DETROIT | Development & Construction: Motown Lowdown

[DetroitMan]

Packard Plant redevelopment plan collapses

A vision to redevelop part of the Packard Plant announced in the waning days of former Mayor Mike Duggan’s administration has died.

The precise reason for the collapse of the deal between the city and the development team of Oren Goldenberg and Mark Bennett isn’t clear — but it again leaves the fate of the sprawling East Side industrial site up in the air.

A letter of intent executed late in the Duggan administration had a Feb. 11 expiration date.

Detroit Planning Director Alexa Bush sent a letter to the developers Feb. 24, notifying them that the city was “unilaterally” terminating all negotiations. The letter does not specify a reason the city is choosing not to move forward with the $50 million-plus redevelopment proposal.

The 40-acre site roughly bifurcated by East Grand Boulevard near Interstate 94 is one of the few large-scale sites remaining in Detroit. Duggan, whose gubernatorial campaign declined to comment, made the site’s demolition and redevelopment a pillar of the last term in his 12-year run as mayor.

Through a spokesperson for Mayor Mary Sheffield, the city said it “wants to take this opportunity to explore a broader range of redevelopment options for the site before moving forward with the proposed plan.”

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/real-estate/commercial/cdb-packard-plant-plan-collapses-20260325/


Detroit developer gets underway with Jefferson-Chalmers affordable housing project

Detroit-based developer Tribe Development, in partnership with affordable housing provider CHN Housing Partners, formally broke ground at a site along East Jefferson Avenue in the Jefferson-Chalmers neighborhood.

The new 52-unit apartment building will include a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units, all priced for those making $21,210-$42,420, or 30%-60% of the area median income for a single person in Wayne County.

Added housing and amenities in that neighborhood, just west of Grosse Pointe Park and near the banks of the Detroit River, has long been a priority.

“As a Jefferson-Chalmers resident, I’m very proud to contribute to the vibrancy of our great neighborhood and do meaningful work in my backyard,” Brandon Hodges, founder and principal of Tribe Development, said in a news release. “Our partnership with CHN demonstrates the potential of intentional, mission-aligned collaboration, and we look forward to continuing to invest along the Jefferson corridor.”

Hodges’ firm has been behind a handful of other neighborhood developments in the city in recent years, including the $4 million rehabilitation of a two-story commercial building along East Warren Avenue with ground-floor retail and six apartments.

Slated for completion in early 2027, the Jefferson Avenue Apartments project received a competitive $1.65 million federal low income housing tax credit allocation in 2024. Financial partners in the project include equity partner Enterprise Community Partners, Independent Bank, Citizens Bank and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/real-estat...on-chalmers-affordable-housing-20260326/

[airforceguy]

Dan Gilbert, major corporate players join Sheffield effort to grow Detroit’s population

The first initiative of MoveDetroit is called “Make Detroit Home” and will award $500,000 to assist 313 Detroiters — a nod to the city’s area code — with funding for business projects, down payments, home renovations, rent or relocation assistance.

The nonprofit coalition — which is being chaired by billionaire businessman Dan Gilbert and counts dozens of major corporate and philanthropic organizations as partners — is being led by Hilary Doe. Doe, up until late last year, had been the state’s chief growth officer, focused on policies to grow Michigan’s overall population.

The $500,000 for 313 people is just a start, Doe said, and she expects that to grow over time.

In Detroit, the charge is to ride some of the positive momentum in the city, namely two straight years of population growth after decades of decline.

Moreover, Doe said a key focus has to be on retaining current residents and strategic outreach to those with connections to the city but who have decamped to other locales. Atlanta and Houston are two cities that Doe said have been popular choices for those leaving Detroit.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/politics-policy/cdb-movedetroit-aims-to-grow-population-20260401/

[DetroitMan]

Controversial housing development OK'd near Detroit's West Village

A controversial affordable housing development near Detroit's West Village neighborhood will continue to move forward despite strenuous objections from some area residents.

