Ideas for further development of Ferndale’s parking deck, “the dot,” include 11 apartment units. The apartments would be 1-2 bedrooms, ranging in square footage from 704 to 1,333 square feet. The agreement with the city requires 50% of the apartments to be affordable housing to meet a variety of income levels.
Samaritas moves forward with its plant ot build a 4-story building with 54 apartments for low-income seniors. The development will go up near the recently renovated Al Perri furniture building and will allow Samaritas to consolidate its child and family service in the greater Muskegon and lakeshore area. Construction is slated to being in early 2021.
The New York Legislature has passed a comprehensive and controversial anti-eviction law. The new law bans tenant evictions for a least another 60 days and offers some foreclosure protection to small business owners, as well as renews tax exemptions for elderly or disabled homeowners. Critics feel the law goes to far and doesn’t require proof that financial hardships are due to the pandemic or define income limitations to qualify for eviction protection.
Community Builders, a Grand Rapids-based nonprofit, is partnering with the city’s Homeless Outreach Team to coordinate short-term accomodations and support service for the area’s homeless population. The Geographically Targeted Housing Outreach intiative (GTHO) is funded in part by the city of Grand Rapids Emergency Solutions Grants under the federal CARES Act.
A Detroit Free Press investigation discovered gaps in the state’s safety net designed to prevent renters from losing their homes. Although the number of evictions has decreased when compared to 2019 data, 4 factors are crippling the state’s evction protection measures: A lack of comprehensive statewide data, missing key information to track communities that have not received aid, local judges who fail to follow the state Supreme Court order, and landlords who are finding leasing loopholes.
The raw number of mortgages in active forebearance rose last week, driven by the share of loans in forebearance and rising from 5.2% to 5.3 % in private label securities or banks portfolios. The share of FHA and VA loans in forebearance also increased. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac maintained their 3.5% portfolio share from the prior week.
On May 1, when Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed an exectuive order allowing Michigan’s real estate industry to get back to work, the Traverse City market rocketed. The pent-up high demand for real estate, along with the reconfiguration of social patterns due to remote work created an explosion in real estate demand. However, potential buyers may be priced out of the local market.
Southeast Michigan-based Pet Supplies Plus has purchased 40 Pet Valu locations in seven states, including Michigan. CEO Chris Rowland expects to top $1 billion in revenue for the second stratight year. With a record year in growth, Pet Supplies Plus plans to add more than 100 locations in 2021.
Loves Furniture is shrinking its business footprint due to supply chain issues in Asia, caused by COVID. The company plans to close Michigan stores in Dearborn, Waterford, Port Huron, Livonia, Burton, Saginaw, Bay City, Muskegon, and Petoskey, where it just opened a store on November 7, 2020. Although the company claims that customer demand is high, the company claims it can not fill the inventory needs of the stores.
Downtown businesses have lost a significant percentage of their consumers due to remote work trends. The number of empty commercial real estate sites is preventing the resurgence of downtowns. Owners are creatively repurposing empty sites to adapt to the need for affordable housing, remote employee wifi access, and coworking spaces.
Michigan renters face eviction despite pandemic safety net: ‘I don’t want to be homeless’
Plans ‘underway’ for affordable senior housing site in downtown Muskegon
Apartment Building Design for “dot” in Ferndale Under Discussion
House Warming: Grand Traverse market stays hot into 2021
Sticker Shock: Sky-high lumber prices hit local construction
Rising construction costs, due in part to a stressed supply and demand chain, cause Northern Michigan builders to focus on high-end homes in the interest of profits. Moderate and low-income buyers struggle to find affordable housing. MSHDA has established a program for the 2020-2021fiscal year to aid lower-income buyers purchase homes at an attainable price point.
