WSJM describes Allen Edwin Homes as being on "a building blitz all over Berrien County and the state." Two more neighborhoods are now in the works there, and both lean on a newer tool: brownfield tax increment financing for housing.
One note before the details. WSJM's stories call the company "Edwin Allen Homes," but the builder is Allen Edwin Homes, according to the company's own website, which lists its existing Wyndstone Estates community in Stevensville. The company's point person on both plans, Brian Farkas, is Allen Edwin's vice president of workforce housing and local government partnerships, according to his Detroit Regional Chamber bio, and CopperBay is the company's build-to-lease rental brand.
Benton Township: 30 homes on North Euclid
The Benton Township Board of Trustees has approved a brownfield redevelopment financing plan for a 30-home development on about 10 acres along North Euclid Avenue, across from Laurel and Ruth avenues, WSJM reported.
Farkas told WSJM that 17 of the homes will be for sale, seven will be market-rate rentals, and six will be workforce rentals for households earning up to 120% of area median income. That works out to a household of three earning just under $100,000 a year. The homes will have three to five bedrooms.
"We see a county that's very welcoming of new housing investment and so we like areas to work in like that," Farkas said. "We see strong demand in the area, we see it's growing, we've got great schools, so it's a place we want to be and want to invest in."
The plan lets the builder recoup part of the $9 million development cost through tax increment financing, and trustees were told it will also help the township extend a water main to the area. It next goes to the Berrien County Brownfield Authority and then the county board of commissioners.
The company told WSJM work will start soon and take about two years, with 20 homes finished in the first year and 10 in the second.
"We're looking for more housing," Supervisor Cathy Yates said. Trustee Joseph Taylor called the project "a must need" given the lack of affordable housing in the county.
Lincoln Township: 83 homes at Wyndstone South
In Lincoln Township, trustees held a public hearing on a brownfield plan for Wyndstone South, an 83-home neighborhood on 47 vacant acres southeast of the existing Wyndstone Estates subdivision, WSJM reported Oct. 18.
Farkas told trustees it's a $33 million project. Sixty-three homes would be for sale and 20 would be rentals, with 17 of those income-restricted for 10 years at rents set at 100% of area median income. He said those homes would rent for about $2,100 a month and look just like the rest of the neighborhood. The rentals would be managed by CopperBay, the company's rental arm.
Farkas said the company would recoup part of the cost through tax increment financing, and its agreement with the township would include reimbursement for public services like police and fire protection.
Trustees didn't vote at the hearing and could take up the plan at a future meeting. Few residents spoke, though one later pointed out that rents above $2,000 a month would be well out of the price range for many workers.
Allen Edwin says on its website that it has been building homes in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio for more than 30 years, and that every home is built to RESNET Energy Smart standards with third-party energy testing.
Why it matters for Contractors
Michigan's 2023 change letting brownfield TIF help pay for housing infrastructure is showing up in small townships, not just big cities. These two plans would add 113 single-family homes, plus a water main extension in Benton Township, so there's work for site contractors, utility crews, excavators and road builders before the first house goes up. With dozens of homes scheduled over a couple of years, a builder working at Allen Edwin's pace needs framers, roofers, siding crews, HVAC, plumbing and electrical subs, insulation installers, and flatwork contractors who can keep up. Local trades who want in should reach out to the builder directly. Watch the Lincoln Township board and the Berrien County Brownfield Authority agendas for the next votes on these plans.