Commission hears One Marshall County update; CDC formed and second-mortgage "Edge Fund" promoted

Jeff updated the Plymouth Redevelopment Commission on One Marshall County's housing work, including the formation of a community development corporation for Marshall County and outreach on an "Edge Fund" aimed at helping lower-income buyers. He said the CDC grew out of seed funding from a Lilly Foundation grant shared among three counties and is evaluating programs that could increase the local housing supply.

"The Edge Fund is essentially a second mortgage for qualifying home buyers which provides them 20 to 30% of the purchase price of the home at a fixed 2% interest rate with interest-only payments for 30 years," Jeff said, adding that to qualify buyers must be at or below 80% of area median income. He described an illustrative example: "On a $200,000 house, the Edge Fund loan can cover about $60,000 of that purchase price and lower the payments from approximately $1,400 to a little over $1,000 a month." The commission was told the CDC will focus initially on infill parcels but is not ruling out other acquisition models.

Commissioners asked whether the CDC would consider existing homes on the market as well as vacant lots; Jeff replied the team is prioritizing infill lots for initial projects because these are easier to parcel for new construction but said staff is exploring financing tools to address high construction costs. The commission was told One Marshall County subcommittees will bring more detailed recommendations to city councils and redevelopment commissions in coming months.