A housing development planned for the former Mercy Hospital site in Benton Harbor has been given a lifeline by Benton Harbor City Commissioners after it hit a setback from the state. At a Monday meeting, commissioners approved a couple of six month extensions for Project T, which was originally envisioned as a mix of low income and middle income housing with commercial space. However, the project was denied state tax credits for the low income building that was planned. That gave commissioners some pause about extending its option, but Commissioner Sharon Henderson said the project should still have city support.
“I didn’t love everything about the new submission that was presented, but at the end of the day, we need more housing in our community, and the only other option is to do nothing, and I think the people of Benton Harbor have had enough of this commission and this city doing nothing just because they dislike a project.”
Mayor Marcus Muhammad said the project could reapply for the state tax credits.
“If may not be a perfect development, but guess what? It’s better than nothing, and what we knew that was sitting there is no longer. Mercy is not coming back. We watched that building rot.”
Harbor Habitat Director Erin Hudson said there will still be low income units in the complex, but they’ll be spread out instead of occupying their own building. Commissioners agreed to her request for the continued approval so backers can seek funding.
