Co-developers Wallick and Presbyterian Villages of Michigan have brought new life to the site of the former Lewis College of Business—the state’s first and only historically Black college or university—in Detroit.
The college was founded in 1928 by Dr. Violet T. Lewis, who was known for empowering and bringing hope to Detroit residents, to provide business education to African-American students excluded by segregation. Since the college closed in 2013, the campus had sat vacant for over a decade.
The partners set out to continue Lewis’ legacy and preserve the site’s history while meeting a critical need in the city—affordable housing for seniors. They took a hybrid approach: the adaptive reuse of two historic buildings that were constructed in 1950 to serve the Detroit Bible Institute and the construction of a new four-story building. Together, they created Dr. Violet T. Lewis Village, 105 units for seniors 55 and older earning between 30% and 80% of the area median income.
“It's really about the lives of the people who live there and the people who get to preserve their sense of community and that story of what the neighborhood means to them and their families,” says Alexis Dunfee, senior vice president of development at Wallick.
The project came to Wallick during the early pandemic, and the team had to overcome myriad challenges from supply chain and escalating construction costs to dropping equity pricing.
The $31.7 million development had strong support from the city, which provided HOME and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, and the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA), which allocated 4% and 9% low-income housing tax credits as well as HOME and American Rescue Plan Act funds. Merchants Capital provided the tax credit equity, while additional financing support came from Security Bank, Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis, and Kresge Foundation. In addition, the state provided a grant for technology improvements, including building-wide Wi-Fi, security cameras, and wireless resident emergency call pendants to support connectivity and safety for the senior residents.
“It was a very unique collaborative process with our financing partners in a way that, at least in my career, I have not yet seen. Everyone had to come to the table to get everything to work for us to be able to close,” says Dunfee.
She adds the project has also been a catalyst for future developments in Detroit for Wallick.
“It gives you the confidence to do the next hard one, which I think we all need to be cognizant of because this work doesn't get easier,” she says. “It also has been the cultivation of some really powerful relationships at the local level and at the state level, and I think that's why we are seeing the success that we have with a recent award that MSHDA gave us. It is rewarding for all who really fought hard to see this come together. We're now able to do other projects on the backs of this one to provide critical housing in inner-city Detroit.”