DOWAGIAC — Last Thursday, Mayor Don Lyons, City Manager Kevin Anderson and Assistant City Manager Natalie Dean traveled to Lansing to meet with the Michigan State Department Housing Authority.

Less than 24 hours later, they received a call from MSHDA and a “congratulations” as board members announced Dowagiac would be a recipient of the MSHDA Mod program.

The pilot program helps communities construct a modular-built home using a MSHDA repayable grant of up to $196,000 for the initial spec model. The MSDHA Mod provides practical workforce housing solutions and attracts income eligible homebuyers to Michigan communities, according to the MSHDA Mod program brochure.

“The MSHDA Mod program helps fund spec homes to be built in the community, in an effort to promote new construction and get a visible tangible way in which customers can be able to see,” Anderson said.

Part of the proposal included showing the median household income in Dowagiac was equal to or less than 120 percent of the average median income and detailing an overview of proposed sites scattered throughout the city where demolitions were done on blighted homes. The city also explained its housing initiative to MSHDA and presented a spec model for Spruce and Parsonage street lots.

In preparation for the proposal, discussions were hosted with local real estate agents and a modular housing dealer.

“We did a lot of homework in order to get ready for the presentation,” Dean said.

The next step in the MSHDA Mod program is paperwork.

“We have got applications to fill out, and there will be agreements to come forward,” Anderson said.

While the paperwork is in process, Anderson said it is realistic to expect a house to be ordered up in April, with construction beginning this year.

“There are a lot more details that will come now that we know where we are at in the program,” he added. “We’ve got some negotiations to do, including housing and housing types that need to fit with the neighborhood, and all the costs that go with it, and complying with all the regulations.”

The MSHDA Mod home prototype will be able to give the community a chance to see, feel and touch a spec home, Anderson said.

Once additional homes are constructed and sold, the prototype can be sold, and proceeds can be used for an additional unit in that specific community or elsewhere in Michigan, MSHDA Mod program materials also outlined.

“We will be able to sell that house and encourage others like that to be built with the idea that this can be the very tangible piece of starting that infill project that we’ve been talking about for the last couple of years,” Anderson said.

Lyons added that the home will not be a $200,000 investment, but more within the $150,000 ball park area.

In the city’s proposal to MSHDA, Anderson said a statistic on how the city tears down an average of six houses a year and deals with blight in the community left an impression on MSHDA representatives.

“They kind of stopped us and looked at us and said, ‘how many houses a year?’” Anderson said.

Lyons said he told MSHDA how the city pays to take down blighted properties.

“That’s part of our responsibility as a city,” Lyons added. 

As Anderson returned from Thursday’s meeting and pulled up the agenda for Monday’s City Council meeting, he saw two more blighted properties the city planned to host public hearings for.

“With all the things we’ve done, one of the most difficult pieces is getting that initial investment in something that hasn’t been invested in before and taking that risk,” Anderson said. “For MSHDA to be willing to come forward and take that risk is a huge positive.”