Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and state Rep. Betsy Coffia standing with other state and community officials in front of the U.S. and Michigan flags on August 6, 2024.
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich., Aug. 6, 2024 — State Rep. Betsy Coffia (D-Traverse City) and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer held a press conference to celebrate the passage of the fiscal year 2025 state budget and the inclusion of $5 million in state funding for an affordable housing development for educators and school support staff in Grand Traverse County.
“Northern Michigan is grappling with a severe housing crisis, and that’s why creating more affordable housing in our communities has been my top priority since my first day in office,” Coffia said. “Not only does a lack of affordable housing have wide-reaching impacts on families and local businesses struggling to find workers, it also has a significant impact on our schools. There’s certainly more work to be done to fully address our region’s housing needs and to keep up our record investments in schools to get educators the raises they deserve, but this is a meaningful step in the right direction and will allow our schools to better attract and retain high-quality educators that will support our student’s success.”
The project will phase in affordable and mixed-income housing development to address the shortage of affordable housing available to educators and education support staff making 40%-80% of the area median income. The $5 million in state funding allocated toward the development will streamline and expedite the creation of at least 144 affordable and workforce housing units. Phase I will include the development of 72 one- and two-bedroom units, in addition to site preparation work on the 60- to 80-acre undeveloped property in Blair Township currently owned by Traverse City Area Public Schools. Subsequent phases will include the construction of additional units.
“I want to thank the leadership at TCAPS, Northwest Educational Services, Interlochen Center for the Arts and Grand Traverse Area Catholic Schools for bringing this proposal to my attention, and Traverse Connect for stepping up to make this one of their top priorities,” Coffia continued. “Together, we brought this proposal to the members of the Appropriations committees and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s office and advocated for its inclusion in the state budget all the way up to the budget vote in late June. State Rep. John Roth (R-Interlochen) and state Sen. John Damoose (R-Harbor Springs) joined me in advocating hard for this critical project, and those bipartisan pushes were critical.”
“I was a big advocate for it in the Senate, but this was Rep. Coffia’s baby. There’s no question it was her top priority,” Damoose said when speaking with Interlochen Public Radio. “This is how it’s supposed to work. You hear so many good ideas, you wonder, are they ever going to actually happen? And this is one that’s going to actually happen.”
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