Will 50 housing pods help alleviate homelessness in Lansing? City Council approves purchase

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7 days ago

LANSING — Lansing City Council members unanimously approved the purchase and temporary storage of 50 modular housing units intended to create a city-funded community for homeless people.
The units, which cost $640,000, including storage, will not be ready until at least March 2026 and it will cost about $750,000 a year to run programs at the units. The city has yet to find a location for the units and city officials said they do not have an estimated cost for the installation.
The modular units are being sold by the city of Kalamazoo, which had floated and abandoned a similar plan, and is now selling the units for roughly half the cost of new units.
There is a dramatic need for more housing, and more flexible housing, in Lansing, said Ariel "Kit" Cushman, who lives in a homeless encampment near Dietrich Park. The encampment residents are facing a lawsuit from the city, which seeks to force the industrial property owners to install sanitation measures and deal with trash or face potential enforcement that could lead to the breakup of the encampment.
Cushman said the residents take care of the site and each other.
More than a dozen advocates spoke at a council meeting Aug. 11 in favor of the pod plan, with their main points being the shelters could be raised faster and would be a great first step for a more comprehensive plan for the city's homeless population.
The units — about three dozen are 8-foot cubes for individuals, with the rest being twice as long and intended for two people or potentially families — include heating and cooling units and mattresses, essentially being tiny homes.
The units are ADA accessible and there would be residency requirements — either Lansing or Ingham County guests — and the guests would be expected to find permanent housing in three to six months, said Delvata Moses, deputy director of the city's Human Relations and Community Services.
Cushman said the March timeline won't address the inherent challenges of safe shelter in the cold winter months.
Lansing officials said they first considered the modular pods more than two years ago and had gotten bids from companies of around $1.3 million, which they said was too steep. The slashed cost on the Kalamazoo units, and the recent demand for more housing for the unhoused, led officials to seek the emergency transfer of money to buy the units.
March 2026 is about the earliest the units could be open for guests, Moses said.
The units would need city zoning approval and state regulatory approval, as well as significant site work to accommodate plumbing, electricity and other needs.
The installation and operational costs are not clear, city officials said.
'It feels like we're putting the cart before the horse,' said council member Adam Hussain.
Hussain said it may be necessary to put the cart first — buying the units when the city can — and figuring out the logistics as soon as possible.
He asked what would happen if the city could not support the units in future years.
Jake Brower, the city's chief strategy officer, said there are federal and state grants that could help support the program and Lansing could qualify for money from Ingham County's housing millage.
'We think that $750,000 is in the range of what we'd expect on a yearly basis,' Brower said.
That yearly cost would fund a wide variety of services for at least 60 people a year in the mod pod community. Those wrap-around services would include job assistance, housing support, health care and mental and substance use counseling, Moses said.
Council member Peter Spadafore said Kalamazoo decided to sell the pods when it became clear that the installation would cost more than a million dollars.
Mayor Andy Schor said there are more than a dozen potential city sites, including the two city parks with the largest available bathrooms. Others have come forward with ideas, including local churches, other city sites, hospital properties and donated land.
Contact Mike Ellis at [e-mail] or 517-267-0415
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Mod pods to house homeless gets Lansing City Council approval
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