After more than 10 hours of deliberation and public comments spread over two meetings on back-to-back weeks, members of the city's Board of Zoning Appeals voted on Monday, March 30, to give a conditional approval to the four-story 48-unit development at 7737 Kercheval that would also include ground-level commercial space.

https://www.freep.com/story/money/busine...01d--52--b--52--&gca-ft=253&gca-ds=sophi

[DetroitMan]

$31M project to transform long-vacant Detroit school into housing for chronically homeless

A long-vacant school in northwest Detroit, abandoned for decades and once left ransacked, is set to take on new life as housing for some of the city’s most vulnerable residents.

City leaders and housing advocates broke ground Thursday, April 9, on a $31 million project that will convert the former St. Mary of Redford school into 61 units of permanent supportive housing for people experiencing chronic homelessness. The site has sat largely unused for more than 30 years after the high school closed in the early 1990s, becoming what officials described as a long-vacant landmark in the neighborhood.

Now, the building is being redeveloped into a mix of studio and one-bedroom apartments, including 10 units reserved for veterans.

“We’re talking about making sure that someone not only has a roof over their head, but has the support to make them self-sufficient,” Mayor Mary Sheffield said. The development, led by Volunteers of America Michigan, will pair housing with on-site services such as case management, mental health care, employment support and transportation assistance, a model that is key to addressing chronic homelessness.

“About 25% of that group isn’t going to resolve their homelessness with just shelter,” said Terra Linzer, Detroit’s director of homeless services. “They need affordable housing coupled with supportive services.”

https://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/2026/...to-housing-for-chronically-homeless.html

[DetroitMan]

$62M warehouse proposed for Detroit land once home to famous Kronk gym

A large industrial building has been proposed for a multiblock swath of vacant land on Detroit's west side that was once home to the original Kronk boxing gym.

The $62 million development would construct on spec a nearly 400,000-square-foot warehouse designed for light industrial use. The warehouse would go on a roughly 30-acre site at Junction and McGraw that encompasses some 170 separate land parcels, nearly all currently owned by the city or the Detroit Land Bank Authority.

The site neighbors the existing thyssenkrupp Materials plant, and also includes the former location of the old Kronk Recreation Center, which had been home to the legendary boxing gym until 2006. The rec center burned in a 2017 fire and was soon after demolished.

https://www.freep.com/story/money/busine...ent-kronk-gym-site/89537052007/?tbref=hp

[DetroitMan]

This development is a major disappointment. Something bigger and taller should be built on the site. This belongs out in the burbs.

‘Fail jail’ no more as Bedrock, BAMF and Henry Ford Health break ground

The BAMF/HFH team plans to occupy the first 45,000-square-foot floor of a two-story, 90,000-square-foot life sciences building slated to occupy a portion of the 14-acre property at Gratiot Avenue and Interstate 375. Construction is expected to start this year, Crain’s has previously reported.

BAMF specializes in theranostics — a new wave of radiopharmaceuticals that are drawing the eyes of scientists and investors around the country. Led by former Van Andel Institute scientist Dr. Anthony Chang, now founder and CEO, BAMF is injecting Stage 4 prostate cancer patients with radioactive drugs that are designed to detect and destroy cancer cells with minimal side effects. The company already has a partnership with General Electric and Grand Rapids’ Corewell Health.

“People think we are psycho,” Chang said at the ceremony. “They’ve said this is too complex. Too expensive … This is not just a building. This is the start of a paradigm shift.”

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/health-care/cdb-bamf-fail-jail-groundbreaking-20260414/

Vacant Woodward Avenue site near Little Caesars Arena for sale

Almost 12 years ago, a fire destroyed the historic First Unitarian Church in Detroit’s Brush Park neighborhood.

Much has changed since then, including the construction of one of the nation’s busiest sports and entertainment venue basically across the street in Little Caesars Arena and the neighborhood itself, easily the city’s most rapidly redeveloped.

The former church site — which is sitting vacant — has long been surrounded by large concrete blocks preventing pesky cars from using it as game day and event parking. The Kemerko family that owns it has now listed it for sale for an undisclosed price, the first sign of life it’s seen in many years.

There’s one not-so-small problem, however.

Of the four parcels that make up the eastern side of Woodward Avenue between Edmund Place and Alfred Street, the Kemerko family only owns three of them — 2860 Woodward, 2844 Woodward and 2800 Woodward — while the city owns one that’s sandwiched in the middle.

So, any developer looking to purchase the three-parcel, 1.09-acre property would likely have to find a way to get his or her hands on that city-owned piece, which is at 2828 Woodward Ave.

