Entries by Tracy Willis

New Nonprofit To Support The Joe Louis Greenway

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 […]

Michigan Mobile Home Owners Feel The Pinch As Lot Rent Increases

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 […]

The Office Market Continues to Limp Post Pandemic

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 […]

Redevelopment of Detroit’s Roosevelt Park Begins

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, […]

Mortgage Demand Dips Past Great Recession Levels

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 […]

Median Home Prices Reach New Heights in Detroit

Detroit’s median sales price for a home topped $100,000 in June. According to the CEO of Realcomp, it’s the first time values have been that high, and it’s an important benchmark. The median sales price of $100,250 in Detroit is based on June sales figures. Wayne, Macomb and Oakland county values have also reached new […]

Birmingham Couple Files Race Discrimination Lawsuit in Federal Court

Birmingham couple, Jeffrey Hall and Deann Nash have filed a federal lawsuit alleging housing discrimination. They purchased property in Paint Creek Estates in Oakland Township and submitted plans for a stone house to the neighborhood’s architectural review committee. The committee rejected the plans. The HOA insists the rejection is about design and not race. Hall […]

Harper Woods Developer Buys Cleveland Apartment Project.

Harper Woods-based developer American Community Developers Inc. purchased and has renovation plans for a 484-unit apartment project in Cleveland.  The company specializes in the buying and rehabilitating affordable housing. Cleveland’s Rainbow Terrace was built in the 1950s and sits on 31 acres. The units are a mix of garden-style apartments and townhouses for low-income families. […]

Judge Dismisses Lake Charlevoix Lawsuit

33rd Circuit Court Judge Roy C. Hayes III dismissed the lawsuit against Hayes Township officials. The lawsuit alleges a lack of due process and conflict of interest concerning the construction of a boathouse and private marina on residential property. The plaintiff  and neighbor LuAnne Kozma and her husband, with support from environmental groups, have been […]

Entrepreneur Nurse Set To Transform Detroit Block

Nurse Sonya Greene’s redevelopment project is transforming a Detroit block into a business district. The project is called The Shift and  will include a fresh food market, barbershop, hair salon, nonprofit office space and a 4-unit newly renovated apartment complex. The  food market is an 1,800-square-foot property at 12752 Linwood St. The market, the barbershop […]