Nicole Curtis’ Years-Long Dispute Decided

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HGTV star and Lake Orion native Nicole Curtis was awarded the Islandview property she’s been fighting to save. The decision ends a years-long dispute in which Curtis sued the Detroit Land Bank Authority in March to recoup her investment. Her Detroit Renovations LLC purchased the property from a private owner in 2017 for $17,000. The following year, she discovered that the Detroit Land Bank Authority argued that it actually held the title to the property. Once this was discovered, Curtis and the land bank entered negotiations to fix the issue, but talks broke down. After two rulings in favor of the Land Bank, an order awarding the property to Curtis’s company was entered this week.

Bedrock Purchases Stroh River Place Property

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Bedrock LLC finalized the purchase of the Stroh River Place property from The Stroh Companies, Inc. The 500,000-square-foot building sits in the Rivertown Warehouse District, east of downtown Detroit. The purchase includes 735 parking spaces and 4.4 acres of undeveloped land. The property sits along the 3.5-mile Detroit Riverwalk and is the company’s second purchase outside of downtown Detroit. The site used to be a manufacturing and research facility. The Stroh Brewery Company purchased the building in 1979 and renovated it.

Building Permit Application Lets The Cat Out Of The Bag

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Because of a building permit application, the Apple Developer Academy’s future site is finally public knowledge.  The Apple Developer Academy is going into the 850,000 square foot National Building in downtown Detroit. It will be located on the second and third floors of the building. Based on permit cost, construction is estimated to be $1.41 million. The program will cover coding, design and entrepreneurship.

Black-Owned Commercial Real Estate Firm Adds Diversity

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The commercial real estate industry is historically homogeneous, populated largely by white men in the executive ranks, even in a city like Detroit, where the population is more than 80 percent Black. The Greenwood Commercial Real Estate Group adds some diversity to the homogeny. The firm is named for the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma,  commonly called Black Wall Street and at one time a thriving Black economic hub before it was destroyed in 1921 after the arrest of a young Black man for the purported “assault” of a 17-year-old white girl. James Pitts, head of the Atlanta office of Greenwood, believes that Greenwood CRE will help Black real estate professionals break into commercial real estate.

Home Buyers Need Creativity in Today’s Market

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It’s a home seller’s dream come true. With parts of Michigan down to just a one-month supply of housing inventory, buyers need to get creative with their home-buying strategies. Realtors offer advice like positioning yourself to be the backup offer on sale-pending homes. Often the deals are to good to be true and fall through. Getting your backup offer in is like putting your foot in the door. Some buyers are making creative offers that include payer other buyers to take their offers off the table.  Making sure you have a realtor who is well-experienced with getting offers accepted and showings scheduled, even virtually if necessary, can make a huge difference in your success.

Former Scripps Mansion Site Envisioned For Townhomes

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A trio of developers are planning 65 townhomes in Detroit’s Woodbridge neighborhood. The $18.5 million development is at 3700 Trumbull St. between Selden and Brainard streets. The joint venture is a collaboration between Detroit-based Tekton Development, Detroit-based Civic Companies, and Bloomfield Hills-based Robertson Bros. The development would have 48 one-bedroom townhomes with about 1,300 square feet and 16 two-bedroom townhomes with about 1,600 square feet. Construction should begin in the fall and be completed within three years.

Hudson’s Site Tower Takes Shape

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The Hudson’s site tower is finally showing above-ground signs of construction three years after the Bedrock Detroit real estate firm broke ground at the old J.L. Hudson building site at 1200 Woodward Avenue. The property will include 150 residential units, a 200-plus-hotel, 400,000 square feet of office space, a 1,200-person event space, and 18,000 square feet of retail space. The completion date has been pushed back to the 2nd quarter of 2024. The planned tower is now also much shorter than the original concept.

A $150 Million Asking Price For Detroit Parcels . . . Stunning

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Three properties on the Detroit Riverfront have been listed for a total of $150 million, 15 times the price the owner paid in 2015 and 2016 when he purchased them. Owner Michael Shaya arrived at the price based on the properties’ “potential,” stating that “The price is commensurate the scale and size that can be built on these properties, which is in the millions of square feet.” Experts are skeptical that he will get his asking price.

Old Detroit Lions Offices Make Way for Godfrey Hotel

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The old Detroit Lions’ administrative offices, located at in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood on Michigan Avenue, will be demolished to make way for a Godfrey Hotel. The 227-room, $74 million project will be the 5th Godfrey Hotel in the country. The hotel will contain a restaurant, bar, ballroom, and rooftop café. Construction is expected to take 18 to 20 months and is a joint venture of Oxford Capital Group and Hunter Pasteur Homes.

Wayne County Expands Back Tax Assistance Program

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The Wayne County Treasurer’s Office has expanded its tax assistance program to now assist commercial property owners and landlords who have up to five occupied rental properties. The program gives eligible landlords and businesses time to pay off the back tax debt but doesn’t lower the 18% yearly interest rate. It allows them to pay 25% down and then pay off the rest of their balance through March of the next year.

One incentive to participate in the plan: The tax foreclosure process will move forward this year for all property classifications; the Wayne County Treasurer does not anticipate extending the foreclosure moratorium through this year, even for residential properties.