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Traverse City’s Cherry Capital Airport Expansion on the Horizon

Traverse City’s Cherry Capital Airport had its busiest month in July of 2021, serving just under 113,000 travelers. According to the airport’s director, the airport’s peak summer traffic could grow by another 32% by 2030. The airport is making preparations to support that growth. The Northwest Regional Airport Authority approved a parking expansion that will break ground next week. According to Klein, TVC’s existing long-term parking lot has 989 parking spaces. The expansion will  incorporate a new EV charging station, underground stormwater retention systems, and restriping of the existing lot. The expansion sill add 425 spaces in total. Preliminary plans could triple the size of the airport’s terminal in the future.

 

 

 

Northville Psychiatric Hospital Site Slated For Demolition

The state psychiatric hospital site in Northville Township will be demolished as early as the summer of 2022. The hospital has been closed since 2003. The Northville Township Board of Trustees approved a $12 million bond sale to fund the clearing of the site. Previously in 2018, the site’s nine-story structure was demolished in 2018. The property will be developed into hiking and biking trails, with over 96% of the 332 acre site returned to a natural state. The township’s general fund will not be used to pay for the clearing.

Book Mansion Hits Market Soon

The James Burgess Book Jr. mansion on East Jefferson Avenue will most likely hit the market for sale in the very near future. The property has been taken back by a foreclosing lender. The 1911, 12,000-square-foot building had been owned by Historic Book House LLC. The approximate $1.245 million mortgage is from December 2016. Soaring Pine Capital Real Estate and Debt Fund II are the lenders. The deadline to redeem the property by paying $937,006 plus interest is January 29. According to a Soaring Pine representative, that is unlikely to happen. The occupants had planned to hold orchestral concerts for the Ars Poetica Chamber Orchestra and give music lessons to pay back the loan. Unfortunately, those plans went by the wayside with the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Walbridge Fills Up Warehouse and Begins Work on a Second

With Detroit-based Walbridge Group’s new warehouse in Lyon Township utilized by a German auto supplier, the construction company has begun putting up another warehouse. Webasto Roof Systems Inc. has leased the Lyon Distribution Center I. Distribution Center II is under construction with 150,000 square feet of building space to be complete in the next 12 months. Walbridge owns the 515-acre property that encompasses both sites. Of that 7.6 million square feet under construction, 86 percent is bulk warehouse and distribution space.

Auburn Hills’ Volkswagen Building Sells to Redico

Southfield-based Redico LLC and New York City-based Mavik Capital Management LP have bought the Volkswagen of America Inc. building in Auburn Hills.  The building at 3800 Hamlin Road sold for an undisclosed price. Details of the structure of the joint venture are not public. Volkswagen had considered moving its Auburn Hills operations to Southfield but opted to sign a new lease in the building that had been owned by MAK Real Estate Investment Inc. Once the new lease was signed, MAK Real Estate Investment began exploring putting the building up for sale. The building sits on 19 acres.

 

Port Authority Raises Concerns Over Boblo Building Destruction

Detroit-Wayne County Port Authority alleges that the Ambassador Port Co. is not taking the appropriate steps toward demolishing the Boblo building. According to the port authority’s law firm, Ambassador Port is acting in violation of its Master Concession Agreement with DWCPA.  The razing of the Boblo building is included in a pending deal between the two parties. The agreement would end the Master Concession Agreement, and Ambassador Port would gain ownership of the dock site from the port authority. In exchange, it would pay $1 million outright, waive the authority’s $2 million debt, and pay $2 million in blight removal and cleanup work. The deal requires Detroit City Council approval to move forward. The possibility of the building’s destruction before the pending deal is finalized is concerning to the port authority.

Fairlane Town Center and The Mall at Partridge Creek Change Management

Fairlane Town Center in Dearborn and The Mall at Partridge Creek in Clinton Township are now being managed by Syracuse, N.Y.-based Spinoso Real Estate Group LLC. Spinoso is marketing the two malls for lease. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Partridge Creek was under financial stress when Starwood Capital Partners defaulted on a $725 million loan that included the shopping center and three other mall properties in Michigan. It recently entered receivership. Fairlane Town Center entered receivership last year.

Self-Storage Real Estate Sector Is On Fire

The self-storage industry has rebounded from the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. As people make room in their homes for remote job environments, the home sales market drives an increase in storage needs. Restaurants and offices look for places to stash extra furniture to accommodate social distancing needs. The demand for self-storage is high. With self-storage vacancies down, the rent is also high. However, the self-storage market may be hitting a saturation point. Experts raise concerns about whether Detroit’s population can support an overbuilt self-storage market.

Development Team Buys Auburn Hills and Canton Township Sites

The development team of Farmington Hills-based Friedman Real Estate and Southfield-based General Development Co. has bought 40 acres of land in Auburn Hills for $3.7 million and 18 more acres in Canton Township for an undisclosed price. This is the same team behind the Oakland Technology Park in Auburn Hills. The team plans to build about 740,000 square feet of new build-to-suit space with 390,000 square feet in Auburn Hills and 350,000 square feet in Canton. The Auburn Hills site is at the former site of the Oakland County Animal Control. The Canton site is in the Canton Industrial Park south of I-275 and east of Warren Road.

 

Troy Property Sells for $34 Million

A Baltimore buyer, the Continental Realty Corp., has purchased Oakland Center and Oakland Square for $34 million. The property at 14 Mile and John R roads is across from Oakland Mall. It totals 392,000 square feet and is 87% leased by tenants that include TJ Maxx, HomeGoods, Kohl’s, Bed Bath & Beyond, DSW, Michaels and Planet Fitness.