Oakland Housing takes aim at Detroit housing affordability with launch of new townhomes in North Corktown
Quality new homes target middle-income earners
DETROIT … July 25, 2019, Oakland Housing, a nonprofit housing developer that builds, sells and finances high-quality homes aimed at middle-income families, today officially launched its newest development – the 14-unit North Pine Street Townhomes in North Corktown.
Located on Pine Street between Rosa Parks Blvd. and Wabash Street, these 14 new homes average 1,500 square-feet with three-story elevations, exterior and interior urban design elements, attached garages, quality finishes, outdoor art installations and tree farms. Homes have two bedrooms and either 1.5 or 2.5 baths. Owners will be able to move in by the end of the year.
In keeping with Oakland Housing’s mission, the townhomes will be affordable for middle-income buyers earning between 80 and 120 percent of Wayne County’s median income. For a family of four that’s between $61,000 and $91,000.
The organization uses an affordability calculation with each home buyer to ensure families aren’t paying more than 25 percent of their income towards the mortgage. Oakland Housing then arranges different financing options to make homeownership a reality.
“We change lives by helping people realize the dream of homeownership, in opportunity neighborhoods where they can build wealth and stability,” says Kate Baker, executive director of Oakland Housing. “Our model is unique. We focus on the squeezed middle class – those teachers, healthcare workers or police officers who earn too much to qualify for subsidies, but who have challenges with conventional market rate mortgages.”
Steven C. Flum, Inc. served as architect for the Pine Street project, with West Construction Services as contractor. This is the sixth development for Oakland Housing, and its second development in Detroit. Part of Oakland Housing’s philosophy is to work closely with the local community to create a neighborhood that reflects the wants, needs and character of the surrounding area.
“We have been talking with the North Corktown Neighborhood Association and Corktown Business Association to make sure this development fits the community,” says Chris Yaw, Oakland Housing Board president. “In a booming housing market like downtown Detroit’s, affordability, diversity and inclusion all become issues. We want to help people to stay in, or come back to, the area.”
Interested buyers can go to the Qualify section of the Oakland Housing website, or call (248) 266-7688 for information on how to qualify.
About Oakland Housing
Oakland Housing is Southeast Michigan’s only nonprofit housing developer building and financing quality homes for families earning between 80 – 120 percent of an area’s median income. Its goal is to change people’s lives through homeownership in high opportunity neighborhoods. Founded by James Couzens in 1935, Oakland Housing completed its first community development in 1936 in West Bloomfield, Michigan. Since then, Oakland Housing has developed thriving neighborhoods in Pontiac, Rochester Hills, Troy and Detroit — for a total of 250 homes built across southeast Michigan. Today, as Metropolitan Detroit experiences a renaissance and new-home starts surge, Oakland Housing’s mission of helping middle income families obtain better housing is more relevant than ever. Oakland Housing is an Equal Housing Lender. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, age, marital status or familial status. Learn more at oakland-housing.org.