Harrison Park Apartments provides new housing and educational opportunities to families in the West Side neighborhood of Grand Rapids, Mich.
The 48-unit development comes at a time when increased development activity is placing pressure on real estate values and reducing the availability of affordable housing in the gentrifying area.
Developed by nonprofit Dwelling Place, Harrison Park features 45 affordable homes and three market-rate live-work spaces to create a mixed-income and mixed-use community. In partnership with the YWCA, 12 units are set aside for families that are survivors of domestic violence. These residents along with 13 other households are supported by Section 8 vouchers.
In addition to providing affordable homes, Harrison Park offers residents a chance at a college education.
Adjacent to Harrison Park Elementary School, the new apartments have a preference for families participating in the Challenge Scholars program, a unique resource led by the Grand Rapids Community Foundation that gives eligible West Side residents a chance to go to college by providing full tuition at two- and four-year institutions in Michigan. Students and their families also receive services while attending school.
“Gentrification has exacerbated problems for all low-income families in this part of the city but made worse for Challenge Scholar families because displacement from their West Side housing by higher rents also disqualifies them from receiving tuition assistance,” says Dennis Sturtevant, CEO of Dwelling Place. “This is solving that problem.”
The approximately $13.4 million low-income housing tax credit development has also been important for the larger neighborhood, transforming a contaminated site once occupied by old commercial buildings and a gas station into a new energy-efficient building that is expected to earn LEED Silver certification.
In another move, Dwelling Place built a community garden, which the nonprofit has found to be a good vehicle to encourage community building and engagement.
