PORTAGE, Mich. — The City of Portage has passed an ordinance that would create ‘neighborhood enterprise zones,’ which would incentivize developers to create affordable housing within those zones.
The ordinance, which can be viewed here, serves “to construct new structures that have as their primary purpose, owner-occupied one or two unit residential housing and renter-occupied mixed-use buildings in qualified downtown revitalization districts having residential apartment units along with retail business space on the street level floor,” as well as “the rehabilitation of existing structures having as their primary purpose, residential housing consisting of one to eight units, by bringing them into conformity with minimum Building and Housing Code standards and improving the livability of units.”
Projects would be determined eligible at a public hearing and would ultimately be approved by city council, according to the city’s chief development officer, Pete Dame…