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CINNAIRE
“That story will never leave me,” Allen Place continues to have its
said McDaniel, explaining that he ESTIMATES ITS Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
was especially touched by how INVESTMENTS Program (SNAP)-friendly
proud Harold was to rebuild his life. farmers market, but also now
THE LAST THREE
HOUSING SHORTAGES AND LOANS OVER has a community health clinic,
a culinary incubator program,
McDaniel said a lack of affordable DECADES HAVE commercial kitchen space, and
offices for local nonprofits.
housing has reached crisis levels
both locally and nationally. RESULTED IN MORE McDaniel said Cinnaire’s
“It’s everywhere. The people who are THAN $10 BILLION investment in a community is
more than just financial.
hurt the most are the poorest of
the poor, but the other group that’s IN COMMUNITY “We realized pretty quickly we’re
being impacted is the workforce. IMPACT. now a neighbor as a partner in
They can’t afford to buy a house, this partnership,” he said. “If we’re
they can’t afford to rent,” he said. going to protect that investment,
we needed to take the money we
The Michigan State Housing were earning and put it back into those
Development Authority recently neighborhoods doing non-housing types of things that
estimated the state is short about strengthen the community.”
190,000 units, resulting in higher prices for
existing housing. It’s a holistic approach that makes a neighborhood
appealing to the people who live there and also to the
McDaniel said there’s no “magic bullet” to remedy greater region.
the housing crisis. Stakeholders likely need to address
a combination of issues such as zoning, density, “The vast majority of them are places now where people
taxes, lender policies, and an anti-affordable housing really want to live all these years later,” McDaniel said.
sentiment in many local neighborhoods, he said.
WALNUT PARK AND THE ABIGAIL
“It’s frustrating when you have cities saying, ‘Well, I
don’t want those people here,’” McDaniel said. “Well, McDaniel also counts among Cinnaire’s local successes
those people are already here, and they’re homeless or the repurposing of the iconic Michigan School for
they’re in living situations that are terrible.” the Blind into affordable housing for families and
seniors, despite some community pushback and the
People without stable housing are more likely to put a threat of foreclosure.
strain on hospital emergency rooms and the criminal
justice system, he said. The original school dated back to 1880 and counted
singer Stevie Wonder among its former students.
“Think about the cost of that to the city budget every Though it had a National Register of Historic Places
year,” McDaniel said. “Where if you can get somebody designation, the school’s 1996 closure coincided with
in a permanent place to live with support systems, you increased crime and poverty in the neighborhood.
don’t have as many of those problems anymore. That’s
a proven national model.” Cinnaire committed to redeveloping the landmark
Lansing site. Working with the Ingham County Land
ALLEN PLACE Bank, Cinnaire resolved outstanding loans, then
teamed with TWG Development to fund and revitalize
Cinnaire’s work is ever-present in the Lansing region. the 20-acre campus.
Notable among Cinnaire’s projects is Allen Place
on East Kalamazoo Street in Lansing. Completed in The former school auditorium was replaced with the
2022, the $11 million development provides 21 mixed- 64-unit Walnut Park Apartments, and an administrative
income housing units, along with commercial space, building and high school became a 60-unit senior
integrative services, and community programming. housing project called The Abigail.
The nonprofit Allen Neighborhood Center had the The combined development cost for both projects was
option to purchase the 1932-built complex after other $26.5 million and Cinnaire's total Low-Income Housing
commercial tenants moved out, so it brought on Tax Credit equity was $22.4 million. Cinnaire also
Cinnaire Solutions to codevelop a mixed-used concept. provided a $370,000 predevelopment loan, a
The renovation was financed with $7 million in loans $2.3 million permanent loan, and title work.
from Cinnaire Lending and New Markets Tax Credits.
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