KALAMAZOO, MI -- Apartments in a new 64-unit senior housing development just south of downtown Kalamazoo known as 530 Rose Place are being shown to prospective tenants.

Marketed as “Kalamazoo’s newest 55 and better community,” the finishing touches are being added and the property at 530 S. Rose St. already has started to place tenants. 

The $19.9 million project provides a whole new use for a property that had been a parking lot for several years.
Fran DwightInside an apartment at 530 Rose Place, a 64 unit development for those 55 and older.
"It's 55 and older," says Property Manager Susan Diffenderfer. "It's a smaller community, 64 units. There's off-street parking with secured entry. Every unit comes fully equipped with a full-size dishwasher, microwave, garbage disposal, central air-conditioning, central heat, and then a washer-dryer in each unit."

And each unit has a balcony, she says.

Construction of the 82,300-square-foot, facility started in 2022 and was done by AVB Construction. The five-story structure includes off-street parking on the ground level and lounges on each of its living floors. It will feature a central courtyard that will have greenspace and a fountain.

"It's really going to be cool to see that come to life in the spring," Diffenderfer says.
Fran DwightA view from the balcony of one of the apartments at 530 Rose Place.
Along with parking, the ground floor includes office space for management, mailboxes for tenants, and a large room to accommodate bicycles. 

The development is owned by Phil and Garrett Seybert. They are partners in Mount Pleasant-based P.S. Equities, which worked with Kalamazoo-based developer Jon Durham in 2021 to build the Harrison Circle Apartments at 525 E. Ransom St., just north of the downtown.

"These projects are complicated," Kalamazoo County Housing Director Mary Balkema says of multi-unit developments that offer affordable housing. "The financing was complicated. The cost of the construction went up a couple of times. And so it feels really, really good to get it to the finish line."
Fran Dwighta central courtyard that will have greenspace and a fountain. "It's really going to be cool to see that come to life in the spring," Property Manager SusanDiffenderfer says.
530 Rose is the first multi-unit project to be completed with funding from Kalamazoo County's "Homes For All" Housing Millage. The millage was approved by voters in 2020 and has been collected since 2021. It is expected to generate about $8 million each year for eight years to fund local housing projects.
 
The 530 Rose project has received: 

• $408,000 in HOME Dollars support from the City of Kalamazoo; 
• $750,000 in other city funding; 
• $1 million in ARPA funding through Kalamazoo County; 
• $339,500 in EGLE Grant funding; and
• $1.26 million in funding from the Kalamazoo County Housing Millage.

Fifty-one of the 64 apartment units are rent- and income-restricted, meaning their occupants' incomes must be no more than 50 percent of the area's median income. Property developers are afforded federal low-income housing tax credits to encourage the creation or maintenance of more affordable rental housing. 
Fran DwightBuilding owner Garrett Seybert, works on the installation of TVs in the common rooms which are on each floor.
"The owners get tax incentives by offering affordable units," Diffenderfer says.
That will mean the monthly rental rate for qualifying applicants may range from as low as $475 to $1,100 for a one-bedroom apartment, and from $792 to $1,391 for a two-bedroom apartment. Thirteen of the apartment units are to be priced at market rates, ranging from $1,289 per month for a one-bedroom unit to $1,589 for a two-bedroom unit. The one-bedroom apartments range in size from 561 square feet to about 652 square feet. Two-bedroom units range from 771 square feet to 800 square feet.

More information is available at (269) 762-0842.

"It feels really, really good,"  Balkema says of the project.  "It's the beautiful project right in downtown Kalamazoo. It's a 64-unit that's much needed for our aging population."

Fran DwightPaul Smith, Larry Gorham and their little dog Riley were the first to move into 530 Rose Place.

Fran DwightOne of the apartments that meets ADA standards.
Fran DwightA view from the street outside 530 S. Rose.
Photos by Fran Dwight. See more of her work here.