West Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees Denies Controversial Proposal

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The West Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees has denied the controversial proposal to rezone a location known as The Corners property from single-family residential status to a planned development district. The property is located at 2075 Walnut Lake Road on the site of the former Walnut Lake Elementary. The school closed in the mid 90s and was transformed into a multipurpose building. The proposal to rezone met with opposition because it includes a baseball diamond, a playfield and mature trees. The proposal would have enabled the property to be redeveloped into a 101-unit townhome community.

Detroit’s Yorba Hotel Is On The Market

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Detroit’s Hotel Yorba is back on the market at a reduced price. Located at 4020 W. Lafayette Blvd.,  in the city’s Hubbard Farms neighborhood, The historic hotel’s purchase price was reduced from $3.3 million to $2.95 million. The four-story building has around 250 hotel rooms with common bathrooms on each floor. The property is owned by Gerald Jankowski. The hotel opened in 1926 and was designed by Detroit architecture firm Pollmar & Ropes.

 

Bedrock LLC Adds Hotel To Its Portfolio

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Dan Gilbert’s Bedrock LLC has purchased the Roberts Riverwalk Hotel at 1000 River Place Dr. The property is the newest splurge in the company’s $80 million shopping spree on Detroit’s riverfront. Bedrock began collecting property along the east Detroit riverfront during the pandemic. The company owns almost 1 million square feet of office space, about 1,600 parking spaces and ore than 40 acres of land in addition to the new hotel purchase. The hotel’s purchase price is undisclosed. Dan Gilbert’s $80 million-plus spending spree on the east Detroit riverfront continues.

Emagine Is Moving To Walsh College Troy Site

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.Emagine Entertainment Inc. is moving its headquarters to the Walsh College campus in Troy. The company has leased the second floor of the college’s facility for three years. The building includes an on-site gym, showers, and conference space. Emagine’s Chariman Paul Glantz hopes the amenities will entice workers to come back tot he office. Emagine has hired several Walsh interns and graduates and hopes the new environment will lead to finding and hiring more talent. The company will make the move in January.

 

Ann Arbor Attempts To Smooth Building Process For Developers

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Real Estate developers have complained for years about Ann Arbor’s many requirements and layers of review and approval for building projects. Some have stated that they’ll never do business in the city again because it’s easier and less costly to build new housing in other places. Ann Arbor officials are trying to right that wrong. The City Council voted to shorten the approval process. Projects that meet the city’s zoning requirements will not have to go through council. Instead, they’ll be reviewed and approved by city staff and the Planning Commission. City leaders are discussing more steps to smooth the process as the city tries to attract high-density development along transit corridors.

Detroiters Tangled Up In Title Transfers

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Many Detroiters are dealing with “tangled titles.” They’re in living situations, like inherited homes, where home titles haven’t been transferred from deceased family members. Foreclosure prevention experts often come across title problems where heirs need more education on how to navigate the title transfer problems. Title issues prohibit people from gaining access to assistance programs that help with home repairs or back property taxes. When a home title doesn’t transfer within a family, it cripples families’ abilities to build generational wealth. Title issues occur when there isn’t a will or trust in place. Transferring ownership then has to occur through probate, and that process is out-of-reach for many who can’t afford a lawyer. The stakes grow higher when people are facing tax foreclosure. Michigan Legal Services, a nonprofit legal services organization, has helped over a thousand in Wayne County administer probate cases to transfer title to the heir occupying the home. The need for these services far outweighs the available legal resources.

 

Fort Ponchartrain Hotel’s Second Tower Plans Revisited

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Investor group, Operadora de Servicio Para Hoteles de Lujo, is revisiting the idea of building a second hotel tower on the Fort Pontchartrain hotel in downtown Detroit.  They recently issued a request for proposals for an economic feasibility study fro a 390-room addition to the property. The addition would include 40 for-sale condominiums. There have been plans to build a second tower for the hotel for years. The plans go as far back as 2015. They were abandoned until 2018 when 498 rooms across a 28-story expansion were proposed. At that time, the hotel was called the Crowne Plaza Downtown Detroit Riverfront. At that time, the Detroit City Council called for a neutrality agreement for a labor union to represent hotel workers. In 2021, the hotel’s ownership renamed it Fort Pontchartrain, a Wyndham Hotel, and reopened the Top of the Pontch restaurant.

 

Northville Downs Project Moves Forward

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Northville’s City Council members voted unanimously to advance a preliminary planned unit development plan for the old Northville Downs site. The council place conditions on its approving vote. The City Council will meet one more time before developer Hunter Pasteur can break ground. The discussion between city officials and vocal residents has been contentious at times, but most agree that horseracing track should be repurposed. The developer plans to put about 450 dwellings on the property. Some residents feel that they city has compromised too much, and a lot of their concerns have gone addressed.

 

Home Builders Buy Down Rates to Keep Prospective Buyers

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Builders are taking matters into their own hands, and the high interest rates and falling demand are forcing the issue. Rate buydown programs and other interest rate specials are on the rise in the new-construction market. Builders are making concessions to their bottom line in order to keep prospective buyers in the game. Builders are offering programs to lock down interest rates, guaranteeing rates or offering a few years of discounted interest rates so buyers can later refinance at a better rate. The saying “marry the home and date the rate” describes the thinking behind the move. According to the vice president of operations for M/I Homes Detroit, the company has spent millions to secure enough funds to provide several dozen loans. They’ve done this three times since this summer.  The company takes a 4 to 5 percent hit on the purchase of a home. Robertson Homes has taken between 1 1/2  and 2 points off a fixed-rate mortgage by contributing funds to the lender up front.

 

 

Grand Rapids and Grand Haven Receive State Funding For Contamination Cleanup

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The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy has awarded a $1.73 million brownfield cleanup grant to Grand Rapids and Grand Haven. The monies will be used for three residential and mixed-use projects on properties contaminated by gas and oil. Grand Rapids’ Boston Square Together is one of the projects that will benefit from the grant, enabling the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority to address the environmental contamination on the site. The monies will also be used for future commercial condominiums in Grand Haven and a planned residential development in northeast Grand Rapids.