[DetroitSky]

James Scott Fountain to get $400K in updates

Updates will include repairing marble on the stairs, replacing damaged lighting, fixing leaky pipes, and resealing some marble joints.

Crain’s reports that this is one of many updates to come on the island. The Aquarium and Conservatory would be next for updating, including assessing the heating and cooling system, signage, and bathroom fixes in the aquarium. Additional funding could lead to “new restrooms for the conservatory, a gift shop and a catering kitchen,” which would help out the conservatory as an event space.

First rental units now leasing at the Selden Corridor Initiative

Midtown Detroit Inc. tells us that they don’t have exact pricing at 644 Selden worked out yet—although they’ll be rented around market-rate—since much of the site is still under construction. The units are one-bedroom, one-and-a-half-bath apartments ranging from 1,210 to 1,388 square feet with an open concept layout, balconies, heated bathroom floors, in-unit washer and dryers, and access to a shared rooftop deck.

The 14 4th Street Ecohomes coming in the development will be delivered in groups. Midtown Detroit Inc. tells us that the first group will come later this year or in the first quarter of next year, while the rest will come in summer 2019. These are selling for over $300 per square foot.

Developer to get more time to save historic Palmer Park building

The city of Detroit plans to give the owner of an apartment building in a historic district of Detroit's Palmer Park neighborhood more time to save the structure.

A demolition notice was posted on the red-bricked, 93-year-old Delmar building at 17111 Second Ave. in late August, prompting concerns about its survival. It looks intact from the front, but the collapsed roof remains a concern.

Owner Kathy Makino, founder of Detroit-based Shelborne Development Corp., said she has struggled to finance a mixed-use redevelopment there. She said she wants to move forward, but would hand off the project to another developer if they felt they would have more success.

"It would be preferable to see this owner preserve and rehab the building," Garcia said in the statement. "To that end, the Housing & Revitalization Department will speak with the owner to explore options for saving the structure."

Makino intends to redevelop the Delmar and nearby Merton Manor in a combined $8 million, 48-unit senior housing project with retail called Unity Square.

She purchased the Delmar from the Wayne County treasurer in 2009 for $1,200, according to city records. Makino's Shelborne Development has spent $300,000 removing graffiti, cleaning up the site, boarding it up, on carrying costs, performing due diligence and completing financing applications for funding, she said.

Former Purple Gang hub near Detroit riverfront sells to NYC investor

Work such as roof improvements and window replacement will begin soon and take place over the next six months, said Wasterlain, who is a former president and CEO of ORIX Capital Markets LLC in Dallas and chief investment officer of NorthStar Realty Finance Corp. He declined to disclose the capital expenditure budget.

The Lewarchiks purchased the building in 2007 for $298,000, or about $10.64 per square foot, according to city property records. It was listed for $2.6 million, or $92.86 per square foot, the Friedman listing says. It sold Monday for $2.125 million, or $75.89 per square foot.

University of Michigan mulling larger footprint in Detroit

The university's purchase earlier this year of the rest of the Horace H. Rackham Education Memorial Building in Midtown could give rise to a "more substantial" physical presence in Detroit for the maize-and-blue, UM President Mark Schlissel told Crain's.

Schlissel sees an opportunity to expand from UM's tiny outpost at the Detroit Center on Woodward Avenue and make the 77-year-old Rackham building the university's "home base" in Detroit with a yet-be-defined larger mission in Michigan's largest city.

"We're trying to look for partners who are willing to work with us on this," Schlissel said in an interview last week after speaking at a Detroit Economic Club luncheon.