Metro Detroit’s Fair Market Rents Increase

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The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is predicting rent hikes for the 2023 fiscal year in metro Detroit. It published fair market rents at a 11.9 percent increase for a two-bedroom apartment. The rate is increasing from $1,084 to $1,213, beginning October 1. This increase is higher than the Michigan and national averages which hover around 10.3 to 10.4 percent. Metro Ann Arbor rates are 9.7 percent higher. Kalamazoo County wins the prize for the highest fair market rent increase at 19.3 percent. Private sector data was used to estimate changes. The figures are used to determine rent ceilings for certain low-income and emergency grants, as well as the worth of housing vouchers and the maximum award amounts for Continuums of Care.

 

Amazon Pivots, Cancels Warehouse Plans in Ypsilanti Township

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After years of expansion in southeast Michigan, Amazon has begun scaling back by scrapping its plans for a new warehouse building in Ypsilanti Township. The plan had called for a 183,200-square-foot facility and had been dubbed “Project Yoga.” The cost of the project was $21.4 million and was to be constructed on about 30 acres of a 120-acre parcel.  Amazon has also indefinitely postponed it’s plans to build a new facility in Pittsfield Township. Amazon’s footprint in the region includes about 13 million square feet or more and includes redevelopments of the former Pontiac Silverdome site and the former Michigan State Fairgrounds property in Detroit. It’s finalizing construction on a Canton Township facility in the coming weeks.

 

Birmingham Place Property Sells to Bacall Companies LLC

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Bacall Companies LLC has purchased the office and retail portion, as well as some of the parking portions,  of the Birmingham Place property in downtown Birmingham for $37 million. The purchased closed Wednesday afternoon and is the third the company has made in Birmingham’s downtown. They’ve also purchased the property at 380 N. Old Woodward Ave. and the Huntington Center office building at 220 Park St. The purchased portion is between 107,000 and 108,000 square feet with 96 percent leased. Conway MacKenzie, Sotheby’s International Realty and Brooks Wilkins Sharkey & Turco PLLC are the current key office tenants. The purchase doesn’t include the 142 condominiums on the building’s top floors.

 

Dearborn Issues Demolition Notice for Village Plaza Tower

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Village Plaza tower, a 12-story office building in Dearborn, is slated for demolition. According to Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, the city has issued a demolition notice to the property owners after several attempts address the notices of violation. The demolition notice was issued after an August 12 city inspection. The 285,468-square-foot building has evacuated in early 2018 because of safety issues.

 

College Hotel Demands High Price

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Ann Arbor’s Graduate Hotel is located a few blocks from campus, making it a convenient place to stay. Although spring commencement at the University of Michigan is 8 months away, the hotel is  sold out for the weekend in April. They do have openings for Wolverines football games, to the tune of $3,000. Visitors to the Graduate Hotel book their rooms months, and even years, in advance. Prices for popular dates typically ring up at exorbitant prices. For example, want to head to this year’s U-M vs. Michigan State game? It’ll cost you $1,599 per night with a 2-night minimum stay. By the time taxes and fees are added, guests are facing a bill of over $3,500.

 

Revised Fisher Property Plan Approved by Farmington Hills City Council

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Farmington Hills City Council has approved a revised planned unit development and site plan for a skilled nursing facility and residential units at the St. Vincent and Sarah Fisher Center. The initial plan proposal was denied in October 2021. Optalis Healthcare and Robertson Brothers’ revised plan decreases the number of dwellings on the property. Originally, the plan included 156 townhomes, but now it includes a combined 94 townhomes and detached single family homes. The townhomes will face Inkster Road, and the single family dwellings would back up to the neighborhood west of the property. Optalis also decreased the bed count on the skilled nursing center from 350 to 100.

 

Stiiizy Opens Ferndale Dispensary

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California’s best-selling cannabis brand is coming to Michigan. Stiiizy opened its new location in Ferndale this past weekend. It hosted a grand opening at 642 E. Nine Mile Road. Stiiizy offers a clothing line, skateboard decks, and smoking accessories in addition to cannabis products. The company has previously partnered with charitable efforts in Michigan. In 2021, Stiiizy partnered with the Michigan Urban Farming Initiative to host an event to teach sustainable gardening to children at Detroit’s MUFI urban farm.  In early 2022, they worked with Easterseals Miracle League to fundraise for a new accessible field in Orion Township’s Friendship Park.

 

 

New Michigan State Law Is Pricing Out Redevelopment Plans

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A new state law that allows for former property owners to collect surplus proceeds after a foreclosed property is sold is crippling redevelopment plans. The law received praise because it allowed those who were able to recoup some of the money from sales that would have gone into county government monies. More than 300 metro Detroit property owners filed forms to recoup the profits of the auction sales on their foreclosed properties. According to Hazel Park City Manager, he rejected taking two properties that the city would’ve normally developed because former property owners had filed claim forms on them. In Oak Park, the city passed on a property with a filed claim form because its value was too high. The claims add more cost to the purchase price of the foreclosed homes, making them prohibitively expensive.

Plymouth’s Fox Hills Golf Club Sold After 50 Years of Family Ownership

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Sisters Kathy Aznavorian and Sandy Mily recently sold the Fox Hills Golf Club to Virginia-based Heritage Gold Group. The sale took place in July, and its terms are undisclosed. Their parents bought the property 59 years ago when it was known as the Plymouth Country Club. After inheriting it from their parents, the sisters expanded, adding several new courses to bring the number of holes to 63, including an 18-hole course made up of par 3 holes. They added a clubhouse in order to host big events throughout the year. According to the vice president of operations at Heritage Gold Group, the name, the course and the food will remain intact. The company also kept the entire staff on, including several family members of the original owners.

 

 

Paper Trail Links Birmingham’s Townsend Hotel to Yellen

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While Sheldon Yellen is mute about his pending purchase of the Townsend Hotel in Birmingham, state business filings and documents speak volumes. The Michigan Liquor Control Commission has received an application to transfer the liquor license from the hotel’s current owners to an entity called BHIP Townsend Hotel LLC. The entity is registered at the Oakland Avenue address for Yellen’s Birmingham-based property restoration company, Belfor Holdings Inc., whose CFO is Chris Jones. Chris Jones is named on the BHIP filing, as well as attorney Alan J. Schwartz who is identified on other business filings as Yellen’s attorney.