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.

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.

 

 

City Living More Affordable Than Suburban

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In the month of October. while home prices continued to increase, sales fell sharply in metro Detroit. According to RE/MAX of Southeastern Michigan, rising mortgage rates led to the drop in sales. RE/MAX of Southeastern Michigan sows a 28.3% decrease in sales, and Realcomp showed sales decreased 26.7%. Both report an increase in median sales price of 4.3% or higher. Livingston, Macomb, Oakland, Wayne and Washtenaw counties were consistent in both prices and homes sales data. However in comparison, Detroit has greater affordability, decreasing only 2.3% in sales, making city living more in reach than in the suburbs.

 

Metro Detroit Home Builders Hold Pessimistic Outlook for 2023

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Interest rates continue to rise. Issues with labor availability, materials costs and supply chain slow downs persist. New construction waiting lists are shrinking because people are priced out of the new homes they had set their sights on. Home builders are mired in pessimism as the industry slows. Detroit builders are shifty to other types of development, including remodeling work, self-storage and multifamily apartments. Builders are normally trying to dig basements and frame houses before winter hits, but that isn’t the case this year. September 2022 saw the lowest number of housing  permits pulled since 2011. Rising interest rates continue to impact the market. In contrast, multifamily permits are having their best year since 1998.

 

Trinity Health Systems Plans Mixed-Use Development in Grand Rapids

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Livonia-based Trinity Health System has its sights set on 10 parking lots in downtown Grand Rapids, but it’s not for a new hospital site. They are seeking $19 million in federal funding to convert the lots into a mixed-used development to ease the city’s affordable housing shortage.  Trinity was one of 319 applicants to submit requests to Kent County for a share of the $127 million awarded to the county in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)  funding. The Kent County Board of Commissioners will most likely finalize its remaining ARPA allocations at a November 14 meeting. Trinity Health is exploring additional funding sources for the project, including Brownfield Redevelopment Authority tax credits, Michigan Community Revitalization Program and Michigan Missing Middle Housing Program funds and a philanthropy and capital allocation from Trinity itself.

 

 

Sterling Heights City Council Approves Lakeside Mall Redevelopment Plan

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Following two hours of discussion, the Sterling Heights City Council approved a redevelopment plan that will raze Lakeside Mall.  The proposed Lakeside Town Center project will include 150,000 new square feet of retail and dining space. Miami-based Out of the Box Ventures will tear down the shopping center and replace it with more than 2,800 residential units, and new retail, office and hotel space over the course of 12 years. The project has a $1 billion price tag. A $45 million public bond will be issued to pay for public infrastructure improvements at the site located at Hall and Schoenherr roads.

 

Southfield Center Shopping Mall Struggles To Keep Afloat

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The Southland Center shopping mall is struggling. According to New York City-based Trepp LLC, the shopping mall is underwater on its commercial mortgage-backed securities debt (CMBS).  The mall was appraised for $66.9 million in September after it went into special servicing. It owes $64.5 million on its 2012 $78.75 million Barclay’s loan. Rialto Capital Advisors LLC is the special servicer and can determine whether to foreclose on the loan or arrange an agreement or loan modification. Special servicers are appointed upon default of a loan.

 

Mortgage Rates Surge Upward As Q3 Earnings Post

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Rising interest rates are having a big effect in Southeast Michigan. According to Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate is higher than 7%. This surge hasn’t been seen since April 2002. The U.S. Federal Reserve is hiking rates in order to control inflation. Detroit-based Rocket Mortgage parent company Rocket Companies Inc. will soon be reporting its third-quarter earnings on Nov. 3, providing a better picture of how mortgage companies will fare in the future months. Ann Arbor-based Home Point will report its earnings on Nov. 10. Pontiac’s UWM has not released the date of its third-quarter report.