Nonprofit Tackles Grand Rapids’ Homelessness Issue
/in Grand Rapids /by Tracy WillisMel Trotter Ministries is targeting Grand Rapids’ homelessness issue. The city planning commission recently granted approval to the nonprofit’s plans to rezone three industrial lots on Garden St. SE into a planned redevelopment district. Mel Trotter Ministries plans to build a mixed-use tiny home development called Hope Village. It will include 16 detached tiny homes and the redevelopment of a vacant two-story industrial building to add 10 workforce apartments upstairs. The ground level will be used for amenities, social services and offices and space for light industrial tenants. They tiny home will be 240 to 480 square feet. They will be available to tenants who make 20 to 40 percent of the area median income. They will also come with a path to ownership.
Grand Rapids Office Market Continues to Sputter
/in Grand Rapids /by Tracy WillisThe Grand Rapids third quarter office market vacancy rate hit 13.1 percent. The vacancy rate has been increasing since the pandemic as employees move between work-from-home and in-office situations. According to the real estate firm JLL, the market will continue its stops and starts for a while to come. Detroit’s General Motors is an example of the trend. The employer requested employees to come in three days a week only to rescind the request when employees pushed back. Grand Rapids suburban and central business district vacancy rates are one of the lowest in the U.S.
Lansing-Based Company Announces Grand Rapids Satellite
/in Grand Rapids /by Tracy WillisLansing-based Clark Construction Company announced this week that it will open a Grand Rapids office in McKay Tower. The office will house the company’s West Michigan outpost. The company has done more than $500 million of work in the Grand Rapids area in the past ten years. The outpost is expected to open in the next 1 to 2 months. The company’s Vice President Dan Korte will lead almost 30 West Michigan employees at the new site. Currently, the company is in the middle of the Gun Lake Casino’s Phase Five project.
Northville Downs Project Moves Forward
/in SE Michigan /by Tracy WillisNorthville’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
/in SE Michigan /by Tracy WillisBuilders 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
/in Detroit, SE Michigan /by Tracy WillisIn 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.
Michigan’s Rental Aid is Backlogged as Need Continues Rise
/in Detroit, Grand Rapids, Northern Michigan, SE Michigan, Western Michigan /by Tracy Willis173,000 tenants have applied for the statewide rent aid program that was launched to help renters avoid eviction and meet their payments. Wayne County makes up about one-third of the applicants. Detroiters make up 22% of the rent help applicants. According to the chief operating officer of the Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency, they continue to see high numbers of requests for support. The Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey reports that between Dec. 1 and Dec. 13, more than 100,000 Michiganders said they were behind on rent or mortgage payments. Less than half of the applications for assistance were approved as of January 7. Statewide, wait time between application and approval averages 35 to 40 days. In Wayne County, that wait time may take as long as 10 weeks. MSHDA has hired staff combat the backlog and high numbers of applications in Wayne County
Residential Sale Prices Continue Upward Trend
/in Detroit, Grand Rapids, Northern Michigan, SE Michigan, Western Michigan /by Tracy WillisProspective buyers in Michigan’s housing market placed higher bids in 2021. A lack of inventory caused a 13.8% increase in residential sale prices in 2021 compared to the same period in 2020. There was a 3% increase in total sales. Branch County, Detroit, Bay County, Sanilac County and Mason, Oceana and Manistee counties reported higher than 20% increases in housing prices. Gratiot, Isabella, St. Joseph, Greater Shiawassee and Hillsdale counties reported less than 7% housing price increases. Antrim, Charlevoix and Kalkaska were the only to counties to report a decrease in home prices (-0.7%).
Adrian Mall Proposal Includes Mixed-Use Redevelopment
/in SE Michigan, Western Michigan /by Tracy WillisAn Adrian Mall proposal aims to redesign the mall into a mixed-use facility that will include multifamily residential housing, anchor business tenants, and different options for retail and dining establishments. A church and self-storage units are also planned. The Adrian Planning Commission hasn’t voted on the proposal yet, but they’ve entered into discussion about the pre-application presentation. Some commissioners expressed optimism toward the presented ideas. An important part of the project is to demolish the water-damaged and mold-laden portion of the mall. Both conditions caused the mall to be condemned two years ago.
.
Michigan’s Vacation Home Market Is Hot
/in Northern Michigan /by Tracy WillisDemand for vacation homes is just as strong as the market for first homes. During the first half of 2021, vacation home sales jumped more than 57 percent when compared with 2020. Several counties in Northern Michigan are considered “vacation home counties,” which are counties with 20 percent or more of their housing inventory listed as seasonal. Leelanau County is a prime example. The average home price in the first quarter of this year jumped to $779,960 from $494,649 in the same quarter of last year. A more shocking comparison can be made when the average home in Leelanau County sold for $274,831 in 2012!
