The St. Joseph Township Board of Trustees has approved a brownfield financing plan for a proposed residential and commercial development at the site of the former Berrien Hills Country Club off Napier Avenue.
Speaking to trustees Monday, Berrien County Community Development Director Dan Fette presented the latest site plan for Berrien Hills at Rivers Edge, a 180-unit development intended to help alleviate the housing shortage in the area. Fette said the $82 million project would include 120 apartments, 20 cottages, and 40 condos, with 60 of the rental units allocated specifically for the “Missing Middle” population. That means they’d be for those with incomes at or below 120% of the area median income, or about $103,000 for a family of four. Fette said Berrien County needs that.
“When I talk about a family at 120% AMI, it’s $103 ,000 a year, good income,” Fette said. “But these families are priced out of the housing market right now. There is just no place for them to go. So this project, it does start to fill a very critical gap in our housing supply. I mean, we need many, many more of these.”
Fette said attracting younger families looking to establish themselves is precisely the thing that’s been so difficult for Berrien County. The site would also include about 19,500-square feet of commercial space along Napier Avenue.
Trustees were being asked to approve tax increment financing plan for the site so tax dollars could be captured through the state’s brownfield law to help reimburse the developers over the next 30 years. While this would mean no extra tax revenue from the site for the township during that time, Township Manager Denise Cook said the development has other benefits.
“You bring in people, it ups our population,” Cook said. “Once we hit 10,000 and get back up to 10,000, we get more revenue sharing. We’re just under 10,000 right now. So that’s also something to look at, when the next census is 2030.”
This latest site plan has been changed from the original proposal due to updated FEMA flood maps that showed the lower part of the 86-acre site to be in a flood zone. Fette said the developers are now instead focusing on the upper part of the property with plans to create a Phase II for the rest of it later.
“One thing that has changed from this proposal to the prior iterations is that some of the commercial space has been removed to make room for more housing.”
The commercial space could come later as part of that Phase Two. Fette said the flood maps are being appealed, and FEMA could make a decision in the spring.
With township approval of the brownfield proposal Monday, the matter now heads to the Berrien County Brownfield Authority and then to the Berrien County Board of Commissioners.
Fette noted that since a change was made to state law allowing for brownfield dollars to be used for residential developments, the county has seen a major jump in interest from developers.
