
It’s taken nearly a decade to turn a vacant school building into a plan for apartments in mid-Michigan. It has taken years to get initial approval, constant modifications to garner extra government assistance and consistent permitting and review delays. This all says something about why the cost of housing keeps going up.
In 2017, Eastlawn Elementary closed its doors, with students moving to a newly constructed building nearby. In 2020, Midland Public Schools demolished Eastlawn and put its land up for sale with the intention that it be turned into multifamily housing.
In 2022, a developer bought the land and submitted a plan for apartment buildings. In 2023, the developer received $3 million in taxpayer funds for what was dubbed an affordable housing project. A 2024 update changed the plans again, moving from mixed-income housing to a focus on lower-income residents. This led to a tax incentive agreement that dropped the potential taxes from $705,000 to $98,000 and opened the door to possible tax credits from the state. Midland city officials approved the plan in July 2024.
The company now says it has completed final construction drawings and is getting the financing finished. It may break ground in 2025.
In Midland and elsewhere, local zoning rules limit where developers can build new housing. Other regulations allow residents to stall or cancel housing developments. Some Midland residents objected to the Eastlawn project, saying there would be problems with parking and congestion — even though those problems already existed and were sometimes worse, with the school.
Permitting rules and approvals need to go through committees and bureaucracy. Federal, state and local incentives encourage builders to change project plans to try to secure as many subsidies as possible, which takes more time.
What used to be “build, baby, build” has turned into “delay, modify, delay.”
Since the Eastlawn project was first pushed, the average rental price in Midland County has jumped from $734 per month to $974 per month. And there still hasn’t been ground-breaking on the former school property.
Everyone knows the cost of housing is too high. State and federal officials can address this problem by allowing for quicker building. Instead, they focus on providing cash and financing in exchange for concessions that give some people lower rent. This approach hasn’t worked, as housing permits have been flat for years.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Indiana has 3 million fewer people than Michigan, but it approved nearly 25,000 housing permits so far this year, compared to our 20,000. Texas, Montana, Utah and elsewhere all limit government obstacles to housing much more than Michigan does.
In Midland, it’s been nearly five years since a vacant lot was slated to become housing for hundreds of people. If the area had more housing supply, residents would have more options, and the increased competition among builders and landlords would mean lower prices. Other cities skip the bureaucracy and let developers build. Other states limit zoning, speed up permitting, and they see more buildings going up. Michigan needs to build.
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