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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
