What’s happening: Statewide efforts to address Michigan’s housing stock shortage resulted in the development and release of Pattern Book Homes for 21st Century Michigan last year, a set of free and open-source construction plans for multi-family homes developed and released by the Michigan Municipal League and Michigan Economic Development Corporation. Those efforts are now complemented with the release of a second round of designs, Volume II: The Missing Middle Mixtape.
What it is: Picking up where Volume I left off, The Missing Middle Mixtape provides communities and builders four more copyright-free construction documents. These designs were developed with smaller lots in mind, ideal for those communities looking for solutions to infill development in more established neighborhoods. They include designs for above-the-garage accessory dwelling units, barrier-free small-scale cottages, side-by-side rowhome duplexes, and up-down duplexes.
Why it is: The Pattern Book Homes are designed to address housing shortages by providing construction options for the “missing middle,” or those housing types that exist between single-family homes and apartment buildings. In addition to the new designs, Volume II also provides communities financing solutions to implement these housing concepts, as well as increased energy efficiency measures.
Visit the Michigan Municipal League online to access Pattern Book Homes for 21st Century Michigan, Volumes I & II.
What they’re saying: “Volume II was created on the League’s drive to provide more housing options to Michigan,” says Melissa Milton-Pung, program manager with the Michigan Municipal League. “The League has spent the last year talking with communities about Volume I, about the concept of pattern book homes, and how to update zoning and regulation to allow these types on construction. Several communities around the state have taken inspiration and the ideation from Volume I and created their own construction plans. We know the proof of concept is there, and Volume II is meant to provide additional construction plans that respond to the missing middle housing so desperately needed.”
Bonus content: In November, the MML, MEDC, and Michigan State Housing Development Association (MSHDA) partnered to launch the State of Michigan Housing Data Portal. The portal is a free resource for Michigan communities that includes detailed and freshly-updated housing market data for every county, city, and village in the state.
Visit the State of Michigan Housing Data Portal online at mihousingdata.org.
Got a development news story to share? Email MJ Galbraith here or send him a tweet @mikegalbraith.
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