City of Chelsea Old Manchester Housing Development Scrapped

The City of Chelsea has announced that it will not move forward with the Old Manchester Road affordable housing site following environmental testing that identified conditions making the property unsuitable for residential development at this time.

The city will be engaging the State of Michigan’s EGLE Brownfield Site Assessment Grant Program, which provides funding for environmental testing upfront. This allows the city to fully understand site conditions before issuing Requests for Qualifications (RFQs) to developers – reducing uncertainty, protecting public resources, and ensuring only viable sites move forward.

Chelsea has identified four potential housing sites that will undergo environmental review through this program prior to being publicly advanced. In parallel, the city continues work on the Rockwell public-private partnership and has submitted an application for federal assistance to support broader housing efforts.

“This is not the outcome we had hoped for, but it is the right decision,” said City Manager Elle Cole. “Our commitment to affordable housing hasn’t changed. If anything, it’s stronger. We are taking what we’ve learned and moving forward in a way that is thoughtful, transparent, and rooted in what’s best for our community.”

The city has stated it will provide updates as this work progresses.