LANSING — Najma Sheikh-Ali wouldn’t be able to afford her first apartment without the Lansing Housing Commission’s two new housing projects.
Now in the final stages of being considered to rent one of the more than 100 new affordable, income-based apartments at Riverview 220 and Grand Vista Place, Sheikh-Ali, 28, said she can’t afford market-rate housing. She makes less than minimum wage through her job at Peckham.
“This would be a great opportunity to be able to afford an apartment while having this job,” Sheikh-Ali said. If she’s approved for one of the units in the two four-story apartment buildings in the city’s downtown, it’ll be her first apartment.
Riverview 220, at the intersection of Kalamazoo Street and Grand Avenue, and Grand Vista Place, a block south at Grand Avenue and Lenawee Street, which have been in the works since early 2025, will help meet a very real need for affordable housing in the city, said Doug Fleming, the commission’s executive director.
On June 1 local officials gathered at the apartment buildings to celebrate the completion of the approximately $41 million project. Residents will begin moving into them next week. They’ll likely be completely occupied by the end of the month, Fleming said.
Helping to meet a housing need
The need for affordable apartments is evident in just how many people applied to live in the buildings when wait lists for both were opened.
“When we open our wait list for five to seven days, we literally get 2,500 to 3,000 people that apply,” Fleming said. “That alone shows that there’s a tremendous need just in the number of people that are applying for it.”
Residents of Riverview 220 and Grand Vista Place need to meet set income guidelines and those who qualify pay 30% of their income, which is certified annually.
The properties will go beyond helping to meet a need, Fleming said. They will also help to raise the standard of quality for affordable housing in Lansing.
Care was taken to ensure that when both buildings were designed and built they would be managed with that same care and attention, he said.
Jaquarius Jackson, 29, who’s in the process of being approved to live in one of the apartments, said he was surprised by how safe and “cozy” the units are. He toured them in late May.
“I like that you have to be buzzed into the doors,” he said. “I like there’s a lot of surveillance because I honestly was concerned about safety. I liked the open space of the apartment itself. I liked the set up.”
A handful of market rate apartments in the buildings will also be rented. Riverview 220 also offers 1,800 square feet of first-floor commercial space. The housing commission plans to occupy 800 square feet of that.
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Contact Reporter Rachel Greco at rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on X @GrecoatLSJ.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: More than 100 new low-income apartments ready to open in downtown Lansing
Reporting by Rachel Greco, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
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