David Develo, senior lender with IFF, presented the commission with a detailed overview of the housing fund pipeline and financing mechanics the nonprofit lender is using to support projects in Ottawa County.

Develo highlighted several projects either under way or nearing completion: Samaritas (a passive-house project the presenter described as nationally notable), Magnus developments that are adding childcare space, a Collin Park/ Hope Church campus pair of sites, Community Land Trust townhomes and a potential Grand Haven downtown site. He gave unit counts in rough figures and emphasized partnerships with developers, churches and community organizations to reduce land costs.

On financing, Develo explained how the fund sustains lending: construction loans that convert to permanent debt ‘recycle’ capital, and IFF can pledge paper to the Federal Home Loan Bank to obtain additional capital. He told commissioners the program is structured to leverage roughly $2 from other sources for every $1 of county funds, and that IFF blends capital sources (including county-provided 0% capital and foundation investments reported at about 1%) to set loan pricing. "We put the capital out at a couple percentage points below market rate," he said, and described overhead of about 200 basis points above blended cost when pricing loans.

Commissioners asked how the county’s committed share (noted on the pipeline sheet at about $8,900,000) fits into total lending. Develo said total loans on some projects reached the low tens of millions and cited an example program portfolio figure of roughly $24,000,000 in loans against a total development cost example of about $160,000,000 — illustrating the leverage the fund is intended to produce.

Participants discussed investor incentives, the potential to recruit corporate investors by marketing corridors of investment, and local incentives such as tax tools or TIFs. Develo recommended continued outreach to foundations and corporate partners and told the commission he will continue to work with Ottawa County staff as projects scale.

The presentation did not include a formal vote; commissioners used the discussion to consider funding leverage, land-banking strategies and aligning county assets with developers.