PORTAGE, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – The Portage city council has approved initial plans for a 46-unit housing development off Centre Avenue, despite concerns about traffic in that area, the cost of the units and a complaint about the nature of the project.
Green Development Ventures is proposing eight townhouses and 36 single family workforce homes in a private complex along Creekside, with monthly rental rates around $2,500 to $3,000.
Council member Jihan Young thinks that’s too expensive for working people.
Developer Mike West said they will be seeking subsidies to bring down those rates for about 20% of the units.
One resident expressed his opposition to such “corporate rental developments,” saying they are driving up housing prices nationally.
West says if there wasn’t a demand, they wouldn’t be building them.
Some council members expressed concerns that adding more homes in an area where a bicyclist was killed just weeks ago, would create more danger for pedestrians.
But City Manager Pat McGinnis says a traffic study done for this particular project found the increase would be acceptable, and they will soon do a larger study of that entire stretch of Centre Avenue to determine if safety improvements are needed.
The council unanimously voted to let the housing project move forward.
Non stop insanity