Skip to main content

Innovative Housing Development and Transit Hub Addresses Workforce Housing Needs

The first and one of the largest rural transit-oriented development projects in the Midwest recently broke ground and will address critical workforce housing needs in Traverse City.

Image
Aerial view of a community

The first and one of the largest rural transit-oriented development projects in the Midwest is being created to address critical workforce housing needs in Traverse City.

The Flats at Carriage Commons, a $100 million innovative project, is being supported by CMF member the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation (GTRCF). A groundbreaking ceremony recently took place to mark the beginning of the construction of five multi-family buildings with more than 200 units and a new transit station.

The project is a collaboration between Bay Area Transportation Authority (BATA) and the Traverse City Housing Commission. The new facility will serve as BATA’s operations and administrative headquarters and better serve the public transportation needs of both Leelanau and Grand Traverse Counties.

“In our region, the estimate is that 55% of the families that are living and working here are overburdened with housing and transportation, meaning they’re spending 30% or more of their income on a combination of housing and transportation. Putting this transportation hub near this housing project is a win-win,” Dave Mengebier, president and CEO of GTRCF, CMF Trustee and CMF Government Relations Public Policy Committee Co-Chair said.  

According to Mengebier, GTRCF’s Community Development Coalition for Northwest Michigan, a cross-sector collaborative of more than 30 partners including several CMF members, advocated with the state legislature for an initial appropriation for the housing project in order to begin construction.  

“This project not only hits the coalition’s goals related to transportation and housing, but it also demonstrates the role that the coalition is playing which is to collectively put our weight behind initiatives, programs and projects that address our shared economic, environmental and societal goals,” Mengebier said.

The new development project will include:

  • A BATA administration, operations, maintenance/service and bus garage facility that will employ up to 130 people and park up to 100 vehicles indoors with room for future expansion.
  • Five multi-family buildings with more than 200 units. Rents are expected to fall between $680 and $820 per month (including all utilities).
  • Fifteen single-family homes through Habitat for Humanity.
  • A standalone child care facility.
  • Permanent preservation of 20 acres of wooded wetland

The project is leveraging over $17 million in federal and state funding for transit development. The housing development is leveraging funding from the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Low-Income Housing Tax Credit with other program funding from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA).

Mengebier shared that the coalition will continue to support requests for funding for the housing development portion from MSHDA and other state and federal housing agencies.

The goals and economic impacts of the project include the following:

  • Addressing critical regional workforce housing needs.
  • Connecting people to more readily available transportation options.
  • Reduce workforce transportation and housing costs.
  • Fifty new full-time positions in the sectors of public transit, child care, retail and housing.
  • Employing more than 75 primary construction workers throughout the construction phases and generating more than $15 million in short-term local spending.

“If we’re going to be purposeful about the way our community grows and evolves, and we want to do it in a sustainable way, then we need to work more closely together to try to address some of these issues,” Mengebier said.

Want more?

Read more about the project.

Learn more about the Community Development Coalition for Northwest Michigan.

X