[robk1982]

http://www.mlive.com/business/mid-mi...5_percent.html

Former Durant Hotel 75 percent full, interest exceeds tenant move-in timetable set by developer
Published: Wednesday, January 26, 2011, 4:43 PM Updated: Thursday, January 27, 2011, 8:51 AM
By Kris Turner | The Flint Journal


FLINT — The former Durant Hotel is filling up faster than anticipated and its developer is eyeing other downtown buildings for future housing projects.

Since reopening last fall following a nearly $30 million renovation, the Durant’s 93 apartments are already at 75 percent occupancy.

That’s ahead of schedule and vastly exceeded the expectations of Richard Karp, the Lansing-based developer behind the building’s overhaul.

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It also has led Karp to begin surveying other properties for redevelopment.

“We’re interested in a number of parcels,” he said, adding that he won’t reveal their locations until he controls them.

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Commercial space on the first floor is filling up as well, Karp said.

A lease for the southwest corner of the building is close to being inked, said Karp, who declined to elaborate until the deal is finalized.

The lower-level, commercial areas most likely will be leased for office use, he added.

“We’d really like to see some quality retail,” he said, adding that those businesses would be financially stable and well respected. “Unfortunately, we have to deal with what the marketplace presents to us.”

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