A sprawling senior housing community on Detroit’s west side now stands on the site of what was once Michigan’s only historically Black college and university.

City and state officials, alongside developers, unveiled the $29.3 million development − dubbed the Dr. Violet T. Lewis Village − on Wednesday, Nov. 19 and called it a haven for longtime Detroiters and older adults, while also preserving a slice of history. The senior village, set aside for residents ages 55 and older, is located on Meyers Road and features 105 apartments with rents based on income, ranging from $655 to $1,230 a month. The buildings also include five project-based voucher units, administered by the Detroit Housing Commission.

“This is the city we wanted to build. This neighborhood is coming back. It was once very special. It’s on its way back again,” said out-going Mayor Mike Duggan at a news conference ahead of the ribbon cutting.

The development − led by Ohio-based Wallick and Presbyterian Villages of Michigan in Southfield − includes two rehabilitated buildings and a new four-story building. Construction began in 2024. Funding for the project came in part from the federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits, distributed by the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA), the city of Detroit and the Kresge Foundation.

Michigan is still experiencing a housing shortage but the new development in Detroit points to momentum, said Anthony Amoroso, of MSHDA. At the beginning of 2024, the state was 200,000 units short. The latest estimates show a dearth of 119,000 units, he said.

Rents are based on area median income, a regional measure set by the federal government to determine housing affordability. The development accommodates people whose household income is 40% to 80% of the area median income. The two rehabilitated buildings, with 32 apartments, are slated to open Dec. 1 and are already leased up, according to Christy Paul, administrator of the Dr. Violet T. Lewis Village. The new build, with 73 units, is expected to open March of next year. The senior housing village also includes amenities such as a fitness area, community space, computers and on-site property management.

The development is named after Violet T. Lewis, who in 1928 founded the original Lewis Business College in Indianapolis with a $50 loan from a local bank. The mission: provide Black women secretarial skills. The Detroit branch of what became the Lewis College of Business opened about a decade later on Ferry Street and John R. The college later moved to Meyers Road.

The U.S. Department of Education designated the college as a historically Black college in 1987, making it the first college in the state to receive such a distinction. The school saw a steep decline in enrollment in more recent years, lost its accreditation in 2007 and then closed in 2015, according to the Pensole Lewis College of Business and Design, which revamped the former Lewis College of Business. The Pensole Lewis College of Business and Design − located in The Icon building near the Detroit Riverwalk − opened in 2022. Lewis’ descendants and members of the sorority she co-founded, Gamma Phi Delta, attended the grand opening of the senior village.

For more information and to apply, go pvm.org/locations/dr-violet-t-lewis-village or call Presbyterian Villages of Michigan at 313-270-9150. The apartments accept housing choice vouchers. The waitlist opens up Dec. 1.