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Michigan-Based Development Firm Acquires Affordable Housing Portfolio

The Michigan minority- and woman-owned development firm, Ginosko Development Company, along with New York-based L+M Development Partners, has secured a nine-property portfolio in Michigan that includes 1,640 units.  One of the portfolio’s properties includes Coventry Woods, a West Michigan senior apartment complex. The rest of the portfolio properties are in Detroit, Saginaw, Pontiac, Canton, Center Line and Monroe. Over half the units are for seniors. Seven of the nine properties have Department of Housing and Urban Development Section 8 contracts, and two are restricted to households at or below 60% area median income.

 

Deeply Affordable Housing Units Planned for Detroit

Developers Cinnaire Solutions, Woodbridge Neighborhood Development Corp., CHN Housing Partners and Detroit Blight Busters will create nearly 200 new units for at-risk residents. The four new housing projects will created 183 affordable units for residents who earn 60 percent of the area median income ($42,960 for a family of two). The projects will also include 20 market-rate apartments. Old Redford, Midtown, Woodbridge and MorningSide neighborhoods are the site of the new units. They are funded, in part, by $38 million in Low-Income Housing Tax Credits from the state.

 

 

 

Ginosko Development Buys Apartments To Modernize and Preserve

Michigan-based Ginosko Development has partnered with New York-based L+M Development Partners to purchase nine Michigan rental properties with more than 1,600 affordable apartments. They plan to modernize and preserve the low-cost units. The properties include 1,640 units in 115 buildings in Michigan. More than half are for seniors. Seven of the nine properties have contracts with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for Section 8 housing. Improvements to the interiors and exteriors of the buildings are planned, including bathroom and kitchen renovations, modernizing amenity areas, upgrading mechanical systems and improving landscaping.

 

 

Coyote Golf Club Facing Possible Residential Conversion

The Coyote Gold Club in Lyon Township is under contract to be sold to SE Metro Property Services LLC of Birmingham. The 200-acre property would be converted into 107 townhomes valued at $400,000 and 203 single-family residences valued at $600,000.  The three-phase development would begin in the summer of 2024. The townhouses clustered in 26 buildings would be located on the northern edge of the property, and the single-family homes would be on the southern end. The golf course redevelopment would work its way through the municipal process over the next year or so with various planning commission and township board approvals.

Northville Downs Developer Pitches Reduced-Housing Plan

The proposed Northville Downs development continues to work through the municipal approval process. Hunter Pasteur Homes has been meeting with the Planning Commission on a plan that would bring in excess of 440 units of housing to the horse racing track site. The development would include 38 single-family homes, 98 townhomes, 28 carriage houses, 62 row houses, 172 apartments and 43 condominiums. A third of the site’s acreage would be designated to parks and green space, along with commercial space. The 11-acre northern portion of the Northville Downs site has been sold to Perennial Northville LLC, an affiliate of Hunter Pasteur.

 

Detroit Metro Area Rent Hikes Impact Wallets

Young consumers and people of color continue to struggle with rent hikes. Housing costs is a component of measuring inflation. Last month, the shelter index rose at its fastest year-over-year pace since April 1991.  Rent increased 4.8% in April over the last 12 months. The U.S. inflation rate hit 8.5% in March over the last year. The rising costs for housing and shelter are worrisome, and rent is expected to be significantly higher in 2022.

 

Building Permit Issued For Former Joe Louis Arena Site

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.

 

Townhouse Plymouth Township Development Approved by Trustees

On April 26, the Plymouth Township Board of Trustees voted 4-2 to approve the Toll Brothers’ and Pomeroy Living’s Plymouth Walk planned 369-unit townhouse/apartment development, despite the concerns of residents.  Neighbors expressed concerns about increased traffic issues in the area and the elimination of green space.  The developers agreed to spend $1.8 million to pave the dirt roads and add sidewalks to the Eastlawn subdivision north of the development.  That willingness swayed the decision of at least two of the trustees.

 

 

Metro Detroit’s Affordable Housing Shortage Continues

High rent is pushing people to look for new homes, but buying is a challenge. Multiple offers come in over the list price and over the budgets of many of the buyers, and that’s if they can find something within their budget. Renters and first-time buyers are especially struggling. Insufficient new construction, zoning rules that limit where housing can be built as well as wage growth that hasn’t kept up with inflation contribute to keeping the supply low. Average sales prices of homes in Michigan have risen 84 percent between January 2013 and October 2021. Pre-pandemic, nearly one in five homeowners spent more than 30 percent of their income on housing. That figure worsened over the pandemic.

 

 

Adaptive Real Estate Trend Is On The Rise

U.S. developers are embracing the office-to-housing conversion trend.  Between 2020 and 2021, 32,000 new apartment units were created by converting existing building spaces that had been used for other purposes. Forty-one percent were former office buildings. In the last year, Grand Rapids has approved zoning changes that allowed commercial building owners to  convert first-floor retail into residential space.  Other cities leading the adaptive real estate trend include Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, and Cleveland.  Last year was the biggest year on record for adaptive real estate.