LANSING, Mich. (AP) — As local governments across Michigan attempt to balance the growing need for homeless services with community concerns, one is planning a novel approach: mini housing pods.

The city of Lansing last month approved the purchase and storage of 50 modular housing units — called ModPods — for $640,000 from a Kalamazoo nonprofit that had given up plans to use them in that community.

It will cost local taxpayers another $750,000 a year to upkeep the mini homes, and they won’t be ready to use this winter when temperatures drop to levels that put people without homes at risk.

While some Kalamazoo residents had complained about the potential location of the housing pods, Lansing is taking its time to consider various city-owned locations. Advocates are hopeful it’s an approach that could help people, so long as officials are willing to engage prospective residents throughout the process.

“I think there’s utility in it. … It really depends on what the goal of the system is,” said Nick Cook, director of public policy for the Michigan Coalition Against Homelessness. “In and of itself, it’s just another tool in the tool bag for communities to deal with the homeless and unhoused populations.”

If successful, the approach would make Lansing the first city in Michigan to utilize the typically 8-by-8-foot housing units, which have been used in other parts of the country. They lock, can contain up to two beds, have limited storage space and will have hookups for heating, cooling and electric use once fully operational.

About 33,226 Michiganders experienced homelessness in 2023, the most recent year for which statewide data is available. That was an increase of about 2%, or 521 individuals from 2022 and an even larger jump from 2020, when the state reported 30,746 people experiencing homelessness.

Rates have also risen in Lansing, according to a city-commissioned study that found more than 2,370 people there utilized emergency shelters, outreach teams or some kind of housing program in 2023.

Lansing officials agreed to purchase the pods in August shortly after cracking down on homeless encampments. As part of that effort, the city sued two businesses for “allowing” camps to proliferate on their property and ticketed people for sleeping in local parks, including a pregnant woman.

Cities like Traverse City have been grappling with similar issues after closing down an encampment in May. Even with the city expanding shelter availability, it has not kept everyone off the streets.

Removing barriers

States across the country, including Nevada, Vermont and Oregon, have utilized modular pods for emergency shelter purposes, or as a means of transitional housing for people without homes.

Globally, the pods have also been used in countries like the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan in the last few decades.

In Burlington, Vermont, officials are pushing to continue their pod city for another three years, citing sustained demand for the structures. Residents living in the pod community have called living in the fixtures “ a positive experience.”

But housing advocates have questioned whether the city is doing enough to help people transition to long-term housing. The average length of stay has climbed to 240 days, up from 180 days when the pod city opened in 2023.

The Lansing pods were initially purchased for $1 million by Housing Resources Inc., a nonprofit that had planned to use them in Kalamazoo but struggled with land acquisition.

That shouldn’t be an issue in Lansing, where the local government is leading the charge, said Lansing City Council member Peter Spadafore. “If we located this on land owned by the city, that removes an incredible barrier,” he said.

While it’ll likely be some time before people can actually move into the pods, that “doesn’t mean we couldn’t go forward with some site improvement, like ground leveling, and things like that,” Spadafore told Bridge Michigan.

If all things go according to plan, it’s possible the structures will be ready for use by June 2026, said Lansing Human Relations and Community Services Director Kim Coleman.

Initial response from local residents has been mixed.

In an August meeting, some locals called the pods a good start in getting homeless individuals off the streets and into safe and clean living situations.

Others questioned the wisdom of spending nearly $1.4 million in the first year alone — the purchase cost, plus upkeep and maintenance — for 50 pods, when that money could go toward other housing needs.

Many, regardless of their stance on the project, questioned how the city would transition people out of the pods once their time was “up” — or even how long they should be able to stay.

Deyanira Nevárez Martínez, an assistant professor at Michigan State University’s School of Planning, Design and Construction, said the slippery slope of modular housing is when communities “see them as the solution, rather than a temporary stopgap” for residents without housing.

The goal should be permanent, but affordable housing, she said.

While she sees value in the project, Martínez — who is running for a seat on the Lansing City Council — told Bridge that whether the program will be successful depends on how much the city itself is willing to put into it and who’s ultimately selected to lead housing support efforts.

Next steps

Coleman, Lansing’s Human Relations and Community Services director, said Thursday the city will begin seeking bids for housing pod service contractors in the “next three weeks.”

While the city is already considering locations for the pod community, Coleman declined to share those locations with Bridge, saying she did not want any one location “to think that they are the number one” option.

“We need an opportunity to share with them what our plans are, and what our expectations would be, if we were located there,” Coleman said, adding that city officials have already visited some of these sites personally.

Lansing residents are also invited to weigh in on the process.

A community feedback session last month brought in around 100 attendees, Spadafore, the council member, told Bridge.

Another session is currently scheduled for 5:30 pm Oct. 30 at the Foster Community Center in Lansing, Coleman said, and will serve as a follow-up to the prior listening session while providing “an update” on the pod project.