Dwelling Place’s new community provides ideal living conditions for homeless and disabled residents, including veterans.
Verne Barry Place is a new $19 million affordable housing development that offers permanent supportive housing to homeless and disabled residents, including veterans, in and around Grand Rapids, Mich.
This part-renovation, part-new construction project preserves three existing historic structures, links them with a newly built LEED-certified “green” building and more broadly extends revitalization in a once disinvested neighborhood that has begun to attract urban pioneers and local artists interested in its soaring loft space and proximity to downtown amenities.
“This development does everything you want high-quality, affordable, supportive housing to do,” said Joe Hagan, President and CEO of National Equity Fund (NEF), which helped fund the project. “It offers critical social services to residents who are trying to regain and maintain their independence. It preserves units of affordable housing in an area of the city where gentrification could threaten them, but at the same time, it extends the local revitalization that saves historic buildings. And it does all that while also incorporating green elements that promote a healthy environment and reduce the project’s energy costs. It should come as no surprise that we are very excited to be involved in this effort.”
Developed by Dwelling Place, one of the leading nonprofit developers of affordable housing in Western Michigan, the 116-residence community is named in honor of Verne Barry, who is well known in Grand Rapids for his concern for the plight of homeless people.
“Barry’s personal experience with alcoholism and homelessness influenced much of his advocacy in this area and made a significant difference in the lives of many who would have otherwise had no voice,” Dennis Sturtevant, CEO of Dwelling Place, said.
Serving Homeless Veterans
The project is additionally notable for the homeless veterans it expects to serve. NEF and its parent company, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), have been focusing efforts on this issue through their National Homeless Veterans Initiative, collaborating with community organizations, advocates, Veterans Affairs and others concerned about addressing this growing population’s needs.
To date, LISC and NEF together have supported the predevelopment efforts or current development of more than a dozen supportive housing projects that target homeless veterans.
Hagan said LISC and NEF have for more than 25 years worked to promote permanent supportive housing for the homeless, the disabled and others with special needs.
“That’s why we’ve invested more than $1.1 billion in service-enriched housing,” Hagan said. “It works, and it gives these people a real chance to reclaim a safe, healthy, productive life. Our National Homeless Veterans Initiative draws from that history to focus technical assistance, predevelopment dollars and equity on projects that reach out to veterans who have long been without adequate housing resources.”
Funding Sources
Funding for Verne Barry Place comes from multiple sources. NEF invested $11.7 million through the project’s low-income housing, historic and brownfields tax credits, which helps build on LISC’s investment in the broader revitalization of this area.
Additional funding for this project comes from Charter One Bank; the City of Grand Rapids; DTS Winkelmann Associates; Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis; Grubb & Ellis Paramount Commerce; Department of Housing and Urban Development; Kuiper Orlebeke PC; Michigan State Housing Development Authority; National City; Pioneer Construction; and the local philanthropic community.
Kim Cross is Chief Operating Officer for Dwelling Place. She can be reached at krhcross@dwellingplacegr.org.