We've been hard at work.
Housing prices just keep rising.
Our model, where the land trust owns the land and leases it to homeowners, helps keep homeownership within reach. Our mission is our North Star: to provide homes that households earning 60–120% of Area Median Income (AMI) can afford. Therefore, when pricing our homes, we consider key factors such as the appraised value of the home, the actual cost of construction, and general market conditions.
Our four Grove Place homes, HTB's first project launched in 2023, were priced at 25% below appraised value. Cottages at Corning, four new homes that will be ready in 2026, will be sold at 30% below appraised value. We now know that each housing project will be individually priced, but keeping our mission at the forefront is now a proven model that puts Benzie County families and communities first.
2025 - 2026
COTTAGES AT CORNING
At the corner of 9th Street and Corning Avenue HTB is building four single-family homes in the heart of the City of Frankfort. This marks the organization’s second housing initiative, expanding its impact on community-owned, workforce housing in Benzie County.
Each 2-bedroom home is approximately 1000 sq. feet with 1/1.5 bathrooms, all major appliances, an attached garage, paved driveways and new sidewalks, a covered front porch, and generous back yard.
The land was secured through a purchase agreement with the Family of Faith Nazarene Church, and proceeds from the sale will be used for building improvements to the church and parsonage. Two parcels will be redrawn to separate the church’s parsonage from the new development.
The Housing Trust will partner with Weaver Barns and a team of local contractors and tradespeople to bring the project to life.
Each home requires approximately $50,000 in philanthropic support to close the gap between the development costs and what local families can afford.
Thanks to generous grant support from the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation for funding appliances; Rotary Charities of Traverse City for funding paved driveways, new sidewalks, and exterior landscaping; Benzie County Community Chest for partial funding of the flooring; and 100+ Women Who Care Benzie County for voting to financially support the project overall.
CURRENT STATUS:
Construction has continued in earnest throughout this winter and into spring!
As of early April, insulation and drywall has been installed with mudding and sanding wrapping up. Exterior siding will begin shortly. Painting and further interior finishing are on track for later this month.
2023 - 2024
GROVE PLACE
Our first project was the building of 4 new 3 bed/2 bath homes on Grove Place in Frankfort. All four homes are complete and occupied by workers in Benzie County, including a librarian, food service worker, graphic designer, grocery store department manager, construction worker, student and a civil service employee.
Check out a walk-through video of one of our Grove Place homes here!
Grove Place became the...
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First CLT housing project realized in Northern Lower Michigan
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First “Missing Middle” grant-awarded housing built in the state
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First middle-income housing project built and...
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Only new middle-income home construction in 15 years in Frankfort city limits
