YPSILANTI, Mich.—Ann Arbor-area non-profit Avalon Housing is planning its first project here that will provide affordable housing for low-income community residents. It will be located at 206/210 North Washington St. which was the site of a notorious fire in 2017 that left the building an uninhabitable and dangerous eye sore.
At the time of the fire, the property was owned by Stewert Beal. After the fire, he was supposed to demolish this unstable blight. Instead, the derelict property sat for two years while Beal racked up unpaid taxes. The slumlord was eventually foreclosed upon by the city for these back taxes in 2019. (Avalon Community Benefits Agreement presentation June 13, 2023)
In September 2020, the Ypsilanti City Council approved a proposal from Avalon Housing for a project that will include 22 one-bedroom apartments, eight of which are designated for people who are referred through Housing Access of Washtenaw County, who make no more than 30% of the area’s median income (AMI) and rent will never be more than 30% of the tenant’s income.
The other 14 units are reserved for people who earn 40-60% of the AMI, and rent will be around $750 per month (Avalon Community Benefits Agreement presentation June 13, 2023). That rent price is significantly less than the city’s average rent of $1,112 for a one bedroom apartment.
Dan Meisler, Communications Manager at Avalon, said in an interview that at this site and at others Avalon offers “many wraparound services like case management, food pantries, and even a clinic with visiting doctors exist in some buildings.”
While this project will definitely benefit some working-class people, it just isn’t enough. Avalon currently owns and operates 29 properties in Ann Arbor, Chelsea, and Dexter, Michigan. Avalon currently has a 50-unit project under construction in Ann Arbor called “The Groves at Veridian.” While this may seem like a lot of units, there were around 7,000 applications for just 20 of those units.
It seems that although a non-profit like Avalon is making a difference, there are still many struggling with housing and rent is still rising more quickly than wages. (home.treasury.gov June 24, 2024)
Why is housing so expensive? In an interview Washtenaw County Commissioner Yousef Rabhi, explained that there has been a “doubling down” on the capitalist mindset that the market will solve the problem and that if we just build more houses and saturate the market then prices will come down. That is just not the case.
Rabhi explained, with an analogy a true Michigander would use: cars. He said that “if your goal is to ensure people have cars, and you only have so many spaces on your car lot, you can’t just fill your lot with Cadillacs because not everyone can afford that. You have to fill your lot with what people can afford: Chevys. And that is not what is happening with housing. Houses are being built, but they are mainly luxury homes built by developers for a profit.”
He said, “If you want affordable housing, you have to build affordable housing.” Rabhi also noted that the way we are doing things now is actually perpetuating the upward cost of housing. If a private landlord is charging $700 a room, and a developer comes in and builds a development next door and charges $1200 a room, then the private landlord can charge $1000 and still be competitive.
“The solution,” Rabhi states, “is publicly owned housing.” When a publicly-owned, affordable development is built, with rent that is purposely affordable, this creates “reverse market competition.” Now, the scenario is reversed. Possible tenants are now going to wonder why they would pay $1,200 a room when they could pay $650. For the private landlord to be “cost competitive,” they would have to now charge less for rent.
“My vision,” states Rabhi, “is that we are competing with the private sector in providing higher quality, more affordable housing and causing a ripple effect in the private sector to actually decrease the [cost of renting in our county].”
In order to begin a project like the proposed project on Washington Street, Meisler explained in our interview that Avalon Housing has a real estate team that is always looking for potential properties. He said sometimes individuals or organizations want to redevelop or sell their properties so they contact Avalon. After Avalon finds these properties, they then have to acquire funding, which can be a very difficult and time-consuming process.
This consists of applying to the Federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Michigan State Housing and Development Authority (MSHDA). This process can be difficult and time consuming, and is also very competitive. If they are denied funding, they have to wait six months to be eligible to apply again.
Negotiate after approval of funding
Once the funding is approved, they then negotiate with a developer to turn their plans into a reality. On the other hand, a housing commission could handle things more efficiently because they would have the funding at their fingertips, rather than having to cross their fingers to receive funding for a proposal.
Avalon is doing good work, but this model alone cannot solve the housing crisis. According to Rabhi, the solutions need to be driven by the public. He states “to truly solve the problem, the government needs to act.” He explains that nonprofits are not accountable to the public, and they receive both private and public money. They are mission-driven and are accountable to a board of directors. It is a risk that they can become corporatized and more influenced by those interests. The model is subject to market volatility, and the board could decide to sell off assets.
Also, with privately-owned public housing, the protections renters receive is time-limited, most of the time for around 15 years. After that, they don’t have to meet the criteria to be affordable any more.
Another setback to this model: It is slow moving. The project on Washington St. had their proposal approved by City Council in 2020, and project completion had been slated for October of 2025. As of yet, there hasn’t been any ground broken. According to the City of Ypsilanti property records, the demolition plans were just approved on April 22, 2025.
When asked about possible solutions to the housing issue, Rabhi said, “The market can’t solve the problem, the people have to solve the problem, and that solution comes in the form of a housing commission.” And he has been in the final stages of forming one. The housing commission would work to ensure that public land is never commodified, but rather used to serve the needs of the public i.e. parks, recreation, housing.
He says that there are many ways to better use existing areas in the city like densifying where there are currently parking lots and strip malls, as well as developing lots of vacant land near the Briarwood Mall and Municipal Airport. He also mentioned the dire need for more emergency shelter, and better ways to assess people’s needs.
Many times, the county and other organizations put unhoused people up in hotels when the weather is especially harsh, but that is not sustainable. Rabhi mentions a novel solution: The county could purchase one of several existing hotels that are for sale to use as a mass sheltering space, instead of wasting thousands of dollars on renting rooms in private hotels. This would also help to ensure continuity of service.
Unfortunately, with the federal government under the control of the Trump administration, the homelessness issue is only going to get worse, and the already lean resources will become even more strained as federal funding is choked. When asked about his concerns Rabhi states that “Corporate America has been allowed to milk us for everything. [They’re seen as] benevolent philanthropists,” and that this is an extension of colonialism.
“I hope there is an awakening and…recognition of class consciousness that we are getting [screwed], and we should do something about that.” He suggests “localizing the resistance” by recreating our own systems at a local level that can resist against any federal cuts. He says we should take care of ourselves, and our community, have backyard chickens, garden, and to do for ourselves what the federal government won’t. Another suggestion he had was to attend county commission meetings and advocate for your concerns.
Washtenaw County Commission meetings are held every first and third Wednesday of every month. At 5:30, there is a working session where they talk about issues and let members of the community speak. Afterwards, at 7, they have the board meeting where they also hear from the public and vote on issues. These meetings are held in the old post office building at 220 N Main, downtown Ann Arbor, across from the Heidelberg. Commissioner Rabhi also holds constituent hours monthly at Argus Farm Stop at 1200 Packard Road in Ann Arbor.
If you are interested in getting involved with Avalon Housing, they can always use support from the community. There are several ways to help including donating and volunteering. For more information on how to help go to avalonhousing.org/waystogive.
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