MICHIGAN LT. GOV. Garlin Gilchrist was in Crystal Falls on Wednesday to hear about housing needs in Iron County. (Jim Paul/Daily News photo)

CRYSTAL FALLS — Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist was on hand at Crystal Falls City Hall on Wednesday to join a presentation on a 68-unit Missing Middle Housing Program in the works to address a housing shortage in Iron County.

The housing project is a partnership between the City of Crystal Falls, Iron County Economic Development, BuildUP and S.C. Swiderski Developers. City officials hope to break ground on the project in the spring.

The Missing Middle Housing Program administered through the Michigan State Housing Development Authority is designed to address a lack of attainable housing underscored by the COVID-19 pandemic. It seeks to increase the supply of workforce housing by providing grants to developers to defray construction costs.

Zach Hautala, director of the Iron County Economic Chamber Alliance, told Gilchrist the need for affordable housing is great and jobs are going unfilled as a result.

“Our number one barrier right now is housing, especially the middle market price housing. We have plenty of job vacancies, nurses, teachers and engineers,” Hautala said. “Once we get the necessary housing and the other things behind it, we can fill those vacancies, driving more people to our area.”

Rob Possanza, director of the Iron County Medical Care Facility, a 200-bed nursing home, said the facility currently can only handle 120 residents due to staffing shortages. A lack of housing has made it difficult to bring in qualified people, he said, adding the needs of the area’s citizens are not being met.

Gilchrist said affordable housing is a priority for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration because it’s an issue that every community in Michigan is dealing with in some way.

“Affordable housing is an anchor for so many things, having a place to live that is safe and attainable, it is your starting point,” Gilchrist said. “With this in place it is a place where kids have the possibility to do better in school, families have that kind of stability to participate in the economy in a full way — it is an economic driver.”

Gilchrist said the state has put $200 million into its development fund in an effort to draw in more private dollars and will be mobilizing $1.4 billion in coming years to address affordable housing. The state needs to aggressively rehabilitate existing housing to make sure that people have options that make sense for communities and families, he added.

The stop in Crystal Falls was part of a four-day tour of the Upper Peninsula. Gilchrist’s day started in Ironwood where he met with seniors to discuss the Caregiver Tax Credit. After Crystal Falls, he was in Iron Mountain to receive a tour of the CCI Systems facility. This morning he will be in Norway to tour the school’s breakfast program and classrooms.