Fenton Township Approved 187 Homes. A Failing Well Made It Possible.

By Carrie Thompson, Strategic Marketing Real Estate Agent, eXp Realty | Grand Blanc & Genesee County, MI

Before the 187 homes, one sentence about the market they are landing in.

"Basically, all houses under construction are already spoken for, there's very limited short term housing opportunities in the township," said Fenton Township Zoning Administrator Mike Deem, describing local housing supply to MLive. (MLive, July 2, 2026)

If you have been trying to buy in Fenton Township and it feels like nothing is available, that is the township's own zoning administrator telling you why.

What was approved, and where

On Thursday, June 11, 2026, the Fenton Township Planning Commission approved the final site plan for a Redwood Living development on Silver Lake Road. The vote was unanimous. (Tri-County Times, June 24, 2026)

The site is a vacant 39.7-acre parcel, of which 36.5 acres are buildable, sitting north of the Price's Airport runway and east of Charter Senior Living of Linden.

The plan calls for 187 single-story townhouses, built to rent rather than to sell. Redwood's Director of Acquisitions, Emily Engelhart, told MLive the units will have two or three bedrooms, two bathrooms and an attached two-car garage, ranging from 1,294 to 1,620 square feet. Some will have extended garages for larger vehicles, and the site will include guest parking.

MLive reported that a two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit with an attached two-car garage is expected to rent for $2,000 to $2,100 or more per month.

The whole thing hinges on a water line, and the water line exists because of a failing well

This is the part that makes it a Genesee County story rather than a press release.

The Redwood project is contingent on the township extending its water line to the site. That extension was not planned for Redwood's benefit. It is happening because the Chateau Du Lac subdivision has a failing well, and the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy is requiring the subdivision to connect to municipal water.

The line will run down Ripley Road and across Silver Lake Road to Chateau Du Lac. The new development's frontage happens to sit along that path, and Deem told MLive that this will limit what Redwood is able to do at the site.

Engelhart was direct about the cause and effect. She said Redwood had been looking for a site in the Fenton market for some time, but that the lack of municipal water had been a barrier, and recent township water infrastructure work is what finally made a site work.

Read that sequence again. A subdivision's well failed. A state environmental agency ordered a fix. The pipe that fixes it happens to run past a vacant 40 acres. And now 187 homes are going there.

That is how development actually happens. Not a master plan. A pipe.

The timeline is 2027, not now

Deem said construction is expected to begin next year. The project will be built in two phases, and Engelhart said Redwood hopes to start leasing units in 2027, noting the company can lease during the final stages of a build because the homes are single story.

The water line work was expected to begin in approximately 60 days as of that July 2 reporting, which would put the start of it around the beginning of September.

So nothing is available to rent there yet, and nothing will be for a while. If you are moving in the next twelve months, this does not help you.

Why a rental development matters to people who want to buy

Three reasons, and this is the part worth actually thinking about.

It tells you what the shortage is. Deem said township officials found a gap in housing options while updating the master plan in 2024, and described this as addressing a market that was not being served in the township at all. When a community's own planners identify a hole and a national builder shows up to fill it, that is a clearer signal about local supply than any market statistic.

It creates a landing spot that does not exist today. "Very limited short term housing opportunities" is the polite version of a problem a lot of sellers in this area run into: they can sell, but they have nowhere to go while they look. A large single-story rental community changes the math on selling first, at least for the people who can wait until 2027.

It is a signal about Fenton Township specifically. Redwood is based in Ohio and has more than 30 developments in Michigan, including Grand Blanc Township and Hartland Township. Companies at that scale do not put 187 units into a market casually. They put them where they believe the demand is durable.

What I would tell you if you called me about this

If you are buying in Fenton Township right now, plan around scarcity rather than hoping it eases. Deem's comment about homes under construction being spoken for is the current condition, and 187 units arriving in 2027 does not change what is on the market this fall.

If you are selling and the thing stopping you is not knowing where you would go, this is worth watching, and so is the water line, because the project is contingent on it.

And if you own near Silver Lake Road, Ripley Road, or in Chateau Du Lac, the water extension is the nearer-term change to pay attention to.

Fenton Township posts its planning commission agendas, minutes and ordinances publicly at fentontownship.org, which is where the site plan, the conditional rezoning and the water project documents all live.

If you want help thinking through timing in Fenton Township, Fenton, Linden, Grand Blanc, Davison, Flushing, Swartz Creek, Burton, Goodrich or Holly, call or text me at (810) 893-3269.

About Carrie Thompson

Carrie Thompson is a licensed Michigan Realtor (#6501338662) with eXp Realty, serving Grand Blanc, Fenton, Davison, Linden, Flushing, Swartz Creek, Burton, Goodrich, Holly, and Genesee County. Known as "Your Favorite Property Girl," she brings a strategic marketing approach to every listing and every buyer search. Call or text (810) 893-3269.