Simon Jonna, executive vice president of The Jonna Group, a brokerage team working for the Royal Oak office of Toronto-based Colliers International Inc., said ownership has told him they are working on getting the city to “afford him contiguous leeway” for the overall site, whether through a property sale or some other type of agreement.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/real-estat...unitarian-church-site-for-sale-20260414/

[airforceguy]

Construction to start on apartment tower for UM’s new Detroit campus

Construction will formally kick off today on a 313-unit residential building called Founders House next to the University of Michigan Center for Innovation in downtown Detroit.

A noon groundbreaking ceremony will mark the start of the first joint project that’s part of a $615 million-plus Transformational Brownfield Plan public subsidy between the Ilitch family’s Olympia Development of Michigan real estate company and New York City-based Related Cos., the megadeveloper started by Detroit native and major UM donor Stephen Ross. The new 13-story residential building at 2205 Cass Ave. will be leased to UM for students and faculty at the UMCI, expected to be complete in the summer 2027, while the residential building is targeted for completion in in 2028.

“Detroit has long been a center of opportunity, growth and entrepreneurship and the University of Michigan Center for Innovation will help inspire the next generation of talent,” Related and Olympia said in a joint statement. “Founders House will not only deliver high-quality homes for graduate students and faculty members, but it will also demonstrate what’s possible when we come together to invest in the City’s future. We are proud to reach this milestone on the UMCI campus — a place for quality jobs, economic opportunity and learning in the heart of The District Detroit.”

Detroit-based Neumann/Smith Architecture and Boston-based Elkus Manfredi Architects are working on the project. Lansing-based Clark Construction Co. is the general contractor.

The building was originally planned to be 18 stories, with 261 units and 54 of those designated as affordable housing for those making between 40% and 50% of the Area Median Income, but that plan was scrapped last year after UM decided to lease the entire building in a 40-year deal.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/real-estate/commercial/cdb-um-apartment-tower-detroit-20260416/

[airforceguy]

Wayne State board to consider $46M plan for new law school building

The Wayne State University board of governors on Friday is scheduled to consider a request to spend $46 million to demolish its current law school building on its Detroit campus and construct a new one in its spot.

Estimated costs for the project have risen since 2023 when WSU secured a $30 million commitment from the state to help fund the project, then estimated at $40 million. Additional funding to construct the new law school would build on $2 million approved by the board in October 2024 for design of the building on the north end of the main campus in Midtown.

According to details provided on the state-issued list of capital outlay requests in 2023, the new building would replace the existing 17,689-square-foot structure constructed on Wayne State’s Detroit campus in 1966 with a four-story, 80,000-square-foot building. The new site would house classrooms, lecture areas, mock trial spaces and student and faculty workspaces.

WSU secured the capital outlay grant from the state with the testimony of then-Wayne Law Dean Richard Bierschbach, who was named interim president of the university in September and president in late February.

Another $8 million raised from private donors and $10 million in bond revenue will round out funding for the project.

“As Wayne Law approaches its centennial, its momentum is stronger than at any time in its history,” Bethany Gielczyk, senior vice president for finance and business affairs, CFO and treasurer, said in a board document.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/education/...um=email&utm_campaign=20260421&utm_term=

[DetroitMan]

Music Hall expansion nearly a go as city council approves $166M plan

An ambitious expansion of the historic Orsa Music Hall is a signature away following the Detroit City Council’s approval of a $166 million bonds package Tuesday, April 21.

The resolution now sits at the desk of Mayor Mary Sheffield, who has previously signaled support for the project.

Presuming Sheffield signs off, groundbreaking is expected to take place July 17, venue president Vince Paul told the Free Press. Opening is targeted for October 2028, he said.

https://www.freep.com/story/entertainmen...01d--66--b--66--&gca-ft=179&gca-ds=sophi

[airforceguy]

I wonder if developers will respond and start building more.
Downtown Detroit, nearby neighborhoods could support up to 2,500 new housing units annually, report finds

Downtown Detroit and its surrounding neighborhoods could support thousands more units of mixed-income housing, according to a new report released by the Downtown Detroit Partnership.

