GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A new housing initiative in Grand Rapids aims to make homeohomewnership more accessible for middle-class families who find themselves priced-out of the traditional housing market.
Dwelling Place Community Land Trust has completed a neighborhood development on Union Street in Grand Rapids. Through an innovative shared equity model, the development offers homes at 25% below market value.
"We took approximately five acres here and converted the land to what we call a community land trust," said Scott Bodenberg, Dwelling Place Community Land Trust Manager.
The model works differently from traditional homeownership. "What that means is the Dwelling Place owns the property, and then we do a shared equity with the homeowners," Bodenberg explained. "It's kind of similar to a condominium development, you've got the home that you purchase, but you don't own the land. You lease the land."
The development consists of 42 homes targeted at buyers with household incomes between 60% and 120% of the area's median income. For a family of four, this means earning between $60,000 and $120,000 to qualify.
"What this development is for is for middle-class people who have been priced out of the home buying — the homes are just too expensive," Bodenberg said.
While community land trusts are common on the East and West Coasts, this model is helping residents achieve homeownership, often for the first time.
"You don't have to be a first-time home buyer to purchase these homes, but the ones that we have sold to, probably 75% are first-time home buyers, and a lot of them are the first person in their family that have actually owned a home," Bodenberg said.
The program also assists with down payment challenges. Dwelling Place helps buyers find down payment assistance that allows most people to purchase homes with as little as $500 down.
The impact can be significant for buyers. "I show some houses sometimes, and we talk to people, and they actually start tearing up that this is something that's available, that's something that they actually can do. They always thought they could never own a home," Bodenberg said.
Dwelling Place will hold an open house for the neighborhood on May 21 from 4 to 6:30 p.m.
For more information on the Community Land Bank, click here
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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