Upper Peninsula State Representative Requests AG Investigation

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Rep. Sara Cambensy, D-Marquette has requested that the Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel investigate an Upper Peninsula development company headed by a Northern Michigan University board member. The firm states that Cambensy’s claims are “meritless and reckless.  Cambensy wrote a 13-page letter on July 28, sounding an alarm about a potential conflict of interest and misuse of state and local money in regards to the former Marquette General Hospital. 

 

 

Rocket Mortgage’s Issues Forecasted for Other Mortgage Lenders

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Rocket Mortgage’s struggles are evident in the earnings report released Thursday evening by Rocket Companies Inc., and they are not likely to be unique as other mortgage companies face challenges. According to Rocket CFO, Julie Booth, the rise in rates had a big impact on rate and term refinance demand. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate has experience its steepest and fasted rise in 50 years. While drastic, Rocket’s diminished earnings were not surprising. Henry Coffey, an analyst with Wedbush Securities, says the same will most likely be true for United Wholesale Mortgage and Home Point Financial when they report earnings next Tuesday and Thursday. Detroit’s Rocket Mortgage is the nation’s largest mortgage lender, generating a record $351 billion in closed loan volume in 2021.

Rent And Occupancy Rates Are on The Rise in Metro Detroit

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Apartments are a hot commodity in Detroit with supply falling short of demand. Rent costs and occupancy rates in the metro area are increasing. According to the Detroit Multifamily Real Estate Figures, occupancy rate is at 96 percent for multifamily residences in Detroit.  The asking rental rate per square foot has increased from $1.64 to $1.72 over the last six quarters. Supply and demand issues, as well as new developments and redevelopment of existing property, are impacting rental rates. Suburban rental rates follow a similar pattern.

 

Rochester Hills Robotics Company Plans $86 Million Expansion

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Fanuc, the Rochester Hills-based manufacturer of robotics, is planning an $86 million expansion. Within the last week, they’ve purchased the former Thomas M. Colley Law School campus for $18 million.  The purchase included the former law school building and an adjacent 67 acres. The company is planning a 655,000-square-foot plant on the acreage. The company currently employs 1,200 in Michigan; this expansion will add another 100 workers. The new purchase follows on the heels of the company’s 461,000-square-foot North Campus in Auburn Hills in October 2019.

 

Ann Arbor Planning Commission To Hold Hearings On New Proposals

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The Ann Arbor Planning Commission will hold public hearings on three new development proposals on Wednesday, August 3 at 7:00 p.m. The projects include a four-story residential building with 185 new housing units, the reimagining of The George mixed-use apartment and retail complex, and a special-exception use proposal for a childcare center. The new housing units would redevelop the University Inn site. The reimagining of The George would convert 23,462 square feet of ground floor retail space to 42 residential units. The proposal for the childcare center would repurpose an existing building at 1301 Morningside Drive in northwest Ann Arbor.

 

 

 

New Nonprofit To Support The Joe Louis Greenway

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Detroit’s new Joe Louis Greenway Partnership is a new nonprofit conservancy that supports the 30-mile-long Joe Louis Greenway. The conservancy will connect residents in Detroit, Hamtramck, Highland Park and Dearborn to the Detroit River. The Joe Louis Greenway Partnership will help with fundraising, care of the path, programming and community outreach. The nonprofit was incorporated with the state in January. Once it’s approved by the IRS, the conservancy’s nonprofit status will allow it seek more philanthropic support.

Michigan Mobile Home Owners Feel The Pinch As Lot Rent Increases

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Across the U.S., private equity investors are buying up manufactured housing communities and driving up lot rents. Many mobile homeowners have lower or fixed incomes, and increases in rent make it difficult to meet expenses. Older mobile home residents are particularly impacted, often lacking money for adequate food.  A series of Michigan bills could hamper those investors’ actions by creating more protections for mobile homeowners and updating the state’s manufactured housing law. Mobile home ownership is one of the few affordable housing options in rural and urban areas.

 

The Office Market Continues to Limp Post Pandemic

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More than two years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the office market is still reeling. Sublet office space availability is at a 10-year high. Over 2.37 million square feet is available in the five-county area. Office tenants are subletting unused space. If they are unable to sublease, they give back the additional space to landlords, usually in an early lease restructure or relocation to another place. According to the president of the Advocate Commercial Real Estate Advisors LLC brokerage house, the amount of sublease space on the market will increase in the next 3 to 6 months. In addition, leasing activity is slower than usual, and no new construction of office space occurred in the second quarter.

 

 

Redevelopment of Detroit’s Roosevelt Park Begins

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Detroit officials broke ground on the $6 million redevelopment of Roosevelt Park in front of the Michigan Central development in Corktown. The project involves redirecting a section of Vernor Highway that bisects the park. It also includes plans for a promenade that will connect Michigan Avenue to Michigan Central Station, plaza spaces and event lawns, expanding the park by 3.5 acres. It is expected to be completed in the spring of 2023. The redevelopment is funded by the American Rescue Plan Act and from the city’s general fund.

 

Mortgage Demand Dips Past Great Recession Levels

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According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, as Washington, D.C.-based industry trade group, the demand for mortgages has dropped lower than any time during the Great Recession over ten years ago. The severe housing shortage continues in Michigan and across the country, limiting the availability of existing homes. Soaring interest rates are also impacting the mortgage market. According to a study from Up for Growth, Michigan is almost 87,000 houses shy of where it should be. Data from Realcomp reveals record-high sale prices in Wayne, Macomb and Oakland counties, as well as in Detroit.