Lansing officials approved a plan to purchase 50 modular micro-housing units as emergency shelter for the city’s unhoused residents.
Lansing, Michigan plans to install 50 modular micro-housing units in an effort to provide more emergency shelter for unhoused residents, reports Jordyn Hermani for the Associated Press. Lansing officials plan to identify a city-owned location for the shelters.
The city agreed to purchase 50 units from a project in Kalamazoo that never materialized. The 50 units, which are not approved for winter use, will cost $640,000 to buy and roughly $750,000 per year to maintain.
Lansing officials made the decision to purchase the pods in August after the city began cracking down on homeless encampments. The city expects the site, once selected, to be ready for occupancy by June 2026.
In a public meeting, some residents questioned the city’s plan for transitioning people out of the pods and into more secure, long-term housing. Deyanira Nevárez Martínez, an assistant professor at Michigan State and candidate for Lansing city council, pointed out the potential for a “slippery slope” to communities viewing modular micro-housing as a solution, not a temporary stopgap, for homelessness.
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