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Real Estate and Development

Real estate and Development stories in and around the city of Detroit.
Photograph or avatar of Jer Staes
Steel rises at the site of a new research center in Detroit

One of the most impactful stories long-term on Detroit isn't in the core of downtown, but up by the New Center and TechTown.

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The Henry Ford Health + Michigan State University Health Sciences Research Center is will be a seven-story, $335 million building that will be home to various medical research teams devoted to cancer, neuroscience, cardiometabolic diseases, and immunology — as well as the Nick Gilbert Neurofibromatosis Research Institute.

I saw that major visible progress is being made and wanted to share a little update.

You can find it on Third Street, south of the boulevard and across from the Pistons Performance Center.

Rendering of the final design, via Henry Ford / MSU

Part of the wider $3 billion Henry Ford and MSU partnership, this should be ready in 2027.

The Prince of Brightmoor Norris Howard is in, and we discuss a recent push to turn the RenCen into a historic district to save all of the towers. Is that the best way forward?

Plus,

Photograph or avatar of Luciano Marcon
New, affordable housing opened in Brush Park and Midtown

The spot I visited Tuesday was Brush Park Apartments.

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It's a $19-million development with 53 affordable units and 3,800 square feet of commercial space at 269 Winder in Detroit.

Brush Park apartments side view

The second is in Midtown. It's named MLK on 2nd, at 3515 Second Avenue.

That $11.5-million project has 33 units and also features ground-floor commercial space.

Out of the combined 86 units across both developments, 63 will be deeply affordable for those earning 60 percent area median income (AMI) or below, with the remainder being available for households earning 80 percent AMI or below.

Here's a chart from the city of Detroit outlining how much that works out to for income and family size.

The projects, funded through various partnerships including CVS Health, Fifth Third Bank, and government programs, aim to make sure Detroiters can afford to live in desirable neighborhoods.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said that more than $1 billion of affordable housing has been built in the last five years.

A litte Townie Talk with Fletcher Sharpe...

Topic timestamps:

02:10     Fletcher appears on One Detroit and talks about the hug that broke barriers in baseball

04:28 - Seva is closing. We

Photograph or avatar of Luciano Marcon
Check out renovation work underway

I saw visual progress is being made on the former United Savings Bank in Detroit's Capitol Park.

It's undergoing significant remodeling to an art deco-inspired design, and the addition of four new floors. Two stories will be for commercial space, and the rest will have 25 residential units.

Designed by Albert Kahn and opened in 1921, the building's facade was ruined by a "facelift" in the 70s that removed most of the windows.

The developers of 1133 Griswold Street are the Detroit-based RKP Group.

Outlier Media's Aaron Mondry joins us to talk about his in-depth reporting about foreigners investing in Detroit through cryptocurrency.

More, as part of his series on the "Speculators of Detroit": https://outliermedia.org/crypto-real-estate-realt-cryptocurrency-detroit/

In this episode, Luciano talks with Jer and Shianne about the new Raising Cane's in Canton. Luciano talks about the energy of the moment, how the food tasted, and his first impression of Raising Cane's.

Photograph or avatar of Jer Staes
Work is underway remodeling Detroit's Capitol Park

As you can see in the video below, a major overhaul of the triangle-shaped park has gotten started in earnest, with work to be completed in the summer. Businesses will remain open.

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This one has been a long time coming. Big parts of a plan from 2017 will be put into place. Historically, the park had more green space and was more welcoming than the current design.

Rendering via the Downtown Detroit Partnership

What's coming? The Downtown Detroit Partnership says:

  • Softening the park by adding new gardens
  • Permeable surfacing (it allows water to go through instead of pool or have to be handled by sewer systems)
  • Expansion of the dog park and lawn
  • A new canopy of trees

If you're looking for some Capitol Park history, may I suggest this link on the monument to Michigan's first governor.