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Bedrock LLC Snags The Largest CMBS Loan In Detroit’s History

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Bedrock LLC has refinanced 14 properties with a $430 million CMBS loan. It is the largest-ever commercial mortgage securities loan in Detroit’s history. The new seven-year loan will mature in January 2029. The portfolio has seven office buildings totaling 2.5 million square feet, five parking decks with over 5,000 spaces and two multifamily properties. The fact that the loan was issued during a global pandemic when workers are continuing to work from home speaks to the confidence of the lenders. The portfolio’s office stock and parking deck revenue are both impacted by the work-from-home trend.

 

 

Asphalt Specialists Appeals to City Officials

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Asphalt Specialists, Inc. wants Detroit’s Board of Zoning Appeals to allow construction of an asphalt mixing facility on Detroit’s northwest side. The project had faced opposition from community members and had been rejected by Detroit’s Buildings, Safety, Engineering and Environmental Department late last year. They are proposing a 25-acre facility in an area already zoned for intensive industrial use. The site would have 50-feet-high silos for mixing and storing raw aggregate like gravel and asphalt. The proposal was rejected due to concerns about its proximity to residential neighborhoods.

 

 

Eastern Market Redevelopment Adds New Food And Bar Features

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The northern end of Detroit’s Eastern Market food district is headed for redevelopment. The former Detroit Water and Sewerage Department building is being redeveloped as The Mosaic. Robert Montwaid, who created Gensevoort Market in New York City and Chattahoochee Food Works in Atlanta,  will build a 25,000-square-foot food hall on the site. A 4,000-square-foot rooftop bar is also planned. Construction on the $33 million redevelopment is set to begin this year and is expected to be complete in 2024. The food hall and bar will be open next year.

 

Detroit To Spend Pandemic Relief On Commercial Demolition

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Detroit plans to spend $95 million over the next four years to get rid of or improve vacant business structures across the city. The efforts will use more than 10% of its federal COVID-19 pandemic recovery monies on commercial blight remediation. Previously, the city’s blight removal focus has been more on residential than commercial. The American Rescue Plan Act dollars is changing that. The effort isn’t just about removal, but about preparing for opportunities that will come after demolition.

 

 

Detroit’s Commercial Property Transactions Lower Than National Average

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Nationally, commercial property transaction volume broke records last year. But in metro Detroit, that was not the case. Last year wasn’t a bad year for property deals in Detroit; there were $1.9 billion in sales across 3,678 deals. 2021 was the fourth-highest year since 2006. Low cap rates, inflation hedging helped to fuel the surge in commercial acquisitions. Property buyers are expecting appreciation in the next few years. Rent growth in multifamily apartments and the industrial, warehouse and distribution sectors are also adding to value growth.

 

 

Bedrock CEO Shares Ways to Attract Innovative Talent to Detroit

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According to Bedrock CEO, Kofi Bonner, Bedrock has an opportunity to grow a globally significant innovation district in the heart of Detroit. The Detroit area has the land, talent and necessary capital to sustain growth. Bonner cites advantages in next generation technologies that impact mobility, defense, clean energy, cybersecurity, fin tech, agricultural science and life science sectors. Over the last ten years, Rocket Companies and other finance and technology companies distributed throughout the Bedrock portfolio have completed the first phase of a “business-led” downtown district. The next growth phase will emphasize attracting special units of higher education, advanced global research institutions and technology labs, as well as contain programming to build close relations between scientists, companies and startups.

 

 

 

Union Street Space Listed for $7.5 Million

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Mario Kiezi, owner of the former Union Street Detroit restaurant and the Midtown Liquor & Deli store, has listed the property for $7.5 million. He has listed it with O’Connor Real Estate. He originally envisioned converting it into a grocery store. Those plans may still come to fruition as two regional grocers have recently toured the building. The two-story building is situated at Woodward Avenue at Willis Street. The first floor has had various commercial uses in the past, and the top floor has been empty since the 1960s when it was used for eight residences.

Details Revealed For Detroit Affordable Housing Plan

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Plans for a new 83-unit apartment building near the Masonic Temple and Little Caesars Arena were shared with the public during a virtual community meeting.  3rd & Charlotte, the name of the development, is a joint project between developer Stephen Ross’ Related Cos. and the development firm The Platform. The apartments would be leased at below-market rents to tenants making 60% of area median incomes. To go forward, the project must be awarded Low-Income Housing Tax Credits from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority. If developers can meet the requirements, construction could begin in the 4th quarter of 2022.

 

 

Lafayette West Development Secures Loans

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Bedrock Purchases Former UAW-GM Site

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Dan Gilbert, billionaire founder and chairman of Rocket Companies Inc. has purchased the former UAW-GM Center for Human Resource building for an undisclosed price. Developers Dominic Moceri and Christos Moisides bought it a little more than a year ago, paying $34 million for it in November 2020. The purchase adds almost 1 million square feet of office space, in excess of 25 acres of land and 1,600 parking spots to his Detroit-area holdings. Earlier this year, Gilbert purchased the former Stroh family portfolio which gave him over 8.7 acres of developable land, 735 parking spaces and approximately 500,000 square feet of office building.