In total, the 7.2 miles that comprise “greater downtown Detroit” could absorb between 1,395 and 1,810 market-rate housing units annually, according to the report, commissioned by the DDP and produced by New Jersey-based real estate consulting firm Zimmerman/Volk Associates. That same area could absorb 592-753 affordable or “workforce” housing units on annual basis. Experts say the numbers should further instill confidence in developers and various housing providers seeking product-market fit, and reinforces some of the work being done to emphasize further growing Detroit’s population.

Overall, the report shows “recognition that there’s a unit type and a price point that is in demand, and that really runs the entire (economic) spectrum,” according to DDP CEO Eric Larson.

The Zimmerman/Volk report defines downtown Detroit as I-75 to the north, I-375 to the east, the Detroit River to the south and the Lodge Freeway to the west. Greater downtown, meanwhile, encompasses that core downtown area, as well as several neighborhoods: Corktown, Rivertown, Lafayette Park, Eastern Market, Midtown, Woodbridge, TechTown, and New Center.

Roughly half of the total new housing units that could be absorbed over that five-year period are in the core of downtown.

All told, the geography represents “an annual average of 17,055 younger singles and couples, empty nesters and retirees, and traditional and non-traditional families of all incomes (who) represent the potential market for new and existing housing units,” according to the report.


Continuing to grow that population is critical for the economic wellbeing of the area, largely as a means to further the amount of retail and other services that are needed to sustain “a 24/7/365 thriving neighborhood,” Larson said.

Much of the demand for new housing stems from typical migration patterns, and while Detroit population growth has been relatively muted, in-bound migration from outside the region is hardly insignificant.

About 60% of those households moving to Detroit would be moving to the downtown area from outside the city limits, according to the study. Nearly 22% of the new downtown households would be coming from outside the metro Detroit region.

The DDP report speaks to some of the trends that developers in the city are seeing in their daily work, according to Nevan Shokar, principal with Detroit-based real estate consulting firm Shokar Group.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/real-estate/residential/cdb-downtown-detroit-housing-demand-20260421/

[DetroitMan]

Lawmakers float $200M a year for new commercial real estate tax credit

State lawmakers are being asked to consider a new annual $200 million pot of funding for commercial real estate development.

Dubbed the Community Redevelopment Tax Credit, the incentive would provide a 25% tax credit after a project is completed, or a 50% credit for the redevelopment of a property that’s historic, in a rural area, or in a low- to moderate-income U.S. Census tract. The projects would have to be finished within three years of receiving a pre-approval letter from the Michigan Strategic Fund. Projects totaling $75 million or more in private investments would be eligible for a one-year extension on the completion of the project.

The Community Redevelopment Tax Credit is proposed in bipartisan bills that have been introduced in both chambers of the state legislature.

“The CRTC will be a game-changer for redevelopment efforts across Michigan,” Dave Blaskiewicz, president and CEO of Invest Detroit, a community development finance institution, or CDFI, which lends to real estate development and redevelopment projects in the city. “It strengthens our ability to support projects that bring housing, retail and long-term economic activity to neighborhoods that need it most.”

The legislation comes as incentives such as the Community Revitalization Program, awarded through the MSF, are limited to only about $8 million during the current fiscal year and the Revitalization and Placemaking Program, the initial tranche of which was created using federal coronavirus pandemic relief funding, has expired, according to a press release.

Whether they receive the 25% credit or the 50% credit, they could be eligible for an additional credit of up to $5 million, at the discretion of the Michigan Strategic Fund board. In all, no project could receive more than $10 million in credits, or $15 million if they receive federal support such as historic tax credits, Low-Income Housing Tax Credits or New Markets Tax Credits.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/politics-policy/cdb-commercial-real-estate-tax-credit-20260423/

[airforceguy]

Detroit soccer team picks builder for new stadium

Detroit City FC has selected Southfield-based construction firm Barton Malow Co. to build its new $153 million stadium in Southwest Detroit.

The pick means DCFC’s new 15,000-seat stadium will be designed and constructed by the same firms behind Little Caesars Arena. AlumniFi Field, as it will be called after a naming rights deal, is being built at the site of the former Southwest Detroit Hospital at Michigan Avenue and 20th Street. The hospital, which sat vacant and in a state of decay since it closed in 2006, has been demolished; large piles of dirt were seen at the site on Friday.

