Marquette City Commission approves affordable housing property sale plan

MARQUETTE, Mich. (WLUC) - The Marquette City Commission has approved a tentative plan for affordable housing downtown.

At Monday night’s meeting, commissioners voted unanimously to allow City Manager Karen Kovacs to negotiate a deal with Marquette County Habitat for Humanity for the property located at 600 W Spring St.

If a purchase deal is reached, Habitat for Humanity would build eight single-family homes. According to the city commission, those homes, if built, would be available for purchase by families within 30% to 60% of the Marquette County poverty threshold.

Marquette City Commissioner Evan Bonsall said choosing Habitat for Humanity to build affordable housing was an easy decision.

“This is genuinely affordable housing, right, Habitat for Humanity serves families that make less than 80% of the area median income which is the definition of low-income housing,” Bonsall said. “I think this is going to be a very positive project and I sincerely hope that we move forward with it.”

Commissioner Bonsall added that he hopes the commission can sell other city-owned properties to developers in the future. The hope is the commission can find another developer who will create more affordable housing.