Michigan’s Whitmer steps up, signs single-stair reform into law

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer took a big step toward clearing the path for developers to build smaller apartment buildings more affordably. Whitmer signed Michigan’s single-stair legislation into law this week, a green light for developers to build multifamily housing up to six stories more economically, with a single interior exit stairway. Michigan housing advocates say the win improves the chances that a broader “Housing Readiness” package they support in the legislature will pass. “This could propel the momentum that we need to change” the laws to make housing more affordable, Lauren Strickland, Abundant Housing Michigan‘s executive director, told HousingWire TBD. The single-stair move makes Michigan the latest state to break from a longstanding International Building Code two-staircase requirement for residential buildings taller than three stories. Colorado, Texas and Montana are among the states that have already adopted similar thresholds. More than a dozen others continue to study the change, while a number of city governments have moved ahead with the change. Tennessee enacted an opt-in law in 2024. Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga took advantage of it last year. Was...