pre-approved home designs that eliminate steps in the building process.
Kik says her preference is to have several local construction firms bid on different parts of the project, to keep it local.
Kik says it’s in a great location, walking distance from a lot of jobs and amenities.
The 15-acre site presents some challenges: it’s covered in concrete, and a building. It would have to have a 4-to-5-acre floodplain and new clean soil to raise the topography and deal with a contamination problem.
Kik says she will present the plan to the Milwood Neighborhood Association at their next meeting, and work with them to schedule a public workshop on the project.
Right now, it’s just a plan. The first housewarming party is years away.
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