2 Ways to oppose the $565 million subsidy for the DeVos/Van Andel development project in downtown Grand Rapids

There will be numerous housing related matters discussed and presented during this Tuesday’s Grand Rapids City Commission meeting.

Several of the housing issues that will be presented have to do with funding, along with a public hearing that is specific to the DeVos/Van Andel development project on Fulton and Market.

As I reported nearly three weeks ago, the Grand Rapids Brownfield Redevelopment Authority unanimously approved a $565 million subsidy to the DeVos/Van Andel development project. This $565 million subsidy to the two billionaire family development project needs to be opposed, and here are two things you can do:

First, you can sign and share the Action Alert created by the Grand Rapids Area Tenant Union, an Action Alert that will go directly to the Mayor, the Grand Rapids City Commissioners and the Grand Rapids City Manager.

Second, you can attend the Grand Rapids City Commission meeting at 2pm (do you think the city deliberately scheduled this public hearing for 2pm, since they knew there would be opposition???). The Public Hearing for the $565 million subsidy for the DeVos/Van Andel development project will be towards the end of the City Commission meeting. Anyone who opposes the $565 million subsidy will have a chance to speak during the Public Hearing portion of the City Commission meeting.

The Grand Rapids Area Tenant Union (GRATU) has provided several important talking points that people can use while addressing the Grand Rapids City Commission, such as: 

• No subsidies for billionaire families. Make them pay for it! 
• The rental rates of the 595 apartments this DeVos/Van Andel project proposes to build are unaffordable for a majority of the population. Studio apartments in the new development will go for $2,643 per month, $2,833 for a one-bedroom, $3,401 for a two-bedroom. GRATU is proposing that the DeVos/Van Andel development project charge $400 for a studio apartment, $500 for a one-bedroom and $800 for a two-bedroom apartment, prices that align with 30% of the median income in Grand Rapids. 
• The New York Times recently reported that Grand Rapids is one of the worst cities in the U.S. for renters. 
• Rents have increased up to 27% since 2020, while wages have not kept up with inflation. 
• The median monthly rent for an apartment in Grand Rapids was $1,100 in 2020 and is now $1,400, an increase of $300 each month. 
• People are paying an average of $3600 more rent per year than they did in 2020, while the minimum wage increase during those 4 years only provides an additional $1400 per year for the 40-hour-a-week worker. 
• The DeVos/Van Andel company is proposing to offer $425,000 annually over a 20 year period, a total of $8.5 million, to go towards the City’s Affordable Housing Fund. Yet the DeVos and Van Andel Foundations together generate assets of roughly $500 million on an annual basis. GRATU is proposing that the DeVos and Van Andel Foundations provide $5 million a year over the next 20 years, $100 million total, to the Affordable Housing Fund.

Public funds for public housing, not for billionaires! People over profits!