Kent County Land Bank To Be Dissolved But Will Continue Operations Even Though It Never Incorporated

It seems William Forsyth has been busy, busy, busy.

Or maybe, not.

It does not matter because the U.S. Department of Justice has been busy, busy, busy, and I know that for a fact!

The statewide modular homes plan sounds like a crappy fraud scheme, but hey, what do I know?

I know I could ask the leadership of Hamtramck, but I do not believe my presence would be very welcomed at City Hall.

I know the Kent County Land  Bank was never incorporated just like the Detroit Land Bank Authority never incorporated.

I also know the Kent County Land Bank was running strong armed tactics in its inner city, which happens to be its historic neighborhoods, by offering pennies on the SEV of the homes of people it basically corralled into a contained community, or just snatching through property tax fraud schemes, then sit on the properties, handing them out to family and friends who just so happen to have LLC companies.

Kent County Land Bank dissolution won’t stop statewide modular-homes plan

GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Tentative plans to build about 200 modular homes across the state are still going forward even though the broker, the Kent County Land Bank, will be dissolved at year’s end.

The affordable housing projects -- some in the discussion phase and others further along -- would see modular homes crop up in Grand Rapids, Muskegon, Muskegon Heights, Marquette, Midland, Hamtramck, Monroe and Romulus.

Additional projects in Newaygo, Flint and Canadian Lakes are possible but “speculative,” said Ken Parrish, the Kent County Treasurer and chair of the land bank’s board of directors.

Other than 10 modular units coming to Grand Rapids, Parrish couldn’t give exact figures on the potential number of modular homes eyed for each of the communities. He said they anticipate about 200 units in all.

Even though land bank staff have until Dec. 31 to settle obligations and cease operations, Parrish said it shouldn’t halt the ongoing projects.

“The projects that are outside of Kent County, I’m pretty sure that those will all continue, working through the Michigan Land Bank,” he said. “I don’t think us shutting down is going to impact, necessarily, any of those projects. ... Whether it’s InnovaLaB or the state land bank that wraps those projects up is yet to be determined."

David Allen, director of the county land bank, deferred comment to Parrish.

The directive to dissolve the land bank was given by the Kent County Board of Commissioners last month by a vote of 11 to 8.

The vote was brought to the board by Kent County Administrator Wayman Britt, whose office concluded the land bank had strayed from its original mission, bucked commissioner input and is largely unnecessary in a recovered housing market.

A number of affordable housing non-profits argued the move will stifle affordable housing and neighborhood revitalization efforts.

Concerns about the land bank picked up in June when the land bank rebranded itself as InnovaLaB and expanded operations into brokering modular homes both in and outside of Kent County.

The modular homes -- sold at cost for vacant public lands and with a fee to real-estate agents and developers on other parcels -- were pitched as a solution to provide “workforce housing,” or homes for income earners who are out-priced by their area’s housing market.

Land bank officials previously said the home prices range between $159,000 to $239,000, depending on the size, model and finishes. The modular homes are being eyed as a possibility for a 20-home development on the site of the former Glendale school in Muskegon Heights.

Josh Burgett, director of the Michigan Land Bank, said there’s a need for that work to continue, whether it’s by a non-profit InnovaLaB, another organization or the state land bank itself.

“(It’s) important that people know, from a state land bank perspective we viewed their work as very meaningful and something we used as an example across the state,” Burgett said. “I believe that investing money into improving these unproductive sites, most of them land bank sites, is a smart strategy for us and the communities we serve.”

Conversations about continuing the modular-homes work after the land bank is dissolved is ongoing, according to Parrish. Some preliminary ideas range from attaining a non-profit status to having another organization take on the work.

“We’re still trying to figure all that out,” he said. “It’s too early to know what’s ultimately going to happen with the staff and with any successor organization that there might be.”

InnovaLaB has contracted with Troy-based modular home manufacturer Champion Homes for all its builds.

County board Vice Chairman Stan Stek, who voted to dissolve the land bank, previously said the year-long time frame to dissolve the land bank allows commissioners to assess the needs met by the land bank but outside its mission and discuss how else those needs could be met.

Burgett said the state land bank is committed to working with Kent County municipalities, such as Grand Rapids and Plainfield Township, that regularly utilize the county land bank for clearing property titles and other actions.

He cautioned that while state land bank staff will “do everything we can to deliver that customer service," they “can never be as responsive as someone who is in your own community."

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