Amazon will open a sorting center in Plymouth at the old Spartan warehouse on Haggerty Road. Amazon plans to add 30,000 square feet to the existing 300,000 square feet of the structure. The development will add 200 jobs to the area with an investment of $2.5 million. This continues the growth of Amazon facilities in Southeast Michigan.
Family Video will close about 60 Michigan locations in the next month. A decline in foot traffic and new movie releases due to COVID-19 has contributed to the closures. However, the owners will still be in the game because they own the underlying real estate. The strategy of purchasing corner properties located in close proximity to neighborhood traffic has made the properties highly desirable for future tenants.
Plymouth township residents want the former Courthouse Grille demolished, sooner rather than later. Development companies have made plans in the past, but ultimately backed out. Hope is on the horizon with District Capital Detroit’s plan to build a multi-story residential complex.
Macy’s will close 45 stores nationwide by the middle of 2021. These closures come on the heels of the company’s February 2020 announcement of their plans to cut 2,000 jobs and close roughly 125 locations. The company received a credit line of $3.15 billion in June of 2020 which has allowed it to survive the impact of COVID-19. The timing of the store closings may be adjusted as Macy’s monitors its recovery from the pandemic and the performance of its competitors.
Grand Rapids median home prices are predicted to grow 6.5% in 2021, mirroring the 6.8% growth between 2019 and 2020. Younger adults are a driving force behind the trend with the median household income also increasing from $68,703 (2019) to $80,000 (2020).
Houghton’s planning commission will reconsider a previously approved zoning request to rezone approximately 15.5 acres. The previous request included a wetlands area. The wetlands area was removed from the earlier request. However, concerns continue to be raised about the land use along the shoreline.
Ideas for further development of Ferndale’s parking deck, “the dot,” include 11 apartment units. The apartments would be 1-2 bedrooms, ranging in square footage from 704 to 1,333 square feet. The agreement with the city requires 50% of the apartments to be affordable housing to meet a variety of income levels.
Samaritas moves forward with its plant ot build a 4-story building with 54 apartments for low-income seniors. The development will go up near the recently renovated Al Perri furniture building and will allow Samaritas to consolidate its child and family service in the greater Muskegon and lakeshore area. Construction is slated to being in early 2021.
The New York Legislature has passed a comprehensive and controversial anti-eviction law. The new law bans tenant evictions for a least another 60 days and offers some foreclosure protection to small business owners, as well as renews tax exemptions for elderly or disabled homeowners. Critics feel the law goes to far and doesn’t require proof that financial hardships are due to the pandemic or define income limitations to qualify for eviction protection.
Community Builders, a Grand Rapids-based nonprofit, is partnering with the city’s Homeless Outreach Team to coordinate short-term accomodations and support service for the area’s homeless population. The Geographically Targeted Housing Outreach intiative (GTHO) is funded in part by the city of Grand Rapids Emergency Solutions Grants under the federal CARES Act.
A Detroit Free Press investigation discovered gaps in the state’s safety net designed to prevent renters from losing their homes. Although the number of evictions has decreased when compared to 2019 data, 4 factors are crippling the state’s evction protection measures: A lack of comprehensive statewide data, missing key information to track communities that have not received aid, local judges who fail to follow the state Supreme Court order, and landlords who are finding leasing loopholes.
The raw number of mortgages in active forebearance rose last week, driven by the share of loans in forebearance and rising from 5.2% to 5.3 % in private label securities or banks portfolios. The share of FHA and VA loans in forebearance also increased. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac maintained their 3.5% portfolio share from the prior week.