[animatedmartian]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Wow, this is really pretty cool. The density and contemporary design remind me of something you'd see in Philly. I love the New York-esque planning with multi-family buildings on John R and Brush, and smaller homes on the side streets. Plus the mid-block pedestrian walk is pretty nice, and the woonerf design for the alleys.

From a real estate perspective - not sure this development will work. If I'm in the market for a home, why would I pay a new-construction premium to get a townhouse or mews house with literally no yard when I could buy an actual detached house with a decent sized backyard for the same price, and maybe even the opportunity to buy vacant lots next door?

Of course, urban Detroit is a strange and uncharted real estate market. Maybe the market doesn't place a premium on breathing room in a city with so much open space, and yawning wide open streets. Maybe the contemporary design and location will lure wealthier buyers that would have bought in the suburbs otherwise. University/hospital employees, downtown workers, hell, even younger buyers with suburban jobs that don't want to live on a cul-de-sac.

So far, that formula has worked for rental developments in Detroit where people expect to live for a certain phase of life. But a for-sale development, which I assume the townhouses will be, requires a whole different strategy. You have to sell buyers on the long-term value, and those buyers have to somehow get financing for the purchase from banks that are probably reluctant to lend in a highly distressed area such as this.

I'm not saying these will doom the project, but I would love to see how the development team is planning to work around these challenges...

I think you're slightly underestimating the current strength of Detroit's market. If you were talking about a neighborhood outside of downtown, then you'd be on the mark, however...


Midtown: 'No sign of oversupply' as 3,600 new apartments and condos planned in Detroit

The opportunity exists. It's availability that's constrained. Many of those vacant parcels, like a few owned by Midtown Detroit, are already earmarked for projects – or they belong to public bodies or nonprofits, including Wayne State University, which may be holding them vacant or just using them for parking.

And the average listing price for houses and condos was $283,813 that year [2015], or about $210 per square foot.

Data from Realcomp shows that number heading higher in 2016. In September, the median sales price was $349,000. At the same time, the number of listed properties fell further, to 26 in September. A year earlier, 38 were available. In September 2006, during Midtown's first housing wave in this millennium, 96 for-sale properties were on the market.

The housing growth will keep enhancing the neighborhood, but experts point to some issues with it. One is the lack of condos or single-family homes available.

"It seems like most developers are going for rentals right now," said [Austin] Black. "... The demand is there for for-sale product."

$350K is actually a little bit higher than some of Detroit's trophy suburbs like the Grosse Pointes or Royal Oak. If anything the bigger challenge has been getting developments through city hall.