“This project represents everything we stand for — technical excellence, self-perform strength, and a genuine commitment to the communities where we build,” said Sean Hollister, senior vice president of Barton Malow, in a statement. “We are proud to bring AlumniFi Field to life for Detroit City FC and for the city of Detroit.”

Site work is underway, and will be followed by foundation work and the installation of structural steel. The new stadium is expected to be completed in time for the spring 2027 season.

Construction of the stadium itself is being privately funded. Additional components to the development plan — an overall $198 million vision — include a 421-space parking deck, 76-unit residential building and commercial uses. The overall project received approval for $88 million in public funding, including brownfield tax-increment financing reimbursements.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/real-estate/commercial/cdb-dcfc-stadium-general-contractor-20260424/

Wayne State approves downsized $46M law school classroom building plan

The Wayne State University board of governors on Friday unanimously approved a $46 million plan for a new law school classroom building on its Detroit campus.

The Michigan Legislature must now authorize construction in a budget bill as part of a $30 million state capital outlay approved for the project before the timeline for construction can be set, said Matt Lockwood, associate vice president of university communications. The capital outlay process is underway in the Legislature. On Thursday, the Democratic-led Senate Appropriations Committee advanced a bill with planning and construction authorizations for 24 projects, including Wayne State’s.

The new law school classroom building is needed to accommodate the growing number of students in Wayne law programs, Bethany Gielczyk, CFO and senior vice president for finance and business affairs, said in board documents.

The university’s current 1966-built classroom building put it at a disadvantage in competing with other law schools that are technologically advanced, modern and efficient, she said.

Fall 2025 enrollment in Wayne Law programs totaled 497 students, up from 404 in fall 2020, Lockwood said. The increase is primarily coming in graduate students, which rose to 102 from 11 during that period.

The university has also seen significant growth in enrollment in its law classes for bachelor’s degrees and minors in law awarded by other schools, including the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Mike Ilitch School of Business, with more than 500 students enrolled in those programs, Lockwood said.

WSU expects the graduate and undergraduate enrollment to continue to grow and the new law school building will allow for the space to host those students and their classes, he said.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/education/cdb-wayne-state-law-building-approved-20260424/

[airforceguy]

Detroit eyes second convention center hotel next to Huntington Place

The Detroit Regional Convention Facility Authority and Detroit-based developer The Sterling Group are working to build another 600-room, $450 million hotel next to the Huntington Place convention center, said Claude Molinari, president and CEO of Visit Detroit and chairman of the DRCFA board that oversees Huntington Place. The new hotel, which would connect to the convention center via a skywalk, would require an entire city block to be demolished to make room.

It’s part of an ongoing effort to boost the city’s hotel room count to help attract more conventions, events and visitors.

The hotel, which does not yet have a flag or a decided-upon number of stories, would address what Molinari, the region’s top tourism and convention guru, called the city’s “Achilles’ heel” — a shortage of hotel rooms in and around downtown that he says is preventing the city from landing some of the country’s most prominent events and conventions.

“It made perfect sense for us to again address our biggest challenge for the success of this building, which is to build another hotel that’s connected to the convention center,” said Molinari during a Tuesday interview at Huntington Place. The second convention hotel is expected to be publicly announced Wednesday morning during a Visit Detroit meeting at Hudson’s Detroit. Construction would begin in the early part of next year and the hotel would open at some point in 2029.

The hotel would take up the block between Fort Street, Washington Boulevard, Cass Avenue and Congress Street next to Huntington Place. To make way for the project, the developers would demolish all of the existing buildings on the block, including the 16-story Fort Washington Plaza office building and its parking deck.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/real-estat...nvention-center-hotel-proposed-20260429/

[airforceguy]

RenCen tower owner pivots to hotel conversion after office space draws no interest

The owner of one of the smaller Renaissance Center towers adjacent to the main complex is considering putting a 200-room hotel in his building.

Dr. Mahmoud Al-Hadidi is requesting a Public Act 146 Obsolete Property Rehabilitation Act tax break for the 600 Tower of the RenCen to convert the 21-story building east of the main RenCen complex into a hotel space, along with 86 apartments and six condos, for a total of 92 residential units, according to Detroit City Council documents. Five of the apartments would be affordable at 60% of the Area Median Income, and 13 at 80% of AMI.

