Adaptive Real Estate Trend Is On The Rise

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U.S. developers are embracing the office-to-housing conversion trend.  Between 2020 and 2021, 32,000 new apartment units were created by converting existing building spaces that had been used for other purposes. Forty-one percent were former office buildings. In the last year, Grand Rapids has approved zoning changes that allowed commercial building owners to  convert first-floor retail into residential space.  Other cities leading the adaptive real estate trend include Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, and Cleveland.  Last year was the biggest year on record for adaptive real estate.

 

 

Up-North Brewing Company Buys Inn To House Employees

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A lack of affordable housing in northern Michigan is cramping the style of northern Michigan’s businesses. Short’s Brewing Company needs to hire summer workers, but future employees have nowhere to live.  In a creative problem-solving move, the brewery bought the Bellaire Inn and is converting and updating the 26 units as space for its incoming hires. They’ll offer local businesses an opportunity at the remaining units.  Each unit will be fully furnished with a bathroom, fridge and microwave. All utilities will be included. The brewery will hire a full-time, on-site inn keeper.

Coalition Suggests Ways For Overtax Paybacks

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The Coalition for Property Tax Justice released a report outlining a series of ideas for ways the city could compensate overtaxed homeowners. It included survey results from more than 200 Detroiters. Ideas included property tax credits, Section 8 rental vouchers, home repair grants, Detroit Land Bank Authority’s rehabbed homes, and as-is Land Bank homes paired with home repair grants or cash payments. Although cash payments to overtaxed homeowners was a main focus, Detroit’s top attorney has indicated that the city cannot use general fund monies to compensate individuals. State law prohibits direct support from the general fund for private purposes.

 

 

Fairlane Town Center Has Sold to Redeveloper

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Sources have identified the Dallas-based Centennial Real Estate company as the new owner of the Fairlane Town Center. The company specializes in mall and open-air shopping center redevelopment. The purchase also includes the Shops at Willow Bend in Plano, Texas. Both properties are currently owned by Florida-based Starwood Capital Group, which is delinquent on its commercial mortgage-backed securities debt on the properties. Centennial took over another Starwood mall mortgage earlier this year.

 

 

Rising Mortgage Rates Impact The Housing Market

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Rising mortgage rates are not dampening buyer demand. However, getting an offer accepted is no small feat. The rising mortgage rates haven’t brought down prices yet. Buyers could be feeling a sense of urgency to find a home before rates increase further.

 

Ann Arbor Nine-Story Development Breaks Ground

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The construction of The Glen, a mixed-use development on the corner of Glen Avenue and Ann Street has finally broken ground after several years of delays. It was approved in 2017 and was scheduled to open in 2018. Technical changes were made in 2019, and construction was to begin in 2020 when the pandemic delayed it further. It’s now expected to open in 2024. The building will house 164 hotel rooms and suites and 24 apartment suites. It will also include a fine dining restaurant, meeting and event spaces, retail shops and 241 parking spots.

Detroit Home Buyers More Practical As Home Prices Increase

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According to Jeanette Schneider, RE/MAX of Southeastern Michigan president, homebuyers are becoming realistic. They’re less likely to waste time looking at homes that do not address their needs. This shift is in contrast to last year when buyers were willing to take what was available out of fear of not getting a house.  Inventory is still limited and prices continue to rise. March’s median sales price was up 10.7 percent from last year. However, the increase is lower than the previous year. The number of sales fell in March by 8.7 percent, but pending sales were up 2.3 percent.

 

 

Rehabbed & Ready Program Restores and Refurbishes Detroit Properties

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Detroit Land Bank Authority’s Rehabbed & Ready program has refurbished residential properties across Detroit neighborhoods. They typically gut the homes, put thousands of dollars worth of work into them (including new electrical, plumbing, windows and landscaping) and sell them to new buyers. The Land Bank took a loss on some of the homes that had fire damage or asbestos issues, but the home sales lifted the neighborhoods’ home prices. The Land Bank’s goal is to restore existing value into homes. The program has sold nearly 100 homes since 2015 and is expanding over the next three years to restore an additional 200 houses. The goal will continue to be adding residences and raising property values.

 

 

Judge Orders Packard Plant Demolition

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A Wayne County Circuit Judge has ordered the Packard Plant owner Fernando Palazuelo to immediately demolish the deteriorating industrial site and foot the cost of the demolition after missing a trial date. The Peruvian developer and his attorney missed a March 24 trial date. The structures that sit on two 2-acre sites are dangerous and threaten the public’s welfare. The demolition could cost millions of dollars and has been ordered to begin by early June. It’s required to be completed by the end of June. Palazuelo has until April 21 to pull permits for demolition of his portions of the plant.

 

Ann Arbor Rezones Briarwood Mall Area

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The Ann Arbor City Council recently voted to permit reclassifying over 200 acres around Briarwood Mall under the city’s new TC1 transit-corridor zoning category. The rezoning of 68 properties in the State Street and Eisenhower Parkway commercial area makes way for downtown-style development on the city’s south side. According to the mayor, the council’s steps will create a substantial amount of housing units in the city.  The goal is to encourage high-density, mixed-use development. Building height limits range from 550-300 feet and depend on how close sites are to residential areas.