A now-finished housing development on Detroit’s east side is being touted as a possible template for other city neighborhoods.
The Osborn Neighborhood Alliance bought three vacant duplexes on Mapleridge Street from the Detroit Land Bank Authority. The group has now finished renovating them, and sold all the homes to first-time homebuyers at below-market rates.
The second piece of the plan involves those homeowners living in the duplex, and renting out the other half to low-income families with housing vouchers. City officials tout the development, dubbed the Mapleridge Duplex Project, as an idea that can be expanded on to help provide more affordable housing, and foster generational wealth for new homeowners.
Osborn Neighborhood Alliance executive director Quincy Jones said this will help rebuild the Osborn community’s fabric. “It's about the neighborhoods,” he said. “We love downtown. We want our downtown to shine, but we also want our neighborhoods to shine just as great.”
Paula Simms purchased one of the renovated duplexes on Mapleridge Street. She grew up nearby, and grew tearful as she talked about now having a permanent home for herself and her young daughter.
“All we have to do is come together,” Simms said. “All you see is beautiful houses on this street, from people coming together, partnering together, and just being together and helping one another out.”
