Rising Mortgage Rates Cool Detroit’s Housing Market

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Rising mortgage rats have calmed metro Detroit’s housing market this summer. Inventory continues to be tight and is inhibiting a more “normal” market. According to agents, many sellers are still getting multiple offers and selling above asking price, buyers have a bit more leverage can sometimes knock a listing’s price down a bit. There has been a slight increase in the number of listings, but the number is still lower than what is needed. Bidding wars still occur, but are happening at somewhat lower prices than before.  Increasing mortgage rates are impacting buyer’s budgets. Last year, a 30-year, fixed mortgage was 2.9%. Last week the average was 5.7%. That adds more than $300 to monthly mortgage payments.

Ross Snags $100 Million for DCI Project

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Stephen Ross has acquired a $100 million in the state’s next budget for The Detroit Center for Innovation.  The Detroit native is the developer of the project. He previously committed to donating $100 million for the center to be built. With the budget deal being finalized, the center will have $200 million of its predicted $250 million price tag. Ross’ company will construct the center and donate it to the University of Michigan. The 200,000-square-foot building will be part of a three-building campus located on Ilitch-owned land and parking lots west of the Fox Theatre in Detroit.

Deeply Affordable Housing Units Planned for Detroit

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Developers Cinnaire Solutions, Woodbridge Neighborhood Development Corp., CHN Housing Partners and Detroit Blight Busters will create nearly 200 new units for at-risk residents. The four new housing projects will created 183 affordable units for residents who earn 60 percent of the area median income ($42,960 for a family of two). The projects will also include 20 market-rate apartments. Old Redford, Midtown, Woodbridge and MorningSide neighborhoods are the site of the new units. They are funded, in part, by $38 million in Low-Income Housing Tax Credits from the state.

 

 

 

Bankhole Thompson Calls Out Bedrock’s Tax Subsidy Grab

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According to Bankole Thompson, Detroit needs improvements that will impact the lives of its ordinary residents. The tax breaks for big companies are off the backs of ordinary citizens. Residential poverty still exists because of the lack of initiatives designed to make a difference. The city has given away huge tax subsidies to highly capitalized companies who don’t follow through with concrete plans. This is what’s creating the opposition to Dan Gilbert’s request for $60 million in tax breaks for the Hudson site project. Gilbert has the money to complete the project without a tax break from disenfranchised Detroiters. The author believes the heart of the issue is a civil rights issue. The jobs that are promised during the PR blitz for subsidies often do not materialize. The City Council should use the tax break Gilbert wants for more important quality of life issues.

 

 

Demolition Contract For Portion of Packard Plant to be Awarded This Month

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The Detroit City  Council will consider awarding a demolition contract for a portion of the Packard Plant later this month.  Only one bidder responded to a May request for proposals to tear down the building at 6199 Concord St.  The city will most likely award the contract to the unnamed bidder in the next week. According to the director of the Detroit Demolition Department, the city is moving quickly to tear down that portion of the plant because of the danger it poses to The Display Group Ltd., who operates its Display Group Creative Collective in the adjacent space. Demolition is expected to begin in late summer.

 

Long Awaited Demolition on Detroit Building Begins

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The Gateway Center building, across from the Westin Book Cadillac hotel, is being demolished. Plans for the demolition have been known as far back as 2016.  The upper exterior on its western side was removed by Thursday afternoon. The demolition is expected to be finished by August. Owner Richard Karp indicated that he wanted to do a mixed-use development back in 2016. He declined to comment on the recent activity. Entities linked to Karp’s Lansing-based Karp and Associates development firm paid $700,000 for the building in 2013.

 

Historic Downtown Building Changes Hands in $5.9 Million Deal

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The historic Merchants Building in downtown Detroit has sold in an off-market deal for $5.9 million.  A party linked to Detroit-based Method Development LLC bought the building last month. Method will share full development plans for the project in the near future. Broadway Merchants LLC bought the building in 1996. The building was listed in 2014 for $4 million, but never traded hands.  Method has been active in other parts of the city, as well.

 

Amazon Ditches Square Footage

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Amazon is subleasing at lease 10 million square feet and possibly terminating leases in New York, New Jersey, Southern California and Atlanta. The figure could be as high as 30 million square feet. This is in contrast to the the company’s acquisition of 200 million square feet during the pandemic. In the Detroit area, it’s a different story. The company currently occupies or is building at least 13 million square feet. According to sources, Amazon was more deliberate in the Detroit area, as opposed to other areas where it acquired square footage where it could find it. The company also seems to be dropping smaller spaces and not mega-centers like those in the Detroit area.

 

 

Hotel Residents Demand Affordable Housing

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Evicted tenants who have become hotel residents are about to have their federal aid come to an end. They called on city officials for help finding affordable housing before the federal aid runs out. More than 275 Detroit households have used federal aid through the federal American Rescue Plan to pay for hotels following eviction. The tenants had been informed that the aid would be cut off on June 1. Of the 88 households currently living in hotels and supported by the aid, 40 have received an extension on their end date to June 30. The other 48 already had later end dates.

 

 

Equinox Hotel Planned for Detroit Center For Innovation

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The Detroit Center for Innovation will include an Equinox hotel. The hotel will be designed to host visiting sports teams and will include gyms and a special floor for them to work out. The entire project will encompass a 300-acre district of residential, office, education and entertainment. The center will include a University of Michigan graduate campus. Ross and Ilitch, the muscle behind the project, believe it will attract companies and make local graduates want to stay in the state.