Proposed housing development a ‘step the right direction’ toward county housing shortage

OTTAWA COUNTY — An $18 million housing development proposed in Holland couldn’t come at a better time, officials say, as Ottawa County struggles to address a massive housing shortage.

The Dwelling Place out of Grand Rapids presented its plans to Holland officials recently for a two-story, 14-unit apartment building at 100 W. 10th St. and a three-story, 38-unit building at 345 Kollen Park Drive. 

At least 11 of the Dwelling Place units will be reserved for people with disabilities, with eight units set aside for individuals or families with tenant-based vouchers. Dwelling Place also has partnered with the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians to reserve 11 units for members or descendants of tribal nations.

Josh Brugger, vice chair of the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners, said the proposed housing development is a step in the right direction when it comes to addressing the lack of available housing. 

A recent Ottawa County housing needs assessment indicated the county’s household base increased by 14.4 percent between 2010 and 2020, and another 5.1 percent from 2020 to 2024, significantly outpacing Michigan's statewide growth rates during these periods. The county is projected to add an additional 5,239 households between 2024 and 2029.

“The project in Holland goes toward that big goal. And, in particular, it's wonderful because they're trying to address the most challenging segment, which is low-income housing. So I'm thrilled to see that project get underway, and I think that'll be a great benefit for the community,” Brugger said. 

However, he said there is a lot of work and planning that needs to be done to fully address the broader issue. 

“Housing units are needed in the middle-income area for our hardworking Ottawa County citizens who are trying to pull in a living wage. It takes two incomes, and sometimes three incomes, just to make a housing payment work. So that's one of the areas that we've got to focus on even more,” he said. 

Housing need spans across generations

Other findings from the housing assessment, conducted by Bowen National Research, revealed some very telling data on the country’s aging population as well. 

Although growth is projected across various age groups, the most significant increase between 2024 and 2029 is expected among households aged 75 and older, indicating a growing need for senior-oriented housing options, according to the assessment.

Brugger, who owns a home-building company, said that data could indicate a partial solution as Baby Boomers continue to retire and some housing will open up for those in the “middle.”

“That is going to help, as well as addressing the Boomers' housing as they are retiring, who are looking to downsize, looking to move into condos, looking for a little bit of an easier setup for their housing circumstances,” Brugger said. “If we can build more of those units, they're going to move out of their house and their home may be 3,000-4,000 square feet, and a family is going to move up from a 1,500- to 2,000-square-foot house, and so everybody can kind of jog upward.”

But it won’t solve the problem completely.

“As individuals pass from age, it is going to free up some housing for us. But by no means is that going to free up enough,” he said. “Ottawa County is growing at an annualized rate of between 2 and 3 percent. That means with a population right now of around 300,000, we're adding 6,000 individuals to Ottawa County per year.”

Overall, the county needs housing “of all types,” he said. 

“It's not just about housing, from a humanitarian perspective, but it’s an integral part of making sure that our manufacturing sectors, service sectors all of the agricultural sectors and all of the businesses in Ottawa County can make it a great place to move to,” Brugger said. “All of those places have workers, have individuals who can come and be employed by them because they can afford to live here. If they can't afford to live here, they can't afford to work here. If they can't afford to work here, our county will start trending in the opposite direction of where we'd like to go.”

No easy solution 

The assessment identifies a need for approximately 3,938 additional rental units in Ottawa County and 12,526 for-sale units over the next five years. 

Here are some key points of the assessment:

The affordability crisis deepens:

• Cost-burdened households: Approximately 10,590 renter households and 13,336 owner households in Ottawa County are "cost burdened," meaning they spend over 30 percent of their income on housing. A significant portion of these are "severe cost-burdened," paying over 50 percent of their income toward housing.
• Rising rents: Median collected rents for market-rate apartments have jumped by 23 percent to 26 percent between 2021 and 2025, depending on the number of bedrooms. Tax credit median rents also saw increases of 21 percent to 23 percent.
• Soaring home prices: The median sales price of homes in Ottawa County increased by nearly 13 percent cumulatively between 2022 and 2024, reaching $380,000 in 2024.

Extremely limited housing supply:

• Low rental vacancy: The overall occupancy rate for surveyed multifamily rental properties is almost 95 percent, with affordable housing projects operating at 96.9 percent occupancy or higher, and all government-subsidized projects at 100 percent occupancy. This indicates "very high demand." Many subsidized projects have waitlists ranging from 27 to 120 households, and up to seven years for the next available unit.
• Low inventory: As of Jan. 16, 2025, there were only 235 homes available for purchase in the county. The county's availability rate of owner-occupied units is just .3 percent, far below the healthy range of 2 percent to 3 percent.
• Lack of affordable homes: Only 42 homes were priced under $300,000, and just 10 under $200,000, making homeownership extremely challenging for lower-income and first-time homebuyers.

Addressing the housing gap is something that will take time, Brugger said. 

Ottawa County will have to continue building “one house at a time, one unit at a time, one project at a time,” Brugger said. “There's no other way to do it. There's no quick solution. We've just got to keep our heads down and keep swinging hammers.”

Brugger said new business growth in the county will also play into the housing issue. 

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Other developments

In July, across the county, several new developments have been either proposed or approved, including a Pizza Ranch in Holland, a campground expansion in Georgetown Township, a pet grooming special land-use application in Zeeland and an approval for the expansion of EuroAsian Auto in Grand Haven Township. 

“That all indicates a strong economy and desirable place to live, for families to come, for people to find amazing things to do and the more we can supply great jobs, the more we can supply housing. It’s all connected,” Brugger said. “More housing means more people are going to really find a great place here in Ottawa County. We have a great community. We've got a lot to offer.”

— Heather VanDyke covers northern Ottawa County for the Ottawa News Network. Contact her at hvandyke@ottawanewsnetwork.org.