LANSING, Mich. (WZMQ) – A partnership of U.P. development groups has launched a regional rent study across the Upper Peninsula to gather information on rental housing that officials say has never been collected on this scale before.
The Upper Peninsula Rent Study is a partnership between InvestUP and Central Upper Peninsula Planning and Development (CUPPAD), Eastern Upper Peninsula Regional Planning and Development, and Western U.P. Planning and Development Region (WUPPDR). The survey asks landlords, property managers, and rental property owners across all 15 U.P. counties to share information on current rents, unit types, vacancies, and the day-to-day realities of operating rental housing in the region.
InvestUP CEO Marty Fittante said the study grew out of a gap the organization has long been aware of. While building permit data has given InvestUP a picture of new housing development, he said there has never been a comparable dataset for rentals.
“We know the challenge exists around housing all across the Upper Peninsula,” Fittante said. “We’ve got some data around new developments, and we’ve been tracking that through building permits for a number of years, but we really don’t have any data around rentals.”
Asked whether the study is tied to a specific funding decision or legislative push, Fittante said it is too early to say what direction the findings could support.
“It’s really to help educate us in terms of what cost looks like, what vacancy looks like, what markets are already working well,” Fittante said, “so that we can use that data to say, here’s a challenge that’s been routinely identified, here is an unmet need that certainly exists.”
InvestUP has not set a target number of responses needed for the data to be useful, but Fittante said participation is key.
“There’s no regulatory basis to it whatsoever. It’s all informational,” he said. “Obviously, the stronger the response rate, the more meaningful that data then becomes.”
Jeff Hagan, CEO of Eastern Upper Peninsula Regional Planning and Development, said in a statement that landlords and property managers are best positioned to describe what’s actually happening in the market.
“Landlords and property managers understand the realities of operating rental housing in the U.P. better than anyone,” Hagan said in the statement. “Their input will help make sure future housing strategies are based on what is actually happening in our communities, not assumptions.”
Fittante said InvestUP is most concerned about getting enough responses from the region’s more sparsely populated areas, though he said the organization is optimistic its three planning partners can help reach population centers across all 15 counties.
He pointed to Build U.P., the InvestUP-managed fund that has helped bring 360 housing units online across the region, as an example of what better data can lead to.
“It was at the heart of moving in the direction that led to Build UP,” Fittante said, “and Build UP has now participated in 360 units all across the U.P. in a relatively short period of time.”
Once the survey closes, InvestUP says respondents will receive a copy of the aggregated findings, including average rents by unit type and vacancy patterns. Fittante said what comes next, whether that’s conversations with policymakers, developers, or both, will depend on what the data shows.
“We come in really open to where we will next push,” he said. “We don’t have any preconceived ideas at this point.”
The survey is open now at investupmi.com/landlordsurvey/ and closes Monday, August 31.
