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Ginosko Development Buys Apartments To Modernize and Preserve

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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.

 

 

Gilbert Family Foundation Pledges Money For Eviction Defense

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The Gilbert Family Foundation has pledged up to $13 million over three years to help renters avoid eviction in Detroit. This comes weeks after the city of Detroit passed an ordinance giving renters at risk of eviction the right to have an attorney represent them in their defense. The United Community Housing Coalition, Lakeshore Legal Aid and Michigan Legal Services will split the money evenly. The Detroit Eviction Defense Fund was created after the city committed $6 million in American Rescue Plan dollars to fund eviction defense. It is thought that Detroit’s population decline is occurring, in part, to the 30,000 Detroit households that face eviction each year.

Northville Downs Developer Pitches Reduced-Housing Plan

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

 

 

Up-North Brewing Company Buys Inn To House Employees

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A lack of affordable housing in northern Michigan is cramping the style of northern Michigan’s businesses. Short’s Brewing Company needs to hire summer workers, but future employees have nowhere to live.  In a creative problem-solving move, the brewery bought the Bellaire Inn and is converting and updating the 26 units as space for its incoming hires. They’ll offer local businesses an opportunity at the remaining units.  Each unit will be fully furnished with a bathroom, fridge and microwave. All utilities will be included. The brewery will hire a full-time, on-site inn keeper.

Ann Arbor Nine-Story Development Breaks Ground

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The construction of The Glen, a mixed-use development on the corner of Glen Avenue and Ann Street has finally broken ground after several years of delays. It was approved in 2017 and was scheduled to open in 2018. Technical changes were made in 2019, and construction was to begin in 2020 when the pandemic delayed it further. It’s now expected to open in 2024. The building will house 164 hotel rooms and suites and 24 apartment suites. It will also include a fine dining restaurant, meeting and event spaces, retail shops and 241 parking spots.