GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Kent County Administrator Al Vanderberg is calling on more community partners to invest in an affordable housing loan fund that has helped develop more than 400 housing units since it launched two years ago.
Vanderberg touted the success of the county’s $58 million revolving loan fund, designed to incentivize affordable housing development, during Kent County’s annual State of the County address Tuesday, Sept. 23.
Speaking to a crowd of more than 100 regional stakeholders, Vanderberg called for more investment into the fund, which he said offers “critical support to developers at a time when high interest rates and inflation have made housing projects more difficult to finance.”
“Demand for affordable housing continues to outpace supply, and developers need access to low-interest capital to keep projects moving,” he said. “If this fund is going to continue to make an impact, it will need to grow. We need more partners and more investment in this tool so we can keep chipping away at the shortage and ensure that more residents have a safe, stable place to call home.”
Kent County partnered with IFF, a community development finance institution, to launch the revolving loan fund in 2023. To date, the fund has doled out more than $36 million in loans, resulting in the development of more than 400 housing units, Vanderberg said.
“That’s meaningful progress — and it shows how partnerships can make a real difference in tackling the housing shortage,
Kent County affordable housing fund needs more investors, leaders say
