InvestNext Raises $4.3 Million In Venture Capital Financing

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InvestNext Inc., a software firm backed by Detroit billionaire Dan Gilbert, has closed on a venture capital financing round to the tune of $4.3 million. The company’s software goal is to help investors and fund managers keep track of pertinent details and documents involved in real estate investments. Hyde Park Venture Partners, Detroit Venture Partners, Whitecap Venture Partners and Grand Ventures participated in the funding round. InvestNext Inc. now has more than 18,000 active investors and has paved the way for more than $.4 billion in transactions.

Fowling Warehouse to Open in Ypsilanti

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Royal Oak resident Scott Brown is opening a Fowling Warehouse location in Ypsilanti. The original Fowling Warehouse was established by Chris Hutt in 2014. The game is part football/part bowling. Prior to finding the Ypsilanti space, Brown looked in Lansing, Lake Orion and Indianapolis. His Ypsilanti location will be the sixth in the franchise. Other locations include Grand Rapids, Indianapolis, Atlanta, Cincinnati and Hamtramck. All have opened in last seven years. No opening date is set yet for the Ypsilanti location, but it will feature 20 indoor fowling lanes. Players may bring in their own food or have it delivered, and two bars will be on site.

Detroit’s Core City Project Breathes New Life Into Buildings and Land

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The Core City neighborhood, located west of Woodbridge and about 2 miles from downtown, is one of the most unique real estate projects in the city and the state. It currently spreads across six existing commercial buildings, 10 recently built Quonset hut apartments, plus one large Quonset hut split into eight live-work space. It will be expanding early next year to include more housing. The old commercial buildings are filled with office and retail tenants. The buildings surround a new public space park filled with shade trees and artwork. The Core City project is the brain child of developer Philip Kafka and his real estate company, Prince Concepts.

 

NTT Ltd Subleases Its Headquarters Space in Southfield Town Center

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 NTT Communications Corp., Formerly know as Secure-24, has walked away from its 100,000-square-foot headquarters in the 4000 Town Center high rise in Southfield. They’ve put the space up for sublease along with a 9,000-square-foot property in Auburn Hills. The company signed the Southfield lease in September 2019, prior to the pandemic. The bad timing of the COVID-19 pandemic may have contributed to the company’s recent listing of the property. The asking price is $19 per square foot.

 

 

Landmark Office Real Estate Up For Grabs

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Nearly 800,000 square feet of prime office space across four landmark properties in Troy and Pontiac are up for grabs. They join the Fisher Building and the former UAW-GM Center for Human Resources in Detroit. That totals 1.8 million square feet between the six buildings that has come available in the last 30 days! The sale of these buildings has implications for the upside down office market. According to a second-quarter report, Detroit’s office market vacancy rate increased to 16.8%. That’s an increase of 2 percentage points from a year ago.

Renowned Detroit Hotel Sale and Renovations Pending

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The Westin Book Cadillac hotel in downtown Detroit is under a pending deal. Chicago-based Oxford Capital Group, the same company that broke ground on a new Godfrey Hotel in Corktown,  is buying the 453-room hotel. Downtown Detroit hotels took a hit during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Book Cadillac has been delinquent on its mortgage since spring 2020. With the sale, Oxford Capital will assume $77 million in debt to prevent the hotel from going into foreclosure. The company will spend at least $16.5 million on renovations and maintenance. It’s seeking a 12-year Commercial Redevelopment tax break that’s valued at over $26 million.

Corktown Parking Deck Sold for $15.6 Million

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The Ford Motor Company sold a 1,250+ space parking deck for an estimated $15.6 million. Howard Luckoff, Jim Ketai and the Rakolta family who make up the Corktown Mobility Hub LLC purchased the property. Devon Industrial Group is currently constructing the deck. It should be finished by the second quarter next year. Ford will hold the master lease for the garage, and Luckoff and Ketai’s Vokal Ventures will operate it. According to Richard Bardelli, Ford’s construction manager in Corktown, the sale is in keeping with Ford’s plan to bring on development partners. The deck includes an autonomous vehicle testing area, e-bike and e-scooter stations, charging stations for electric vehicles and automated payment technology and smart guidance systems.

Detroit’s Revitalization Could Have A New Focus

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The global pandemic has turned many things upside down. The office markets around the U.S. are one of those things. Congress may offer developers incentives to repurpose old office buildings into residential, institutional, hotel or mixed-use spaces. While Mayor Mike Duggan has come out in support of the Revitalizing Downtowns Act, area developers do not have active plans to utilize it should the law be passed. The number of Detroit’s residential units lags behind other downtown areas. The legislation isn’t limited to downtown redevelopments but could be used to convert old office properties in the suburban locations into new uses as well.

 

Chaldean Community Foundation Plans Affordable Housing Projects

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The Chaldean Community Foundation has broken ground on its first mixed-use affordable housing site and has another$25 million project in the works. The Macomb County site which got under way on Friday, Oct. 1, will bring 135 apartments and street-level retail to Sterling Heights. It’s a beginning toward addressing the long-term housing needs of almost 1,000 families who go to the foundation for assistance. It will include 9,000 square feet of retail for the Chaldean community. The foundation is negotiating a purchase of more than 6 acres in Farmington Hills for a new Chaldean Community Foundation Campus. The Farmington Hills campus will house a new office for the Chaldean Chamber, a satellite office for the foundation and a senior living center.