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Redevelopment of Detroit’s Roosevelt Park Begins

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Detroit officials broke ground on the $6 million redevelopment of Roosevelt Park in front of the Michigan Central development in Corktown. The project involves redirecting a section of Vernor Highway that bisects the park. It also includes plans for a promenade that will connect Michigan Avenue to Michigan Central Station, plaza spaces and event lawns, expanding the park by 3.5 acres. It is expected to be completed in the spring of 2023. The redevelopment is funded by the American Rescue Plan Act and from the city’s general fund.

Median Home Prices Reach New Heights in Detroit

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Detroit’s median sales price for a home topped $100,000 in June. According to the CEO of Realcomp, it’s the first time values have been that high, and it’s an important benchmark. The median sales price of $100,250 in Detroit is based on June sales figures. Wayne, Macomb and Oakland county values have also reached new heights with increases ranging from 10.1 to 17.6 percent increases. While the increases benefit homeowners, it leaves many first-time buyers grasping at straws. Inflation, high demand for housing, and the scarcity of new construction have contributed to the issue.

Entrepreneur Nurse Set To Transform Detroit Block

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Nurse Sonya Greene’s redevelopment project is transforming a Detroit block into a business district. The project is called The Shift and  will include a fresh food market, barbershop, hair salon, nonprofit office space and a 4-unit newly renovated apartment complex. The  food market is an 1,800-square-foot property at 12752 Linwood St. The market, the barbershop and 1 or 2 of the apartments are expected to be open in late August.  Greene purchased the market space in December 2017. Although she wanted the whole development to open at one time, funding dictated a different approach.

Human Migratory Habits Change Post Pandemic

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Although offices are beginning to reopen as vaccinations climb, many employers are still allowing employees to work remotely from home indefinitely. Those who are able to continue working remotely at least part of the time are heading for greener pastures, literally. Real estate company Redfin reported this month that online searching for homes in suburbs and rural areas has increased since the first quarter of 2020 in most major U.S. metro areas. Before the pandemic, a bigger house might not have seemed worth the commute, but if that commute is cut down to 1-2 days a week, the story changes.

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Home Buyers Need Creativity in Today’s Market

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It’s a home seller’s dream come true. With parts of Michigan down to just a one-month supply of housing inventory, buyers need to get creative with their home-buying strategies. Realtors offer advice like positioning yourself to be the backup offer on sale-pending homes. Often the deals are to good to be true and fall through. Getting your backup offer in is like putting your foot in the door. Some buyers are making creative offers that include payer other buyers to take their offers off the table.  Making sure you have a realtor who is well-experienced with getting offers accepted and showings scheduled, even virtually if necessary, can make a huge difference in your success.

Grand Rapids Property Developer Receives Tax Incentives

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Chicago-based 3F Properties has received $3.6 million in tax incentives to transform a 3-story vacant industrial building into 173 market-rate apartments. The property is located along Market Avenue SW and will include studio, one bedroom, and two bedroom units. The Grand Rapids development will rent apartments ranging from $975 to $1700.  The project also received a 10-year Obsolete Property Rehabilitation Act incentive valued at $2.9 million.

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.

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Michigan Realtors Shocked & Awed By Housing Market

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Michigan realtors are stunned by the dog-eat-dog housing market. The low home inventory and historically low mortgage interest rates have created the perfect storm. Michigan’s supply of housing inventory is down 61%, and the median sale price is up 13.5% from a year ago. Some realtors say a home’s listing price has become something akin to a reserve price at an auction. Buyers are bidding far above the asking price and offering cash on the table. At the least, buyers need to come to the table with substantial cash down payments.

Group Halts Work on Historic Mill Site

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Rezoning of the historic Glen Arbor Mill faces opposition.  A group was able to successfully halt work on the site for 30 days while they collected signatures to add a referendum on the November ballot. The property owner intercepted an email in an effort to discredit the group. The rezoning of the historic property remain controversial.

Lawyer – No Light at the End of the Pandemic Tunnel for Property Owners

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The future of real estate continues to be in a flux. At a federal level, GSEs have continued to extend foreclosure and eviction moratoriums through June 30, 2021. The Center for Disease Control issued its own eviction moratorium in September 2020, and the Biden administration has extended it through March 31, 2021. In Michigan, the pandemic’s eviction moratoriums have expired, although the Michigan Supreme Court has recognized the CDC Order. No formal foreclosure moratoriums were ever instituted in Michigan, but social distancing requirements have halted the proceedings that are held in courthouses which have been closed to the public during the pandemic.

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Zombie Properties Becoming More Common

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In the first quarter of 2021, 1 in 14,825 homes sat empty during the foreclosure process, but that number is on the rise. In the second quarter, one of every 12,256 homes are zombie properties. The spike may be due to lenders foreclosing on homes that were already abandoned. However, even with the increase, zombie foreclosures are still just a blip on the radar screen. The trend has been seen before when government officials try to delay foreclosure proceedings for so long that distressed borrowers simply abandon the property before the foreclosure can take place.

Real Estate Slow Down In Sight?

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Although nearly 50% of the homes sold for more than their list price in the last four weeks ending May 16, there are signs that housing market demand may be reaching its peak. In the 7-day stretch leading up to May 16, pending sales were down 10%  from four weeks prior. Home prices remain astronomically high, although mortgage rates spiked last week, jumping 6 basis points to 3%. There has also been a slow down in new listings.

Millions Face Eviction & Uncertainty

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As states challenge the federal moratorium on evictions, families across the U.S. don’t know if they’re going to have a place stay.  An avalanche of evictions could soon become a reality as renters owe $53 billion to landlords. The Texas Supreme Court lifted the moratorium on evictions on March 31. As a result, the Dallas-Fort Worth area has the third-most eviction filings in the country. The moratorium is scheduled to be lifted on June 30. According to the Aspen Institute, 40 million Americans are at risk of losing their homes.