Franklin Partners has purchased the old GM stamping plant site in Wyoming. The real estate development firm plans to use the 74-acre site for industrial development. The manufacturing plants will range in size from 150,000 to 1 million square feet. They purchased the site from the city of Wyoming for $5.25 million. According to Wyoming City Manager, Curtis Holt, the property has tremendous potential for manufacturers.
In an 8-3 vote, the Ann Arbor City Council has given initial approval for the rezoning of over 200 acres around Briarwood Mall. The city-initiated rezoning will need final council approval next month. Its intent is to encourage high-density, mixed-use development with limited building heights determined by the proximity of residential areas. City officials are hopeful that it will lead to a mix of housing and commercial spaces. The three council members who voted against the proposal view the rezoning as a giveaway to developers and landowners.
Construction crews continue to make steady progress on Woodward West, the five-story apartment building in Midtown Detroit. The residential and retail development has already started pre-leasing and should be completed this summer. The development will add 204 apartments and 25,000 square-feet of retail space to the Midtown community. The first floor will consist of retail space.
Farmington Hills-based Bacall Companies LLC has purchased a downtown Birmingham office building and parking deck at 380 N. Old Woodward Ave for $14 million. The company plans to invest $1 million in renovations that will include tenant improvements. Renovations will begin in the next 45 days. The 42,000-square-foot building is 100% leased and is the second key downtown Birmingham office building sold this year.
Construction on the Rochester Hills Amazon Fresh grocery store has stalled. In fact, work has stalled on three of the four Amazon Fresh stores in the region, Shelby Township, Rochester Hills and Troy. Construction at the Livonia location continues. Although Amazon has never confirmed it’s opening branded grocery stores in the region, sources point to site plans that were submitted to the four communities over the last year. Sources also believe that Amazon is waiting until early 2023 to open all the locations at once.
Washtenaw County’s county clerk, Larry Kestenbaum, has been researching county property records for over 17 years. He has found evidence of racially restrictive covenants all over the county. These policies kept people of color from living in many neighborhoods unless they were in-service for white families. A group called Justice InDeed, along with the Civil Rights Litigation Initiative at the University of Michigan have decided to get involved with the project. Together with Kestenbaum’s office, they filed paperwork to officially repeal and replace the 1947 whites-only policy for the Hannah subdivision in Ann Arbor. Although the restrictions haven’t been legal or enforceable for years, repealing them will affirm the neighborhood’s welcoming inclusivity.
CHN Housing Partners, a Cleveland-based nonprofit, is partnering with nonprofit Detroit Blight Busters to build new multifamily housing by Detroit’s Old Redford Neighborhood. The two nonprofits were approved to rezone the property for the project, but still need site plan approval from the city. They plan to build 48 one- to three-bedroom rental units. A “Kid’s Camp” will also be constructed for Blight Busters programs on youth fitness and nutrition. Construction is expected to start in 2023.
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.