Left Field Brings New Affordable Housing to Detroit’s Corktown
Detroit Deputy Mayor Melia Howard joined city, state, and federal officials on Wednesday, March 19, to celebrate the grand opening of Left Field. The more than $22 million residential development at the former Tiger stadium site in Corktown has brought affordable housing to one of Detroit’s fastest-growing neighborhood population centers.
According to a City of Detroit news release, Left Field is the first phase of a two-building development expected to contain 113 apartments. Approximately 80% of the units in Left Field are for households earning between 40% to 80% area median income (AMI).
Left Field contains 48 affordable units, 28 of which will be designated for households at or below 40% AMI. Rent for these units starts at approximately $710 per month for a one-bedroom. Two units are set aside at 50%, or approximately $840 a month for a one-bedroom. Additionally, 29 of the 48 affordable units will have rental assistance, limiting the tenant-paid rent to 30% of household income.
Left Field was built by American Community Developers (ACD).
“We saw, even before the redevelopment of Michigan Central was announced, that Corktown was booming, and that was going to result in growing rent pressures for a lot of longtime residents of the neighborhood,” said Mayor Mike Duggan. “So, we secured the HUD Choice Neighborhood Grant, which is helping us to build 600 new affordable housing units in Corktown so residents won’t need to worry about being pushed out. Today, thanks to our partners at ACD, 48 families on the lower end of the income scale are living in a beautiful new building on one of the most spectacular sites in the city.”
According to the release, Left Field was funded in part by an award of $1.5 million in Low-Income Housing Credits (LIHTC) from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA). The development also received a $1 million HOME/CDBG loan from the City. Citizens Bank is the equity investor through City Real Estate Advisors, and Citizens Bank also provided a construction loan for Left Field.
