Benton Township has found a partner in its effort to develop a new senior housing complex at 650 South Crystal Avenue.
At its regular meeting on Tuesday, the Benton Township Board of Trustees heard from two developers interested in constructing what they called affordable housing on the roughly 10-acre, township owned parcel near Fire Station One.
Township building inspector Loyall Bennett said Edwin Allen Homes out of Portage, Michigan and St. Stephen’s Retirement Center out of San Diego, California both responded to an RFP.
“The board asked that all of them be one bedroom apartments with about 850 square feet per unit,” Bennett said. “We asked for detached carports instead of garages to help save costs. And we wanted there to be an affordability aspect to it. So we want the low income housing tax credits that can offset some of the costs for the seniors.”
Neither developer proposed quite that. Both described their units as “single-family” and with garages. However, as trustees addressed them Tuesday, the developers said they would work to meet the specifications of the township.
Trustees had to decide which one to sign a letter of intent with and opted for St. Stephen’s. The company’s Gordon McKinney told us they’re proposing 65 apartments.
“We wanted to make a top notch facility so that seniors that live here live in a very nice place where their needs will be addressed — the wellness, nutrition — and we just will be doing all we can to make sure that they are taken care of,” McKinney said.
The issue for trustees came down to cost, as Edwin Allen said the average price for its 59 units would be about $2,200 per month with some units made cheaper via a tax increment financing plan. A St. Stephens representative assured trustees their units would be less.
“Our average is about $1,500 a month. That’s in California. So I can’t — I think $2,200, we would come under that price for sure, no question, because it’s cheaper to build out there in Michigan.”
McKinney told us St. Stephen’s has an income-based model for determining rents.
“In California, we use tax based credits, but we do have a whole array of various ways in which we can make it so that it will be affordable for the seniors. So, through grants and various projects that we have used and instituted, we’ll make it affordable for the seniors.”
Following the board’s vote to work with St. Stephen’s Retirement Center, Benton Township Supervisor Cathy Yates told us she’s glad to get this project moving.
“This feels wonderful,” Yates said. “I want to see ground broken. I want to see people happy living life to the fullest. And they’ll be safe because they’re between the police and fire department. They can come and go, take Dial A Ride, other places for transportation. They can even help each other. It’s all good.”
Yates says she’s heard from seniors about the need for affordable housing reserved just for them.
“The ones that are living on second and third floors, that’s the problem. And Briarwood, maybe Country View, and also Harbor Pointe mainly. When they had the big elevator problems, seniors suffered on that second and third floor. I heard that cry.”
However, some residents in the audience said the units being discussed here would still be out of reach for many.
“I’m a senior and I definitely wouldn’t be able to afford to stay there at the prices that they’re saying because we have medicines, we have to buy food,” resident Vicky Brown said.
The board’s vote to sign a letter of intent with St. Stephen’s Retirement Center was four to two, with Trustees Joseph Taylor and Debbie Boothby voting no. Taylor said he’d rather work with the Michigan-based and well-known Edwin Allen, noting the township planning commission just this week approved a new 26-unit housing development from the company near Euclid Park.
Following Tuesday’s vote, the township and St. Stephens will begin drafting plans. If all goes well, the township would eventually sell the ten-acre parcel to the company.
Bennett told trustees Tuesday their action simply gets the project moving forward. There’s still a long way to go.
Yates also announced Tuesday the new development will be called the Kevin White Senior Community in honor of former Benton Township Supervisor Kevin White, who was killed while working for the Michigan Department of Transportation along the side of I-94 in 2019.
