Berrien County has approved incentives for another workforce housing development.
Orchard View Lofts would bring 144 apartments to the area near I-94 and Niles Road in St. Joseph Township. It would include six buildings around a shared parking lot on 11 acres that had been owned by Blue Roof Church.
Dutch Developers is asking for about $13.4 million of the $27.6 million cost to be reimbursed by capturing the increase in property tax revenues, as part of a brownfield redevelopment project. In return, it would reserve 29 apartments for households making up to 120-percent of the area median income.
Berrien County Community Development Director Dan Fette says several studies have shown a very high demand for new housing at that price range. “By adding 144 new rental units in St. Joe Township, including 29 workforce housing, we’re meeting the affordability needs of the community – or at least, getting closer to meeting the affordability needs,” Fette told the county commissioners Thursday.
The commissioners approved the brownfield plan for Orchard View Lofts. The full project is scheduled to be complete by 2029.
Fette said it’s one of several brownfield housing developments approved by Berrien County recently. “When we total up everything that’s been approved by this board in the last 14 months, it’s over a quarter-billion dollars of anticipated capital investment – $269 million, to be exact – with an anticipated buildout of 703 housing units,” Fette noted.
He said another two developments are in the works.
