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Boyne City Approves Short-Term Rental Ordinance

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Boyne City City Commission approved a short-term rental ordinance on December 13. Boyne City officials started in July 2021 to create an ordinance that would be tailor-made for their community. Several special meetings were held to identify the impacts and issues of short-term rentals. The ordinance was created in an attempt to address those impacts and issues and allow the short-term rentals to exist. The commissioners were not able to agree on a proposed maximum limit on the number of short-term rental allowed in the traditional residential district. They decided to move ahead with approving the ordinance without having the cap decided.

 

 

 

$5.8 Million in Grants Awarded to Detroit Projects

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The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) awarded brownfield grants and loans to the Detroit Brownfield Redevelopment Authority (DBRA), the Southwest Housing Solutions Corp., the American Indian Health and Family Services, and Detroit’s Buildings, Safety Engineering, and Environmental Department (BSEED). Brownfields are areas where reuse is complicated by contamination issues. DBRA will use $1 million in EGLE brownfield grants to fix contamination at the former American Motors Corporation headquarters. Southwest Housing Solutions Corp. will use the grant monies to remediate an entire block of contaminated land into a new development that will provide affordable housing. The American Indian Health and Family Services will build a new community health and wellness center in southwest Detroit. The city of Detroit will use the $450,000 it was awarded to transform vacant parcels of land for a residential redevelopment project. BSEED will use its grant to assess contamination, remove an underground storage tank and install a ventilation system if removal of the contamination is impossible.

 

 

 

The RenCen Comprises Over Half of Downtown’s Vacant Office Space

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Downtown Detroit is home to some of the biggest empty office spaces in the state. Over half the of the vacancy across Detroit’s best office buildings is inside the Renaissance Center. Six RenCen office towers, four of which are owned by General Motors Company and two that are owned by a publicly-traded utility from New Jersey, comprise 26.1% of the total office space surveyed by JLL’s Skyline report. The office towers make up nearly 53% of the vacancy across the 22 buildings surveyed. The towers took a hit during the COVID-19 pandemic when GM allowed its employees to work remotely, and tenants like Deloitte LLP and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan opted for space in other buildings. The health of the office market in Detroit and elsewhere continues to be a concern in commercial real estate.

 

Proposed Mixed-Use Development in Roseville Brings Hope and Criticism

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Hawasli Homes is planning a multi-story, mixed-use development on a 1.2-acre vacant site on Utica Road. The site once held the Tip-Top Bar. While unanimously approved by the Roseville City  Council on Tuesday, the plan is not without controversy. Neighborhood residents say the 81,000-square-foot building will be too out-of-place in the residential area. They want its height to be capped at two stories. The four-story building will be one of the tallest buildings in Roseville. The first floor of the building will be utilized for commercial purposes like a deli, a UPS store, a studio, etc.  The site will include 166 parking sites and studio-sized, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments. Critics of the plan worry that the number of parking sites exceeds the city’s requirements and that the project will increase traffic on the two-lane Utica Road. City officials hope the proposed development will transform downtown Roseville into a transit- and pedestrian-friendly location.

Developer Pitches 57-Apartment Plan For Downtown Grand Rapids

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W&S Development LLC, a Bazzani Building Company affiliate, is pursuing tax incentives for a proposed mixed-use development in downtown Grand Rapids. The Grand Rapids City Commission set a public meeting for January 24 to hear feedback on the application for a Brownfield Plan Amendment and a Neighborhood Enterprise Zone. The developer plans to build two new five-story buildings on the vacant lot at 415 Sheldon Ave. SE. The buildings will include retail space and 57 market-rate apartments. The project is called Wealthy & Sheldon Lofts, with one of the buildings facing Wealthy Street SE, and the other facing Sheldon Avenue SE. The Wealthy Street building will also host 1,800 square feet of commercial space. The 57 new apartments will be divided between the two buildings.

 

Builders Reuse, Recycle and Repurpose

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Bazzani Building Company completed the 730 Leonard Project last year in Grand Rapids. The project is a prime example of adaptive reuse. Renovating existing buildings into new housing is a growing trend. Over the last two years in the U.S., adaptive reuse apartments increased by 25%. Empty office buildings, dilapidated factories, vacant healthcare buildings and old churches have been revamped and repurposed in a sort of nationwide recycling project. In 2020 and 2021, recycling old buildings added 28,000 rentals onto the market. RentCafe predicts that over 77,000 apartments are currently being reprocessed.  The building recycling trend is outpacing new construction.

Gilbert Trades Out Brokerage Firms On Hudson’s Project

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Billionaire Dan Gilbert has hired the local office of New York City-based brokerage house Newmark to attract tenants to the new office space he’s building at Woodward and East Grand River avenues. The move marks a switch from the brokerage he had retained previously. The $1.4 billion Hudson’s site project is probably the highest and largest profile in the city, as of late. The market for office space has taken a beating because of the COVID-19 pandemic, pummeling sites like the Renaissance Center, Meridian Health and Compuware Corporation. The leasing of Gilbert’s 400,000 square feet of new build office space faces a challenging market.

 

West Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees Denies Controversial Proposal

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The West Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees has denied the controversial proposal to rezone a location known as The Corners property from single-family residential status to a planned development district. The property is located at 2075 Walnut Lake Road on the site of the former Walnut Lake Elementary. The school closed in the mid 90s and was transformed into a multipurpose building. The proposal to rezone met with opposition because it includes a baseball diamond, a playfield and mature trees. The proposal would have enabled the property to be redeveloped into a 101-unit townhome community.

New Apartment Building Proposed for Detroit’s Midtown

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Greatwater 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.

 

Metro Detroit Home Builders Hold Pessimistic Outlook for 2023

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Interest rates continue to rise. Issues with labor availability, materials costs and supply chain slow downs persist. New construction waiting lists are shrinking because people are priced out of the new homes they had set their sights on. Home builders are mired in pessimism as the industry slows. Detroit builders are shifty to other types of development, including remodeling work, self-storage and multifamily apartments. Builders are normally trying to dig basements and frame houses before winter hits, but that isn’t the case this year. September 2022 saw the lowest number of housing  permits pulled since 2011. Rising interest rates continue to impact the market. In contrast, multifamily permits are having their best year since 1998.