Rescued House Ready For Occupation

Rescued House Ready for Occupation

By Michael Appel

Three years after the Homeless Action Committee (HAC) occupied two vacant homes at the corner of William St. and Ashley St. in downtown Ann Arbor, six units of low income housing are ready for occupancy- a direct result of HAC's activity. Laura Dresser, a HAC activist who helped squat the homes, points to the new William St. apartments as "an example of what happens when the community puts pressure on politicians and businesses." The six efficiency apartments are located in a third building (which had tenants at the time of the HAC squats) from that same corner, which was moved across the street rather than demolished to expand the "Kline's" parking lot.

The apartments were renovated and will be managed by Avalon Housing, a new local low-income housing development organization. Avalon brought together the Michigan Housing Trust Fund, the Downtown Development Authority, the City of Ann Arbor, and three local banks - First of America, Society and NBD - to finance the project. Avalon also owns and manages thirteen units of single room and one-bedroom rental housing on N. Main St. and is negotiating to purchase, rehabilitate and manage additional properties.

Beginning in 1988, the Homeless Action Committee used the slogan "House People, Not Cars" to focus public attention on the plan to build a parking structure at the corner of William and Ashley, a plan which threatened three residential structures on the site. HAC regularly picketed and twice occupied the then-smaller surface parking lot behind Kline's department store, contending that the proposed parking symbolized how the city favored business development at the expense of low-income housing.

In November 1989, with plans to demolish the buildings imminent, HAC began the first squat in a privately-owned, vacant, single-family structure on Ashley. Nicknamed "Day One" by its occupants, who lived there using kerosene heaters and without water, the house quickly attracted public attention. The squat lasted a year, despite the lack of basic utilities. HAC voluntarily left the house when it was sold to the city by the owner and, because of its structural problems, the city had it demolished.

In April 1990, HAC members increased the pressure on the city by moving two homeless families into one of the other two structures, a duplex on William St. which the city had already purchased. In the negotiations that followed, HAC continued to criticize the parking structure planned for the Kline's lot and refused to end the squat until the city addressed the need for low-income housing. HAC's refusal to leave undermined a previous city council compromise to contribute money to a low-income housing fund , but still build the parking structure.

The stand-off over housing and the debate over the necessity of the proposed multifloor parking structure became key city issues. Just before the April 1991 city elections, city council and HAC reached a new agreement that would have saved the two remaining houses by moving them, but still funded construction of the parking structure.

In the April 1991 elections, housing, parking and the Kline's lot remained central issues. Democrat Liz Brater was elected Mayor, along with a Democratic council majority, and the plans for a parking structure were soon downsized to an expanded surface lot.

(see HOUSING, page 3)

HOUSIIMG (FROM PAGE ONE}}

The Shelter Association of Ann Arbor responded to the city's request for proposals to rehabilitate and manage the two structures on their new sites. "We had tried several other approaches to obtaining affordable, permanent housing for our clients," says Jean Summerfleld, director of the Shelter Association, "and none worked. We decided that direct ownership and development was the way to go." The two family structure was moved to an empty lot on Ashley , but had to be moved again when soil contamination was found, making the site unsuitable for a residential building. It was sold to a private family and now sits on a lot on Miner St. on the city's west side. 

The six-unit building was moved across the street and rehabilitation work commenced. The Shelter Association created Avalon Housing, a separate non-profit corporation, to oversee the project and, most importantly, to facilitate continued low-income housing development. Avalon, like the Shelter, is particularly committed to housing those least likely to find adequate housing: minimum-wage workers, persons with disabilities and those on low, fixed incomes. "The William St. project is an important step in meeting the housing needs of persons with the lowest incomes in our communlty," says Carole McCabe, director of Avalon. "Avalon is excited to be part of the movement to end homelessness which, to be successful like this project, must include diverse parts of our community."