Historic Train Depot in Lansing is Due for a Makeover

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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 4,045 square feet may be repurposed as a restaurant, retail or office space. A new parking lot and drive thru will be added, along with a green space parklet. Construction is expected to begin in September and wrap up during summer 2022.

Sterling Group Pockets $36 Million for Joe Louis Parking Deck in Detroit

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Sterling Group’s quick sale of the Joe Louis Arena parking garage netted eight figures for the Detroit real estate company. Sterling Group purchased the property from the City of Detroit in a deal that became public in October 2019. The real estate company paid $2 million in cash to the city and reimbursed the city $12.1 million  for the demolition within the area. Detroit also saved $3 million on parking deck improvements, $4 million on remediation of the arena site, and about $7 million in tax-increment financing dollars.

Former Site of Detroit Country Day School Purchased

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The historic former Detroit Country Day School building has sold. The 38,500-square-foot building has sold to JCJ Development LLC which is registered to Jordan Jonna. JCJ Development will convert the original school building into a residence. In 2017, Detroit Country Day announced a $30 million campus expansion and vacated the building. The building received a $2.9 million purchase offer from the Troy-based Kensington Church in 2019. The church withdrew its offer after community protest.

 

 

Wholesaling Middlemen Descend on Neighborhoods

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States and cities in the U.S. are cracking down on a niche in house-flipping known as wholesaling. The wholesalers do not typically hold real-estate licenses which makes regulation difficult. Wholesalers negotiate with homeowners and then put the homes under contract and sell those contracts to home-flippers. A home that just needs a little upgrade is long gone in today’s market. Instead, wholesalers are targeting homes that aren’t on listing services and need major overhauls. Most are in poorer neighborhoods. There are allegations that some wholesalers mislead struggling homeowners about the value of their property and take advantage of the situation.

Second “First” Home Buyers Accelerate Home Prices In Southwest Michigan

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A beachfront house in New Buffalo will set a new record for Southwest Michigan.  It will be the fourth home in New Buffalo to sell for $4 million or more in the past year. The real estate boom in Southwest Michigan is not only at the upper end of the market. Along the 16-mile strip of shoreline towns from New Buffalo to Bridgman, home sales were up 48 percent in the first quarter of the year from the same time in 2020. Buyers aren’t necessarily buying vacation homes. They may keep their first residence in another city, but think of New Buffalo as “home” for now as they wait to see how things play out with the pandemic. New Buffalo is seeing an influx of buyers from Indiana and the Chicagoland areas.

Vacant Farmington Hills Property Flip Flops…Again

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The property at 30250 Grand River Avenue in Farmington Hills will flip flop, once again. Formerly an auto dealership, the property most recently housed a school, Steppingstone School for gifted children. The school moved on in 2018, leaving the building empty. A Farmington Hills developer will revive the property and bring it back to its auto dealership days. However, the lot will be used for online sales instead of in-person sales. The city needs to approve the site plan since the use is once again changing.

Short-term Home Rentals Create Debate

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Two Michigan bills that address short-term home rentals have created intense debate about who will determine how to regulate dwellings like Airbnb or vacation rentals. The Ann Arbor-based Michigan Municipal League and Lansing-based Michigan Association of Realtors are on opposite sides with each asking its constituents to email, call and write to their local legislators about the bills. Under the bills, a short-term rental would be a residential use of property. It would be a permitted use in all residential zones. It would not require a special use or conditional use permit, and it would not be a commercial use of property. Opponents of the bills call them a “cookie-cutter approach” to legislation that ignores the different needs of Michigan communities.

 

Michigan Legislature May Nix Short-Term Rental Laws

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Bills in the Michigan legislature that have bipartisan support would nix local laws that ban or limit short-term rentals through zoning. The bills are controversial and have garnered heated debate. Proponents like Airbnb, realtors, and lawmakers from both parties say the proposed changes to state law are about personal property rights and do not prevent cities from regulating short-term rentals. Opponents, which include leaders from cities all over the state and hoteliers, say they do not support an outright ban on short-term rentals. They feel that local leaders should have the power to decide what rules are most effective for their communities.

U.P. Vacation Home Prices Boom

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In keeping with vacation locales in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, the prices of vacation properties in the Upper Peninsula are on the rise. With limited inventory, many of the recent cottage buyers hail from out of state and intend to use their new U.P. properties during winter months as well as summers. Realtors are seeing multiple offers on every listed property. The median sale price was $197,000 from January 1 through mid-May. That’s nearly a 20% increase from the same period pre-pandemic in 2019.

 

Farmington Hills Council Denies Housing Development Proposal

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Farmington Hills Council denied a 26-home development because of concerns about the property’s density. The development was proposed for the former Piemontese Social Club site and would’ve been geared toward senior citizens wanting to downsize. Both council and neighboring community members expressed concerns about the closeness of the homes to each other. The ranch-style homes would have sat on 10 acres.