New Vacation Rentals and Year-Round Housing in Bellaire

Step inside Spillway Lodges and Bellaire Lofts

By Marla Miller | Sept. 27, 2025

Spillway Lodges in Bellaire caters to vacationers who want an independent lodging experience in a rustic, resort-like setting but with guest services and activities. The boutique resort completed its last lodge and fully opened in June, providing guests with suites and studios with full kitchens, fire pits and lawn games, and walkable access to downtown Bellaire.

Spearheaded by Artemis Companies of Byron Center, the Spillway project was paired with a second housing development in the village after the developers realized the need for year-round, workforce housing. Bellaire Lofts is a 50-townhome, income-restricted housing project slated to finish construction by the end of the year with anticipated move-ins happening in phases in 2026.

“In working on Spillway Lodges, we kept hearing ‘we can’t support year-round staff,’” says Brooke Ruble, COO & director of management at Artemis Companies. “There is a real housing issue for folks who are in the workforce and making those more starter or entry-level wages.”

An Airbnb or a Rustic Resort? Why Not Both?

Spillway Lodges’ scenic setting (pictured) offers the best of both worlds—natural beauty and modern furnishings with access to trails, water, and downtown businesses. It’s like renting a private home but with the option to enjoy on-site amenities and socialize on the lawn.

“Coming out of COVID, people wanted to get away and have a vacation, but people want to do it in a completely independent way,” Ruble says of the resort concept.

The 34-unit resort consists of six lodges with different units in each building. The location is convenient to Antrim County’s Chain of Lakes and Torch Lake, or a quick stroll to Short’s Brewing Company and local eateries.

Spillway Lodges features two-bedroom, two-bath suites and queen and king studios with fully stocked kitchens—coffee and popcorn included—and Up North décor plus special touches such as robes, camping chairs, and umbrellas. Other amenities include digital self-check-in and check-out, pet-friendly rooms (cats too), and rooftop decks.

Guest services and housekeeping staff are on-site, plus a fitness center, group exercise classes, and a lounge area for small gatherings or informal meetups.

“Some people like to go on vacation and not talk to anybody, but we’re always still available if they do need something,” Ruble says.

Guests also have access to three outdoor hot tubs, a sauna and a cold plunge pool, a putting green, communal grills, fire pits, and lawn games. They can walk a trail, hop on a bicycle, take out a kayak, or relax around a fire.

“We have access to the Intermediate River, so you can travel north on the kayaks and get out to Intermediate Lake through the river,” Ruble says. “We’ve got bikes people can take out and ride around.”

Ruble says guests like the atmosphere and more groups are booking stays for bachelor and bachelorette parties, weddings, reunions and golf outings. They can’t reserve the whole resort but can book multiple lodges or multiple units.

“They love the amenities,” Ruble says of guest feedback so far. “They love the accessibility to town. It makes getting out and about easy.”

Workforce Housing in Bellaire

While working on Spillway Lodges, the developers discovered a real-world problem and “developed a solution to hopefully help,” Ruble says.

Bellaire Lofts, slated to open later this year, offers living options for year-round workers looking to make northern Michigan home base. The project is a workforce housing pilot program with the state, so the developers are bound to serve a certain income demographic. They hope to start pre-leasing units later this year.

“It’s going really well right now,” Ruble says. “We just had our model unit set, and we’re finishing the interior, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing in the next month or so and will be open for viewing.”

Due to northern Michigan’s short window for stick-built construction, both projects consist of pre-built, modular “boxes” that were delivered to the site and set in place and then finished.

“There are several mods or boxes to each lodge, so you can stack them, but we design within the boxes,” Ruble says. “It saves a lot of time within the process because we don’t have a lot of trades workers in northern Michigan, and we have a shorter seasonal window for construction.”

The 50-townhome complex is hooked up to the village’s water and sewer and includes studios, one-bedroom units, and two- to three-bedroom townhomes with front decks to extend the living space outdoors. There are flexible floor plans, so workers and families can live alone or pair up with a roommate or two.

The project will serve those who make about 60 percent area median income up to 120 percent AMI. For a single individual, that translates into earning $39,240 (60 percent AMI) up to $78,480 (120 percent AMI) annually.

“We’re kind of a hybrid,” Ruble says of the housing development. “We can serve anyone below that 120 percent AMI but nobody above it.”

Stay Tuned

The development is less than a mile away from downtown and Lake Bellaire and in the heart of northern Michigan’s recreational opportunities.

“It’s a really awesome location just west off of Bellaire Highway,” Ruble says. “It will be a little more apartment-style living. We have a community center with a mail room and a lounge area, so people could come in and get a change of scenery.”

The details on rental rates are still being worked out with help from Housing North, Ruble says, as they compare the state’s requirements and data on area median income with the “real snapshot of wages in Bellaire.”

“We’re looking at wages and figuring out what could someone who lives here and works here really afford,” Ruble says. “There is a bottom-line rent revenue we have to make to survive as a business.”

The developers applied for a brownfield tax increment financing that spans more than 30 years to make it feasible.

“There’s been a lot of different obstacles and hurdles to move through,” Ruble says because it’s a pilot project and set up as a tax increment financing (TIF). “This is the only way to make it happen. It is impossible to offer submarket rate rents with the cost of building.”

Bellaire’s Village President Dan Bennett says the developers have been good about keeping the village officials informed of both projects, and it’s been “neat to see them put them in and set them in place.”

Bellaire’s downtown is busy year-round due to summer tourism and winter skiing, and the community has lost year-round housing for workers because of short-term rentals.

“We’re in desperate need of housing for employees,” Bennett says. “We had a new librarian come in and couldn’t find a place to live. That’s kind of common. In fact, Short’s bought a hotel so their employees could actually have a place to live.”

Find Spillway Lodges at 247 Portage Drive in Bellaire. (231) 495-3022; spillwaylodges.com. For Bellaire Lofts, interested applicants can join the waitlist and sign up for construction updates via the website, bellairelofts.com.