Al-Hadidi and his investors paid $9.2 million for the 600 Tower of the RenCen a year ago.

The updated plan is a departure from Al-Hadidi’s original vision to keep a sizable chunk of the tower as office space, and was first reported by Axios Detroit.

The council documents say that “there is not demand for the original use of the building as fully office commercial” as there have been “little to no inquiries by other office users since the purchase of the property.” It currently has two office tenants, the documents say.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/real-estate/commercial/cdb-600-rencen-tower-hotel-20260429/

[DetroitMan]

Bedrock opens pre-leasing for apartment redevelopment on Broadway

A new residential development on Broadway is adding housing downtown, with Bedrock announcing Wednesday that pre-leasing is underway for a 42-unit apartment building.

The project at 1346 Broadway St., known as The Belle, includes studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments ranging from 400 to nearly 1,000 square feet. Tenants are expected to begin moving in this summer, officials said. Ground-floor retail space is also part of the redevelopment, which sits in the Paradise Valley district.

Bedrock officials said in a news release: "The Belle blends the charm of its 1920s heritage with a polished sophistication and a modern refined edge.”

Architect Kraemer Design Group restored the building while Pophouse handled the interior work.

The Beaux-Arts style property opened in 1926 as an office structure known as the Broadway Exchange Building. Updates to the building include apartment units with dark quartz countertops, emerald green cabinetry, pendant lighting and stainless steel appliances.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/busine...sing-for-the-belle/89853204007/?tbref=hp

[airforceguy]

Long-vacant riverfront hotel owner seeks investors for redevelopment effort

Melvin Washington is the owner of the 12-plus-acre site. He’s looking for equity partners who could take an ownership stake in the Whittier and surrounding properties, as Washington seeks to redevelop them. Washington also owns more than 1,000 housing units, primarily in Detroit, but also some in Oak Park and Cassopolis.

In addition to the Whittier buildings, the development vision also includes the former River Plaza Apartments buildings immediately to the west of the Whittier complex; the vacant land behind the Whittier Hotel on the water; and a vacant 2.24-acre strip of land immediately west of nearby Owen Park.

Washington, through an affiliate called Whittier Plaza LLC, purchased River Plaza Apartments out of foreclosure for $1.65 million at the end of 2023, according to city land records; they had previously been targeted for demolition.

A master plan detailed in the offering materials envisions an ambitious redevelopment and development concept conceived by Washington, with some 1,000 residential units, about 250 hotel rooms, and 140,000 square feet of retail and office space. Under that vision, there would be rehab of the existing buildings and construction of new ones behind the Whittier Hotel, as well as on the land west of Owen Park.

In all likelihood, the buildings need tens of millions in repairs, and the new construction would be tens of millions more across six phases detailed in the offering memorandum.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/real-estate/commercial/cdb-whittier-seeks-investors-20260430/

[airforceguy]

MDOT outlines potential uses for 8 acres created by I-375 overhaul

At a community meeting Thursday, MDOT officials and other project partners presented themes they plan to address across 8 acres of land that will be made available as part of the project to replace I-375 with a street-level boulevard. The 8 acres in question Thursday — about the size of six football fields — would be created by filling in the sunken highway during the first phase of a new three-phase approach to the project.

Upon completion of the project, MDOT would own the land and go through a process of determining how to dispose of it, Jon Loree, a senior project manager with MDOT, told Crain’s.

“We’re going through this process, developing the framework and the community enhancements plan, working with the city and our partners and understanding how we make (the community) vision become a reality,” Loree said.

“When we say dispose of (the land), it’s: how do we turn it over to somebody else? So we could turn it over to the city, we could do independent RFPs, or there could be some land trust that takes it.”

That could include the sale of some of that land to developers, though it would depend on the community’s vision for its use, Loree said.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/transportation/cdb-i-375-land-use-20260430/

[airforceguy]

It will be interesting to see what happens to these properties. With all of the development planned along or near the East Jefferson corridor I could see these becoming luxury market rate apartments.

