Michigan Real Estate News

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Apartment Complex Planned at Walker Golf Course Property

The Walker Planning Commission recently approved a preliminary site plan for a 522-unit multifamily apartment complex at the English Hills Country Club property. Further,the Planning Commission also approved a rezoning request for the adjacent property at 1470 Four Mile Road NW. The rezoning request for the adjacent parcel is from agricultural to high-density residential. In addition to Planning Commission approval, that request will also need approval from the Walker City Commission. About half of the proposed apartments will be one-bedroom units. Forty percent would be two-bedroom units and 10 percent would be three-bedroom units. The apartment buildings will take up approximately 30 percent of the two properties, which total 142 acres. The average unit size is 1,000-square-feet.

West Michigan Lakeshore Office Market Remains Stable

Compared to larger cities like Chicago or Detroit,  the West Michigan lakeshore office market has remained stable through the pandemic. Still, commercial clients are conservative. Some are downsizing their office footprint or relocating to a smaller downtown area, like Holland,  so they can still offer a physical business site with nearby amenities when they need to conduct in-person business.  Medical office, insurance and financial sectors are particularly active in the lakeshore markets.

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

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.