A new nonprofit seeking to address the lack of affordable housing in Southwest Michigan has been launched.
The Southwest Southwest Michigan Community Land Trust is looking to help create more workforce housing in the region with the establishment of a trust that would own and develop property into housing and then keep prices down. Director Dan Buckenmeyer tells us the idea’s been in the works for about a year.
“Affordable housing is at a premium,” Buckenmeyer said. “In fact, it’s fairly nonexistent. So we are deploying a model called a community land trust. It’s something that’s been around for decades and has been proven not just in Michigan, but nationally and globally. We’re going to be the first to bring this to Southwest Michigan, and we’re pretty excited about it.”
Under the land trust model, when someone buys a CLT home, they own the house but the land is usually held by the trust. When the owner decides to sell, they agree ahead of time not to sell the home for a huge profit, thus keeping the price down.
“It keeps the home affordable not just at the time of sale, but permanently throughout the life of the home and across multiple owners.”
Buckenmeyer says the community land trust model has been effective in other areas of the state.
“Some of the nearby community land trusts are along the lakeshore. There’s one being proposed in South Haven, as well as in Frankfort and Benzie County. They’re also present in Grand Rapids, where there are a couple of community land trusts. Just last week, there was a ribbon cutting for a new one in Portage, just south of Kalamazoo, where 42 new community land trust homes are being built. So it’s becoming more prevalent and is now reaching what we call the southwest corner of Southwest Michigan.”
The Southwest Southwest Michigan Community Land Trust been assembling partners and Buckenmeyer says it’s got a few projects in the works, although he can’t share details. They’re looking at large properties where neighborhoods could be established, specific parcels, and existing homes.
“Within a few months, I had a partnership with the Pokagon Fund and began assembling a strong board of advisors. We’ve got a great group of people behind this, with experience in tens of thousands of housing projects. It’s a model that makes a lot of sense, but just hasn’t been deployed here yet.”
A primary goal is creating housing for workers who can’t currently afford to live where they work.
“Essential employees like teachers, healthcare workers, and first responders are commuting long distances. We have evidence that many of them are traveling 45 to 50 minutes.”
Buckenmeyer says beyond individual homeowners, the nonprofit could strengthen the local economy, support employers, and stabilize neighborhoods. For now, the new nonprofit is focused on southwest Berrien County, where attainable housing is in extremely short supply, but he says it does eventually want to expand all over Southwest Michigan.
Anyone interested in getting help finding housing can reach out to the SWSWCLT.
“There will be a full process in place where homebuyers will be financially qualified, but we’ll also look at other factors. We want to make sure we’re serving people who live full time and work in the community.”
The group is now seeking partnerships with builders, local governments, employers, and donors to support its housing projects and expand access to affordable homeownership in Southwest Michigan.
