Northville Psychiatric Hospital Site Slated For Demolition

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The state psychiatric hospital site in Northville Township will be demolished as early as the summer of 2022. The hospital has been closed since 2003. The Northville Township Board of Trustees approved a $12 million bond sale to fund the clearing of the site. Previously in 2018, the site’s nine-story structure was demolished in 2018. The property will be developed into hiking and biking trails, with over 96% of the 332 acre site returned to a natural state. The township’s general fund will not be used to pay for the clearing.

Book Mansion Hits Market Soon

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The James Burgess Book Jr. mansion on East Jefferson Avenue will most likely hit the market for sale in the very near future. The property has been taken back by a foreclosing lender. The 1911, 12,000-square-foot building had been owned by Historic Book House LLC. The approximate $1.245 million mortgage is from December 2016. Soaring Pine Capital Real Estate and Debt Fund II are the lenders. The deadline to redeem the property by paying $937,006 plus interest is January 29. According to a Soaring Pine representative, that is unlikely to happen. The occupants had planned to hold orchestral concerts for the Ars Poetica Chamber Orchestra and give music lessons to pay back the loan. Unfortunately, those plans went by the wayside with the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Walbridge Fills Up Warehouse and Begins Work on a Second

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With Detroit-based Walbridge Group’s new warehouse in Lyon Township utilized by a German auto supplier, the construction company has begun putting up another warehouse. Webasto Roof Systems Inc. has leased the Lyon Distribution Center I. Distribution Center II is under construction with 150,000 square feet of building space to be complete in the next 12 months. Walbridge owns the 515-acre property that encompasses both sites. Of that 7.6 million square feet under construction, 86 percent is bulk warehouse and distribution space.

Auburn Hills’ Volkswagen Building Sells to Redico

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Southfield-based Redico LLC and New York City-based Mavik Capital Management LP have bought the Volkswagen of America Inc. building in Auburn Hills.  The building at 3800 Hamlin Road sold for an undisclosed price. Details of the structure of the joint venture are not public. Volkswagen had considered moving its Auburn Hills operations to Southfield but opted to sign a new lease in the building that had been owned by MAK Real Estate Investment Inc. Once the new lease was signed, MAK Real Estate Investment began exploring putting the building up for sale. The building sits on 19 acres.

 

Port Authority Raises Concerns Over Boblo Building Destruction

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Detroit-Wayne County Port Authority alleges that the Ambassador Port Co. is not taking the appropriate steps toward demolishing the Boblo building. According to the port authority’s law firm, Ambassador Port is acting in violation of its Master Concession Agreement with DWCPA.  The razing of the Boblo building is included in a pending deal between the two parties. The agreement would end the Master Concession Agreement, and Ambassador Port would gain ownership of the dock site from the port authority. In exchange, it would pay $1 million outright, waive the authority’s $2 million debt, and pay $2 million in blight removal and cleanup work. The deal requires Detroit City Council approval to move forward. The possibility of the building’s destruction before the pending deal is finalized is concerning to the port authority.

Landmark Trees To Be Cut For Ann Arbor Subdivision

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In an 8-3 vote, Ann Arbor City Council has agreed to the controversial Concord Pines development. National homebuilder, Toll Brothers, will cut down hundreds of landmark trees to develop a 57-home luxury subdivision. Some argue that the development is not in keeping with Ann Arbor’s sustainability goals. The 30+ acre site includes land owned by Concordia University. Out of 447 landmark trees, 311 will be cut down, as well as 450 of the 741 low-level woodland trees.

Fairlane Town Center and The Mall at Partridge Creek Change Management

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Fairlane Town Center in Dearborn and The Mall at Partridge Creek in Clinton Township are now being managed by Syracuse, N.Y.-based Spinoso Real Estate Group LLC. Spinoso is marketing the two malls for lease. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Partridge Creek was under financial stress when Starwood Capital Partners defaulted on a $725 million loan that included the shopping center and three other mall properties in Michigan. It recently entered receivership. Fairlane Town Center entered receivership last year.

Inadequate Housing Plagues Detroiters

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A new report from the University of Michigan estimates that 90,000 Detroiters live in inadequate housing. The study found that residents of color, rental tenants, people with children and those who earn less than $60,000 annually are impacted the most. The study considers housing inadequate if it has major problems with electrical needs, furnace or heating problems, or a lack of hot or running water. 81% of survey respondents had at least one problem with their home condition.  The greatest complaints included concerns about plumbing, pests, and crumbling porches.

Riverfront Hotel Plans Pivot to Apartment Development

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The Detroit-based City Growth Partners LLC has scrapped its plans for boutique hotel rooms in a Detroit riverfront development. The $136 million vision for the property now includes 478 apartments instead of an original 360 apartments and 120 boutique hotel rooms. The revised number of apartments will make it one of the largest new multifamily projects in Detroit. The development will still include retail space. The Detroit Economic Growth Corp. board will have to sign off on the changes to the development plan because it is publicly-owned land. The changes have yet to be presented to the board.

Self-Storage Real Estate Sector Is On Fire

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The self-storage industry has rebounded from the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. As people make room in their homes for remote job environments, the home sales market drives an increase in storage needs. Restaurants and offices look for places to stash extra furniture to accommodate social distancing needs. The demand for self-storage is high. With self-storage vacancies down, the rent is also high. However, the self-storage market may be hitting a saturation point. Experts raise concerns about whether Detroit’s population can support an overbuilt self-storage market.