The city of South Haven may have found a new developer for the former Overton property.
The 5.5-acre site at 229 Elkenburg once housed a factory but has sat empty for years. The city has worked with multiple developers in an attempt to turn it into housing, but contamination at the site and funding issues seem to always stop any project from moving forward. However, at a Monday meeting, the South Haven City Council heard from City Manager Kate Hosier that the Dwelling Place of Grand Rapids Nonprofit Housing Corporation now has a proposal.
“As you remember, Dwelling Place is a community land trust nonprofit that works to provide housing for many different levels of people, but mostly working on missing middle and workforce housing,” Hosier said. “The proposal that was brought to the city council, I want to say earlier this year, I want to say February or March, included a rental portion as well as a home ownership portion.”
The city first heard from Dwelling Place in January. A representative told council Monday night there would be two phases to its project.
“One would be an apartment building,” the representative said. “The other one would be single family homes and duplexes, which would be held for sale through our community land trust.”
In January, Dwelling Place said the apartment building would have about 50 units. The non-profit is seeking state funding for the two phases with a goal of developing housing for those with mid-level incomes.
With multiple moving parts and questions about financing, much about the project remains up in the air, but Dwelling Place was seeking an option to purchase the site and a development agreement. This locks the site in, at least until the end of next year, and increases the non-profit’s chances of getting funding.
The city has agreed to sell the site to Dwelling Place for $150,000 as long as this project will move forward.
The council Monday approved the option and development agreement to allow Dwelling Place to begin seeking the state support it needs.
