LANSING, Mich. — The City of Lansing is moving forward with plans to use mobile housing pods — originally bought for Kalamazoo County — as community leaders in West Michigan search for solutions to address the crisis.
Those 50 mod pods were bought by the Kalamazoo nonprofit, Housing Resources Inc. (HRI), in 2021 for $1 million, according to Kalamazoo County leaders.
Those pods were auctioned off in the summer of 2025 and bought by the city of Lansing, according to Lansing’s Human Relations and Community Services Director Kim Coleman.
“You can learn from other folks’ mistakes if there were any,” Coleman said. “It’s not a one size fits all solution, but I think there’s yet some things to be learned from folks who’ve done it first that have paved the way.”
Lansing was able to get the pods for $600,000, which is around $400,000 less than what HRI paid.
Coleman told News Channel 3 that she wants the community to be involved in the process to figure out where these pods will go. There are around 30 locations currently under consideration, according to Coleman.
“We feel it’s important to engage the community in this process. And so, every recommendation that I have been given, I have explored and vetted and weighted against a set of criteria that we’re using to determine the best location,” Coleman said.
However, as Lansing moves forward, the search for solutions continues in Kalamazoo County.
Earlier this year, Kalamazoo County Continuum of Care, which works with the county and other organizations to address the housing shortage, released it’s yearly one-night survey of homelessness in Kalamazoo. The research shows the number of homeless people on Kalamazoo streets is the highest it’s been since 2011.
“There are not enough resources,” Kalamazoo County Continuum of Care Director Patrese Griffin said. “To be clear, those state and federal resources are very prescriptive and restrictive. What we need is more local philanthropic dollars to offset and allow us to be creative and institute solutions that will work for everybody.”
The county has a few affordable housing projects in the works, including a new shelter at the former Country Inn and Suites Hotel on East Kilgore Service Road in Portage. The shelter is expected to open in December, according to county leaders.
As for the housing pods, a major reason this project didn’t move forward is because of pushback from people living near the proposed locations, according to Kalamazoo County housing leaders.
“Whenever you are trying to meet the needs of communities who are unhoused, it’s difficult to find locations because people don’t want quote unquote ‘those people’ living near them,” Griffin said.
Meanwhile, Coleman told News Channel 3 that she hopes to provide enough information to the community to avoid a similar problem in Lansing.
“I’m concerned that I’m not communicating in a way to get them to understand the need and to embrace the concept,” Coleman said. “We’ve got to take everybody’s concerns, questions and ambivalence into consideration.”
News Channel 3 also reached out for an interview with HRI Executive Director Michelle Davis, but we were unable to get an interview.
However, the nonprofit provided News Channel 3 with the following statement earlier this year:
HRI is pleased to learn that the 50 ModPODs sold through an online auction last month will be put to good use by the City of Lansing. When we brought the PODs to Kalamazoo, we took a bold, creative step to tackle a serious need in a compassionate way. HRI did so using its own resources and dedicated donor support, at no cost to taxpayers. While the project didn’t pan out as we hoped, it did spark new ideas and new momentum county-wide to address homelessness. That’s exciting, and something we consider a win for the whole community.