New workforce housing units will be available to lease starting June 1 in downtown Grayling.
The building has 40 housing units and two spaces for commercial renters.
Michigan Community Capital, a nonprofit focused on fostering economic development in Michigan, bought the property eight years ago.
The vice president of development for the nonprofit, Marylin Chrumka, said the project started in 2020 and was promptly delayed as input prices rose dramatically.
“We saw a 40% increase to our project costs essentially overnight,” Chrumka said. “The project kind of came to a halt. We didn't really know what the solution was.”
The project was able to continue using state housing and brownfield grants.
“The focus was always building second homes for people or investment properties for like short-term rentals,” Chrumka said. “So, we've got we've got a lot of catch-up to do across the state on creating housing just for like regular working people."
The building that used to be one-story is now the tallest building in downtown Grayling. Chrumka says that’s a big change for the rural area.
“It was very important to us to have this building feel connected to the place of Grayling,” Chrumka said. “We put a lot of kind of extra care into approaching it that way.”
The building has a custom mural painted on its side and Chrumka said the building is decorated with work from local artists.
The grand opening for the building is Monday, and Chrumka said they are taking online applications for residential and commercial units.
