Entries by Tracy Willis

Detroit’s Eastern Market Area Gains Office Space

Detroit’s Eastern Market and its food-centric footprint is the target of a $24 million office redevelopment plan. Developer Christos Moisides has big plans for a former cold storage building at 2529 Orleans St. The 63,400 square-foot building would included 55,000 square feet of office space. The remainder would be commercial space that would included a […]

Harper Woods Shopping Mall Proposed for Industrial Development

Harper Woods’ city planning commission is considering a proposal that would turn the struggling Eastland Center shopping mall into a new industrial/warehouse development. NorthPoint Development LLC is asking for a planned unit development that would raze the enclosed mall and build about 1.03 million square feet of industrial/warehouse space across three buildings on the site.  […]

Investors Add to Competitive Housing Market

With limited housing inventory, homebuyers are already over a barrel when shopping for a new home. But add investors into the mix and the market becomes even tougher. Nationally, Metro Detroit has experienced the second-highest increase in the number of investor-purchased homes year over year. Investors are cash buyers who can close more quickly which […]

U of D to Redevelop City of Detroit Rec Center

The University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy has purchased the former city of Detroit recreation center and park in northwest Detroit. The 12.5-acre property was purchased in February 2020 for $625,000. As part of the sale agreement, the school will open the renovated center for community meetings and classes, as well as kids’ […]

Detroit Midtown Development Gets a Boost

Petit Bateau, a $31 million Midtown mixed-use development, received a tax break from the Michigan Strategic Fund. The fund approved a more than $247,000 state tax break to fund environmental decontamination. The 92-unit project also received $2.6 million from the city in tax abatements for decontamination work. Twenty percent of the development’s residential units are […]

Mall Properties Transition to the Untraditional

With mall vacancy rate across the U.S. setting new records, it’s no surprise that malls are standing empty or being repurposed. Two new occupants of the Lakeview Mall in Battle Creek are doing just that. A climate-controlled self-storage developer bought the former Macy’s and plans to rent storage units, reachable by an indoor drive-through, and […]

Westin Book Cadillac Penthouse Condo Sets a New Record for Detroit

A Westin Book Cadillac penthouse sold for $3.537 million. The penthouse sits atop the 31-story high-rise hotel in downtown Detroit. The deed was recorded in Wayne County in December. The sale came at a time when the downtown Detroit condo market was oversaturated. Previously, the most expensive Detroit condo sale was recorded at about $1.8 […]

Midtown Development’s Tax Credits Expire

The Mid development in Midtown is headed toward a financial loss. The developer is still trying to get the project off the ground. Almost $9 million in Michigan Business Tax brownfield tax credits expired on Thursday, June 10, 2021. The 10-year expiration looms because the development team has not built the promised seven stories of […]

Century-Old 1031 Exchange Tax Break Is On The Chopping Block

Thanks to a 100-year-old provision in the tax code, real estate investors have been able to roll earnings from the sale of one property into the purchase of another to avoid paying taxes on the gains from the properties they sold. Section 1031 covers a transaction that is commonly called a like-kind exchange and provides […]

Historic Train Depot in Lansing is Due for a Makeover

A 113-year-old train depot on Michigan Avenue, just a few blocks from the state Capitol building, is coming back to life. Vacant since 2016, the Lansing property was the former location of Clara’s restaurant, and is being redeveloped by the Gillespie Group. A  national coffee retailer will occupy part of the depot, while the remaining […]