Posts

MI-HQ Plans New Life Sciences Place in Ypsilanti

/in /by

Ann Arbor’s Michigan Innovation Headquarters (MI-HQ) has announced that it entered into a purchase agreement to acquire Eastern Michigan University’s former College of Business headquarters in downtown Ypsilanti. It plans to purchase the building for $2.6 million, and with an additional $10 million, renovate it to build shared workspace for STEM companies. The deal will put 130,000-square-foot building on the city’s tax rolls, generating more than $1.1 million of net benefits over a 10-year span. It promises to create 300 jobs.

 

Star Southfield Theater To Be Repurposed

/in , /by

The Triumph Church is expecting to repurpose the shuttered Star Southfield movie theater into a new campus. The site will include a worship center, a children’s area, a student area and a community space. The church site will also provide assistance with transportation, medical, financial and rental assistance, employment skills training, a pregnancy center and counseling center.  Converting movie theater sites is often difficult due to their sloped floors and layout. The plan includes a 1,600-seat worship center, a 350-seat chapel, and a fellowship hall in the main lobby area.  In other areas of the country, repurposing of theaters has taken on many forms like medical offices, a department of motor vehicles and self-storage.

 

 

Birmingham’s Downtown Transformation Continues

/in /by

Birmingham’s downtown transformation continues with the four-story building planned at 294 E. Brown. Part of the development will house a new, multi-story RH showroom. The building with include office and residential space, underground parking, and rooftop use that will include a pool. The Birmingham planning board reviewed and recommended the final site plan for approval at its April 27 meeting. Some residents are concerned about the development’s spread into their residential neighborhood.

 

Building Permit Issued For Former Joe Louis Arena Site

/in /by

A building permit has been issued for the planned apartment tower on the former Joe Louis Arena site.  A large office tower is also planned. Crews have been on the property since winter. The apartment building construction is expected to be complete within the next two years. There has been talk of building two hotels with about 750 rooms each.  A 20-story office tower of 150,000-300,00 square feet is planned for the northern portion of the property. The construction timelines for the office and hotel buildings is unknown. A building permit was issued Wednesday for the apartment tower planned for the former Joe Louis Arena site in downtown Detroit.

 

Fairlane Town Center Has Sold to Redeveloper

/in /by

Sources have identified the Dallas-based Centennial Real Estate company as the new owner of the Fairlane Town Center. The company specializes in mall and open-air shopping center redevelopment. The purchase also includes the Shops at Willow Bend in Plano, Texas. Both properties are currently owned by Florida-based Starwood Capital Group, which is delinquent on its commercial mortgage-backed securities debt on the properties. Centennial took over another Starwood mall mortgage earlier this year.

 

 

United Artists Theater Building Rehab Begins

/in /by

The Bagley Development Group has begun its redevelopment of the Ilitch-owned, 18-story United Artists Theater Building at 150 Bagley St.  The property is being transformed into a 148-unit residential building called Residences @150 Bagley. It is scheduled to open in late 2023. Twenty percent of the new apartments will be offered at below-market rents for qualified tenants. It will also include about 10,000 square feet retail space on the ground floor.

 

 

Downtown Royal Oak Main Art Theatre’s Days May Be Numbered

/in /by

The 80-year-old Main Art Theatre in downtown Royal Oak could soon be demolished. An A.F. Jonna Development LLC affiliate has submitted plans to tear down the theater and replace it with a 5-story mixed-use building. The developer will appear before the Planning Commission on April 12 to present plans for a new 71-foot building that would include 9,200 square feet of commercial space. A restaurant and a retailer would split the space. The 2nd floor would accommodate 31,000 square feet of office space. The third through fifth floors would include 54 new residential units.

 

Construction Begins On The Former Joe Louis Arena Site

/in , /by

Construction is due to begin on the former Joe Louis Arena site for a new residential apartment tower. Several pieces of heavy-duty equipment arrived on late Wednesday afternoon. Colasanti Construction Services Inc. prepped for initial work on the 24-story apartment tower, drilling 100-foot deep caissons. Sterling Group applied for a permit for the building, but no information has been released by the city pending the outcome of the permit review. Part of the vision for the site includes an apartment tower called The Louis, with 500 studio and one-bedroom units. Specific plans for the property have not been made public since Sterling Group acquired the property. Previously, the site had been discussed as a mixed use development, potentially with a hotel.

 

 

 

 

Charlevoix’s New Ordinance Inhibits Blight

/in /by

Charlevoix City Council has approved a property maintenance code to address declining properties before they reach blight status. The international Property Maintenance Code Ordinance is designed to supplement the Dangerous Buildings Ordinance.  According to zoning administrator Jonathan Scheel, the city didn’t have any type of property maintenance code to prevent a building from becoming dilapidated. The new code will give the city the ability to intervene and require deteriorating structures to be corrected before they become unfixable issues.

 

 

Agree Realty Corporation Portfolio Balloons

/in /by

When opportunity knocked, Agree Realty Corp. listened. The Bloomfield Hills-based real estate investment trust capitalized on the COVID-19 pandemic and has doubled its portfolio size and outgrown its recently-expanded headquarters. It will redevelop the former 50,000-square-foot Art Van Furniture Inc. store into a new base of operations. The company has focused on retail properties leased to investment-grade tenants. They’ve bought up properties with a diverse mix of tenants, strengthening their multi-faceted retail game. In less than 3 years, the company’s portfolio has increased from 660 to 1,404 properties across 47 states. Their growth is expected to continue in 2022.