Up-North Brewing Company Buys Inn To House Employees
/in Northern Michigan /by Tracy WillisA lack of affordable housing in northern Michigan is cramping the style of northern Michigan’s businesses. Short’s Brewing Company needs to hire summer workers, but future employees have nowhere to live. In a creative problem-solving move, the brewery bought the Bellaire Inn and is converting and updating the 26 units as space for its incoming hires. They’ll offer local businesses an opportunity at the remaining units. Each unit will be fully furnished with a bathroom, fridge and microwave. All utilities will be included. The brewery will hire a full-time, on-site inn keeper.
Utility Companies Seek Land For Solar Farms
/in Grand Rapids, Northern Michigan, SE Michigan, Uncategorized, Western Michigan /by Tracy WillisMichigan utility companies are securing real estate to expand their solar energy generation capabilities as consumer demand accelerates. DTE Energy Co. needs 20,000 to 35,000 acres of southern-facing flat land to erect solar arrays over the next 10-15 years. Consumers Energy Co. currently generates 40 megawatts of electricity from solar and plans to be at 8,000 megawatts by 2040. That will require between 40,000-56,000 acres of land. Customer demand and land usage is a balancing act that Lansing policymakers haven’t yet addressed. Industry leaders anticipate some community resistance.
Nothing Found
Sorry, no posts matched your criteria
Suburb Home Values Outpace Urban Areas
/in National /by Tracy WillisThe suburban real estate market is winning the property value race against the urban market. Up until June 2021, urban homes were gaining dollar value more quickly. However, after July 2021, home values in the suburbs rose faster due to the shift to remote work. Urban home values have continued to accelerate, but suburban home values are edging them out.
Star Southfield Theater To Be Repurposed
/in National, SE Michigan /by Tracy WillisThe Triumph Church is expecting to repurpose the shuttered Star Southfield movie theater into a new campus. The site will include a worship center, a children’s area, a student area and a community space. The church site will also provide assistance with transportation, medical, financial and rental assistance, employment skills training, a pregnancy center and counseling center. Converting movie theater sites is often difficult due to their sloped floors and layout. The plan includes a 1,600-seat worship center, a 350-seat chapel, and a fellowship hall in the main lobby area. In other areas of the country, repurposing of theaters has taken on many forms like medical offices, a department of motor vehicles and self-storage.
Metro Detroit’s Home Prices Highest in Decades
/in Detroit, National, SE Michigan /by Tracy WillisMetro Detroit home prices have increased, up 14.6 percent in February when compared to last year. The increase is the highest they’ve been in decades. The managing director for S&P Dow Jones Indices has gone on record saying they’re in the top decile of growth for Detroit over 30 years of tracking. The country is also showing the highest increases on record, up 19.8 percent. Detroit metro’s median increase is 5.1 percent, higher than the 4.7 percent national median. Read estate brokers agree that home ownership is becoming out of reach for new buyers and people of color.
City Living More Affordable Than Suburban
/in Detroit, SE Michigan /by Tracy WillisIn 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.
New Apartment Building Proposed for Detroit’s Midtown
/in Detroit /by Tracy WillisGreatwater Opportunity Capital has proposed a new four-story, 57-unit apartment building next to the existing fire-damaged Brainard Apartments. After a February 2020 fire, Greatwater acquired the Brainard Apartments and the site next to it that is home to two unused solar panel arrays. The panels once supplied some electricity to the Brainard Apartments, but since the fire, the panels have stayed off. The developer is almost finished with the Brainard Apartments’ rehabilitation. Greatwater plans to remove the solar panels to make way for the new building that will include studio and one-bedroom apartments as well as ground-floor commercial space.
New Amazon Fulfillment Center Opening is Delayed
/in Detroit /by Tracy WillisDetroit’s new fulfillment center opening will be delayed until next year. The 3.8 million-square-foot fulfillment center was originally scheduled to be open by spring of 2022. It’s being built on the city’s old Michigan State Fairgrounds on Woodward near Eight Mile. Developers faced backlash from community members who expressed concerns about hiring locally and environmental protections at the site. Amazon promised the city to recruit Detroit residents through the Detroit at Work employment program, beginning 5 months ahead of the facility’s opening. According to the city, 100 Detroit residents currently work at the fulfillment center. Recruitment efforts to fill those positions began earlier in 2022. Michigan currently has five Amazon fulfillment centers, one tech hub and seven Whole Foods Market locations.