The City is taking these 27 sites and combining several of the lots to create approximately 15 sites. Construction on those sites is currently underway and fifteen new affordable houses are expected this year. It is anticipated that the program will continue to produce 10-15 units per year. Unlike other communities in the area, Ann Arbor has more rental units than owner-occupied units and, unlike other area communities that have seen a change of tenure status from owner to renter, most of the City's rental units were designed that way. A total of 35 percent of all units were constructed before World War II and since the City is home to over 45,000 University of Michigan students, the landlords can get two to four times the normal rate for rental units.
Property values are high.
This situation has created a high percentage of homeless and potentially homeless persons. To reverse this trend the city effectively used CDBG and HOME funds to support the preservation of its low-income rental housing. All of these players joined forces to identify the problem, choose a proposed course of action, identify and pursue non-City funding, allocate City funds, and execute the plan. Without the cooperation of all of these players, this strategy would never have been implemented. So far the city program has rehabilitated five projects with a total of 120 units.