Construction has begun on Wesson Avenue Apartments, a $19.3 million affordable-housing development in Southwest Detroit that will reserve all 32 of its units for people experiencing homelessness who also live with disabilities. The four-story mixed-use building is going up at 5850 Michigan Ave. in the East Chadsey-Condon neighborhood, with no sobriety or treatment-program completion required before admission.
MiSide Community Impact Network and the City of Detroit broke ground on the project, according to a City of Detroit announcement describing it as a $19.3 million affordable-housing development. As MLive reports, Mayor Mary Sheffield said the development is part of city efforts to expand housing options for residents facing homelessness, adding that families facing homelessness need housing, case management and supportive services to build stability.
The building will include seven one-bedroom units, 18 two-bedroom units and seven three-bedroom units, per the same report. Of the 32 total apartments, 16 are allocated to households experiencing chronic homelessness and 16 to households meeting other qualifying federal homelessness criteria, with five fully ADA-accessible units, 27 adaptable units, and two apartments designed specifically for residents with visual or hearing impairments.
Housing First, No Strings on Sobriety
Wesson Avenue Apartments will follow a Housing First approach, meaning residents won't be required to complete sobriety or treatment programs before moving in, the outlet's reporting indicates. Supportive services offered on-site are voluntary and not required to maintain housing, and residents will generally pay about 30% of their adjusted household income toward rent through project-based vouchers provided by the Michigan State Housing Development Authority.
Residents must generally earn no more than 30% of area median income to qualify. Prospective tenants won't be able to apply directly; instead, they must be referred through Detroit's Coordinated Assessment Model, which connects people experiencing homelessness with available housing resources, the report notes. MiSide will begin requesting referrals closer to the development's opening.
MiSide plans to provide 40 hours of on-site case management each week, with MiSide Health supporting applications for Medicaid and food assistance. Supportive services will also cover housing stability, employment, transportation, financial planning and health care referrals, according to the same account. Sean de Four, president and CEO of MiSide Community Impact Network, said MiSide is building affordable housing and that Wesson Avenue Apartments is the next step.
A Clinic, a Promenade, and a Second Phase on Michigan Avenue
The development is expected to create approximately 90 construction jobs and wrap up in March 2028, with leasing scheduled to begin that April. Shelter Design Studio is serving as architect and O'Brien Construction Company as general contractor, per the same reporting.
Beyond housing, the project will include a community center with internet access and computers, an outdoor pedestrian promenade, laundry facilities, a security office and gated parking. First-floor office space is planned for a walk-in clinic offering immediate mental health services to families, young people and seniors. A separate MiSide integrated health care facility at 5716 Michigan Ave., within walking distance of Wesson, already provides primary care, dental services, behavioral health care and WIC services, the outlet notes.
Wesson Avenue is the second phase of MiSide's redevelopment of the 5800 block of Michigan Avenue, following Campbell Street Apartments, which opened in April 2025 with 40 affordable housing units. Together, the two projects will bring 72 affordable apartments to a stretch of the corridor that had sat vacant. De Four said the project with Campbell Street Apartments gives families more than a roof over their heads. The Michigan State Housing Development Authority lists Wesson as the formal second phase of what it still refers to in public notices as the 5800 Michigan Avenue project.
Funding Breakdown and MiSide's Broader Reach
Financing for Wesson Avenue Apartments comes from a combination of public and private sources. The National Equity Fund is providing $7.5 million in low-income housing tax credit equity, the City of Detroit is contributing $2.8 million, state-backed financing accounts for $2.3 million, Wayne County is putting in $1.4 million, and a state environmental grant is providing $1.1 million for contaminated-soil cleanup, according to the report.
MiSide was formed in 2023 through the merger of Southwest Solutions and Development Centers Inc., and now provides housing, health care, education and other services throughout metro Detroit, serving nearly 14,000 people annually across Detroit, Wayne County and Oakland County.
The Scale of Detroit's Housing Gap
The new units arrive against a backdrop of persistent need. A city homelessness report found that on any given night in January 2024, an estimated 1,725 people were experiencing literal homelessness in Detroit, according to a City of Detroit homelessness report. The same report found that two new drop-in shelters with 110 beds opened as part of the city's Immediate Shelter system, with no one turned away for lack of space, while the Housing and Revitalization Department expanded street outreach teams to operate 24 hours a day.
A separate 2023 analysis found that Detroit had roughly 37,000 existing and planned affordable units citywide, leaving a gap of more than 46,000 units, according to Outlier Media. That report also estimated about 83,600 Detroit households could not afford market-rate housing without spending more than 30% of their income on rent, and found that people experiencing homelessness remained unhoused for a median of 69 days, twice as long as in prior years.
