Property Types

Cannabis Company Opens in Saugatuck Township

The New Standard cannabis company has moved into a newly built retail store in Saugatuck Township. The new site is the company’s 6th dispensary in West Michigan and seventh store across the state.  Located at 6406 Blue Star Highway, it carries more than 275 products for retail and curbside service. The company opened its first location in Hazel Park in April 2020. New Standard recently acquired Agri-Med LLC which was operating three dispensaries in Muskegon, Edmore and Nunica.

Detroit’s Eastern Market Area Gains Office Space

Detroit’s Eastern Market and its food-centric footprint is the target of a $24 million office redevelopment plan. Developer Christos Moisides has big plans for a former cold storage building at 2529 Orleans St. The 63,400 square-foot building would included 55,000 square feet of office space. The remainder would be commercial space that would included a brewery and restaurant. Moisides paid $4.1 million for the building and will spend over $17.4 million on construction and other costs. He is seeking a 12-year tax abatement from the city.

Harper Woods Shopping Mall Proposed for Industrial Development

Harper Woods’ city planning commission is considering a proposal that would turn the struggling Eastland Center shopping mall into a new industrial/warehouse development. NorthPoint Development LLC is asking for a planned unit development that would raze the enclosed mall and build about 1.03 million square feet of industrial/warehouse space across three buildings on the site.  A 514,000 square-foot building would be built on 36 acres of the site. Another 310,000 square feet would be built on 24.1 acres, and 207,000 square feet would be built on 18.8 acres. 15 acres would remain undeveloped.

Buyers Continue Bidding Wars

It continues to be a “dog-eat-dog” world for home buyers. Brokers advise clients to get pre-approval, save, and have some cash to bring to the table. Many home buyers are waiving home inspections, bidding before seeing the home, paying cash, and paying thousands over the asking price to get to the closing table. With more buyers than sellers, the competition is vicious with the average home going for $10,000 over the asking price. Appraisal guarantees are deal-makers, and buyers will have a hard time winning a bid without one.

Investors Add to Competitive Housing Market

With limited housing inventory, homebuyers are already over a barrel when shopping for a new home. But add investors into the mix and the market becomes even tougher. Nationally, Metro Detroit has experienced the second-highest increase in the number of investor-purchased homes year over year. Investors are cash buyers who can close more quickly which makes it even harder for buyers getting a mortgage. But for the seller, cash is king and a cash sale allows a seller to move on with their future.

Detroit Midtown Development Gets a Boost

Petit Bateau, a $31 million Midtown mixed-use development, received a tax break from the Michigan Strategic Fund. The fund approved a more than $247,000 state tax break to fund environmental decontamination. The 92-unit project also received $2.6 million from the city in tax abatements for decontamination work. Twenty percent of the development’s residential units are set aside for individuals at 80 percent of the area median income or below.