Nearly 7,000 people have filled out applications for 20 housing units at The Grove at Veridian
By Aaron Cooper, Executive Director, Avalon Housing
After working on the Grove at Veridian project for going on 8 years, Avalon Housing finally reached an important milestone last month – we opened up applications for 20 of the 50 affordable housing units at the community on Platt Road in Ann Arbor.
It came after years of work, responding to the County’s RFP in partnership with Thrive Collaborative (the developer of the adjacent market-rate condos), lining up financing, all the ins and outs of permitting and construction. But it quickly turned a bit bittersweet, as we’ve seen an overwhelming outpouring of demand. In the three weeks that the list was opened, nearly 7,000 people submitted applications.
7,000 people. For 20 units.
There’s plenty of data showing that housing costs are seriously out of whack with what people can afford. But this is one of the most dramatic cases I’ve seen in nearly 20 years in the affordable housing field.
Many of the folks who applied took the time to call or email us with their stories – one family is staying in a tent on a relative’s property. Others have children with disabilities for whom there is scarce appropriate housing available. Still others described their struggles with mental health disorders. And for most, as the saying goes, the rent out there is just too damn high.
Not all of these applicants are currently homeless – in fact, we’ve set aside the other 30 of the affordable units at the Grove at Veridian for people who are directly exiting homelessness. They will be selected through Housing Access for Washtenaw County, the housing priority system coordinated by Washtenaw County.
The overwhelming response reinforces the sad fact that we can’t build affordable housing fast enough to keep up with the demand. Even with the successful coordination of the City and the Ann Arbor Housing Commission; even with the County identifying land suitable for building; even with the voters approving an affordable housing millage; even with support from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the amount of time it takes to bring affordable units online simply doesn’t keep pace with the increase in need.
There are many factors at play here, such as inflation, the costs of building materials, the challenges of real estate development, and the widening income gap. And there certainly isn’t one, simple solution. At all levels, we need to make it easier to provide the types of housing that people need.
The City of Ann Arbor is taking promising steps with its comprehensive plan revision process, which could result in zoning that makes it easier to build all types of housing. And the state legislature recently approved a measure that would prohibit landlords from discriminating against potential tenants based on source of income.
These are positive moves forward, but based on Avalon’s recent experience, we’ll all need to keep working to alleviate our current housing crisis.
In the meantime, we’ll use a lottery to select which applicants are kept on a more reasonably sized waitlist for the 20 units, and if all goes well, they’ll start moving in this spring. And in the next year or so, we’ll also be opening communities in downtown Ann Arbor (in partnership with the Ann Arbor Housing Commission), on Maple Road in Ann Arbor, and on N. Washington Street in Ypsilanti.
So, as we continue to do the hard work of bringing affordable units from idea to reality, in partnership with so many others, we will also continue to keep advocating for additional much-needed resources. Thanks to all who have assisted in this journey. We look forward to welcoming new residents into their new homes this spring.