By ANN RICHARDS
Within walking distance of a major medical center and two university campuses, Stone Street -- located in Flint, Michigan's historic Carriage Town neighborhood -- once was part of a bustling city neighborhood. Although it stands empty now, victim to disinvestment and neglect, the old street is poised to recapture its residential vibrancy, thanks to the Genesee County Land Bank Authority. Plans call for construction of several new, historically sensitive homes that will increase the housing stock available in one of the city's oldest neighborhoods.
An additional five units of housing -- donated by the Carriage Town Historic Neighborhood Association and the Atwood Authority -- also will be redeveloped by the Flint Neighborhood Improvement and Preservation Program. Altogether, this will account for $2.8 million in investment, 13 new homeownership opportunities, nine affordable housing units and two completely restored city blocks of housing in the Flint River District area, according to Amy Hovey, interim director of the Genesee County Land Bank.
"This project represents the first concrete step toward fulfilling the vision laid out by the Flint River District redevelopment plan," Hovey said, referring to one of four neighborhood redevelopment plans commissioned by city agencies from Sasaki and Associates, a Watertown, Massachusetts planning firm. "It will help improve the overall appearance of the Carriage Town neighborhood as well as provide new housing opportunities for employees from neighboring institutions who are interested in a 'walk to work' lifestyle."
Funded by the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), the city of Flint, Brownfield Tax Increment Financing and a $125,000 grant from the Mott Foundation, the Stone Street Project will provide high-quality, single-family dwellings designed to appeal to middle-class families. Built on parcels acquired by the land bank to support comprehensive neighborhood development efforts in highly visible areas, the homes will be priced between $100,000 and $150,000.
"Recently, Hurley Medical Center completed an employee survey to determine interest in purchasing homes in the area surrounding the hospital.
Of the more than 600 people responding to the survey, 162 indicated they were potentially or definitely interested in purchasing units in the target area. We're now waiting for this same survey to be implemented at the universities," Hovey said.
"More than 43 percent of those who responded to the Hurley survey had household incomes over $50,000 a year -- making them ineligible for subsidized housing. We plan to work with the Michigan State Housing Development Authority to bring pre-existing, Employer Assisted Housing products to area institutions as an incentive to purchase these houses."
The Stone Street Project is a small-scale example of a national trend toward "smart growth," a development philosophy used by urban planners that concentrates growth in the center of a city to avoid sprawl. Smart growth advocates compact, pedestrian friendly land use with a range of housing choices.
Flint's Carriage Town neighborhood is ideal for this type of development, says Hovey.
Characterized by housing stock unique to Flint and Genesee County, Carriage Town also has a strong neighborhood organization. According to 2000 Census data, it also has a higher concentration of knowledge workers and artists than most city and county neighborhoods.
Architectural designs for the houses have been approved by the Flint Historic District Commission. In addition to the new and rehabilitated houses, new sidewalks and streetlights will define the properties.
Increasingly, Michigan county governments are using land banks as a strategic planning tool for "smart growth" to preserve the physical attractiveness and identity of communities. Most of these land banks use a model developed in Genesee County, where Michigan's first land bank was created in 2002 with support from Mott.
During the past 18 months, the Genesee County Land Bank Authority has demolished more than 520 blighted structures, cleared titles on 47 properties, sold 260 vacant "side lots" to neighbors adjacent to land bank properties and initiated a number of new and rehabilitated housing projects.
"The land bank is attempting to improve market conditions for housing in central Flint through targeted investments designed to increase area housing values," Hovey said. "While economic conditions in Flint will be an ongoing concern, we hope efforts like the Stone Street Project will help stabilize neighborhoods and ultimately leverage additional private investment in the Flint River District and other city neighborhoods."
View a related article about the work of the Genesee County Land bank in the April 2006 issue of Mott Mosaic.