New York city-based company is expected to close next month on the Fairlane Town Center shopping mall in Dearborn. Should the sale fall through with the undisclosed buyer, a back-up buyer is ready to sign a contract and move forward. Fairlane Town Center was built in 1976 and has had financial struggles in recent years. The current ownership is behind on its debts.
Bedrock LLC has refinanced 14 properties with a $430 million CMBS loan. It is the largest-ever commercial mortgage securities loan in Detroit’s history. The new seven-year loan will mature in January 2029. The portfolio has seven office buildings totaling 2.5 million square feet, five parking decks with over 5,000 spaces and two multifamily properties. The fact that the loan was issued during a global pandemic when workers are continuing to work from home speaks to the confidence of the lenders. The portfolio’s office stock and parking deck revenue are both impacted by the work-from-home trend.
Thousands of once-vacant Detroit homes have been rehabbed and reoccupied over the last two years. U.S. Postal Service data shows that more than 9,000 Detroit residences that were vacant in January 2020 are now occupied. With about 4,000 once-occupied homes that are now vacant, the net increase in occupied housing is more than 6,000. The postal service data looks at whole residences, not individual units. The data shows a healthy housing market. The newly occupied properties are scattered around the city, not located in any one part.
Asphalt Specialists, Inc. wants Detroit’s Board of Zoning Appeals to allow construction of an asphalt mixing facility on Detroit’s northwest side. The project had faced opposition from community members and had been rejected by Detroit’s Buildings, Safety, Engineering and Environmental Department late last year. They are proposing a 25-acre facility in an area already zoned for intensive industrial use. The site would have 50-feet-high silos for mixing and storing raw aggregate like gravel and asphalt. The proposal was rejected due to concerns about its proximity to residential neighborhoods.
The Dearborn Mayor hopes to turn the Fairlane Town Center site into the “heartbeat of our city.” Affordable housing and green space are only two of the many possibilities that could reinvigorate the mall. He wants to brainstorm with business leaders to improve the space. Mayor Hammoud envisions an affordable housing project, a public health project, an environmental sustainability project, and a flood mitigation project. He wants to pitch ideas to area developers to formulate a plan that will utilize the available city, county and state resources.
The northern end of Detroit’s Eastern Market food district is headed for redevelopment. The former Detroit Water and Sewerage Department building is being redeveloped as The Mosaic. Robert Montwaid, who created Gensevoort Market in New York City and Chattahoochee Food Works in Atlanta, will build a 25,000-square-foot food hall on the site. A 4,000-square-foot rooftop bar is also planned. Construction on the $33 million redevelopment is set to begin this year and is expected to be complete in 2024. The food hall and bar will be open next year.
Detroit plans to spend $95 million over the next four years to get rid of or improve vacant business structures across the city. The efforts will use more than 10% of its federal COVID-19 pandemic recovery monies on commercial blight remediation. Previously, the city’s blight removal focus has been more on residential than commercial. The American Rescue Plan Act dollars is changing that. The effort isn’t just about removal, but about preparing for opportunities that will come after demolition.
The Lyon Township Planning Commission recommended final plan approval for residential components of the Orchard Crossing development on the Erwin Orchards site. It will create 121 single family homes and 40 duplex homes on 77 acres. The orchard’s operations will continue for now. A pedestrian crossing over Silver Lake Road has not been resolved, and it will be delayed until there’s further development on the orchard operations. The plan includes a paved event center parking lot, a larger bake shop and farmer’s market, a tasting room and a possible drive-thru. The construction of homes will be done in four phases as homes sell, but there isn’t a specific construction timeline.
Detroit’s housing market continues to thrive. Sales and prices are rising at a rate unlike others in the metro area. January’s median sales price was almost a third higher than a year ago. Sales are up 3 percent. They’re down in other areas of the region. The number of homes on the market in Detroit is up more than 26 percent. Across southeast Michigan, sales are down 8.8 percent, and listings have decreased 4.3 percent. Supply continues to be lower than the high demand. Homes are selling faster because there are fewer houses on the market, causing buyers to jump on homes quicker.
Clinton Township and Mount Clemens officials are frustrated with the Detroit Zoo and its Great Lakes Center for Nature plans. Four years ago, Detroit Zoo officials announced the facility would be located in Macomb County. However, the zoo is now considering a tract of undeveloped wetlands along Hall Road, adjacent to Macomb Community College’s Center Campus. The Clinton Township Treasurer questions the decision of building the nature center in one of the most heavily populated commercial areas of the county. Two years ago, Clinton Township and the city of Mount Clemens offered Shadyside Park on the banks of the Clinton River at no cost to the zoo, noting that the direct access to Lake St. Clair and its established trails would make it an ideal site. The Clinton Township Commissioner is concerned about the minimal benefits the county is receiving from the Zoo for the 0.1 levied on each taxpayer in the county.