3 Detroit apartment buildings put in receivership

The three buildings, known as The Kean, The Hibbard and The Trombley Lodge, total 131 units. Mortgage holder Fannie Mae filed the lawsuit against East Jefferson LLC on April 17, alleging the ownership group owes nearly $7.2 million in principal, interest, late fees and other charges, and has not made a mortgage payment since July.

Subsequently, on April 24, Judge Jonathan J.C. Grey appointed Sal Thomas, executive vice president of multifamily with Texas-based Tarantino Properties, as the receiver for the buildings.

The receiver is tasked with maintaining the apartments’ “value, marketability, rentability, and habitability,” ensuring “good, safe and working condition, and ensure the safety and wellness of its tenants,” according to the complaint.

A sale of the property would be possible, but only after a lengthy legal process plays out.

Under the receivership, Thomas and Tarantino Properties will have “exclusive control” of the buildings, according to Grey’s order.

Thomas could not immediately be reached for comment Friday.

The complaint points to various issues at the buildings, citing a city inspection report that noted issues such as a lack of evacuation plans, failure to have certain fire suppression equipment and improper lighting.

The buildings were purchased in 2017 by investment group East Jefferson LLC. Matt Temkin, a representative of the ownership group, said the issues with the buildings are systemic in nature and part of ongoing issues Detroit landlords face. That includes tenants not paying rent as well as tax policies in the city and the state that make it difficult to acquire troubled buildings.

“This is what happens when widespread rent non-payment collides with massive property tax increases,” Temkin said in an email to Crain’s on Friday afternoon.

“Properties run out of money, their condition deteriorates, and buyers disappear because taxes spike upon sale. Foreclosure follows,” Temkin continued. “From 2018–2025, the City of Detroit increased property tax assessments by an average of 260% across the city. These properties already pay about $150,000 per year in taxes. For a new owner, that bill jumps to roughly $600,000 annually. That’s more than 40% of the total potential rental income.”

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/real-estate/residential/cdb-detroit-apartments-receivership-20260501/

[airforceguy]

I'm not surprised both projects are dead. Covid really killed the momentum for a lot of projects in Detroit.

Why highly anticipated Detroit development with a Target store died

Detroit City Council is poised to take back a tax incentive it previously awarded for the City Club Apartments Midtown development, for the reason that the long-stalled project failed to happen.

Pitched back in 2021 by developer Jonathan Holtzman, the development was to have been built on a 7-acre site at the southeast corner of Mack and Woodward avenues, near Midtown's Whole Foods, with a small urban-format Target store as its anchor. In a phone interview on Monday, April 27, Holtzman said the development never broke ground because the growth trajectory of greater downtown Detroit slowed considerably in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, when suddenly there were fewer office workers around due to the rise of remote work and some formerly big employers, such as General Motors, lowered their downtown headcounts.

Additionally, construction costs for building anything new began to soar.

https://www.freep.com/story/money/busine...tion-detroit-project-target/89838031007/

[airforceguy]

Music Hall gets final OK for $166M nonprofit bond issue for expansion after years of stops and starts

After several stops and starts, the Detroit Economic Development Corp. on Tuesday gave final approval to the issuance of $166 million in not-for-profit bonds that will fund the expansion and first few years of debt service on them while construction is underway.

Music Hall is tapping 501(c)(3) tax-exempt bonds, a finance product used in affordable housing, nonprofit hospitals and university projects across the country but something leaders don’t believe has been used in Detroit since the late founder of Michigan Opera Theatre (now Detroit Opera), David DiChiera, used them to finance the renovation of the Michigan Opera House in Detroit 25 years ago.

The arts organization is in final negotiations with underwriters that plan to do a private, institutional offering of the bonds, Music Hall President Vince Paul told Crain’s, pointing to a planned June 29 closing date for the bond issue.

Following the closing, Barton Malow Co., the general contractor on the project, will demolish a guard shack and level the parking area to prepare it for a mid-July groundbreaking, Paul said.

In addition, Music Hall plans to launch a $55 million campaign as the first phase of fundraising to pay back the bonds, which will come with annual debt service of just more than $11 million, he said.

Slated for the vacant lot next to Music Hall’s historic home in Detroit’s Foxtown neighborhood, the expansion has been in development since 2022 when members of the arts organization’s board acquired the property for the project.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/nonprofits...c-hall-expansion-bond-approval-20260515/