N.Y. producers up for $211,000 from Film Office for HGTV series on Detroit mansion

The Michigan Film Office announced today that New York-based Chasing Light Entertainment, the production company responsible for the renovation of the Ransom Gills Detroit mansion through an eight-part HGTV series, is eligible for more than $200,000 in incentives.

The production company estimates it will spend $844,125 in Detroit while hiring 22 workers, 12 being Michigan residents. Those jobs equate to two full-time positions, according to a news release from the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

The company is eligible for $211,031 in incentives, which it will receive only after the work is complete and shows proof of spending and hiring in Michigan.

“There’s a process to demonstrate they are spending the money,” said Frank Provenzano, public relations manager for the Michigan Film Office. “It’s very much in stages. Once they spend a certain level, they get part of the incentive, and simultaneously they have to demonstrate they are hiring.”

The benchmarks to receive incentives vary entirely by project, Provenzano said.

Nicole Curtis, a metro Detroit native and host of the network's "Rehab Addict," is leading the restoration at 205 Alfred St. The series will premiere on HGTV in November.

Quicken Loans Inc. is collaborating with HGTV on the series, which will end with an open house for potential homebuyers, Crain’s reported in July.

The project is part of a $70 million redevelopment of 8.4 acres of Brush Park that includes 337 residential units, retail space and the restoration of four mansions. 

It PAYS to LIVE in Detroit!

The $10 million program that gives living incentives for young professionals to move to Detroit's Midtown neighborhood is expanded north due to a lack of available housing.

If you or someone you know works for any of the 3 companies below, you can qualify for huge incentives to live in Midtown Detroit.

Detroit Medical Center, Henry Ford Health Systems and Wayne State University each invest funding to the program. That investment has been matched by the Hudson-Webber Foundation and MSHDA. The Kresge Foundation also provides additional support for the program. Total funding for the first year will be $1.2 million. The 3 main companies are slated to continue to the program in years to follow adjusting where necessary.
Incentives for individuals to move to the Detroit Midtown area include:

• $2,500 allowance for new renters toward the cost of their apartment in the first year followed by an additional funding of $1,000 for the second year
• $1,000 allowance for existing renters who are renewing a lease
• $20,000 forgivable loan toward the purchase of a primary residence (if taken at one time), or $25,000 at the rate of $5,000 per year (if taken over five years)
• $5,000 exterior home improvement matching funds; for projects of $10,000 or more for existing homeowners

The incentives are only available to employees of the three anchor institutions: DMC, HFHS and WSU. To qualify for the incentives, housing units must be located within the boundaries that includes New Center, Midtown, Virginia Park and Woodbridge, and now the Boston Edison neighborhoods.

Development-focused non-profit Midtown Detroit, Inc. announced the Live Midtown program will now include the historic Boston-Edison neighborhood, which is generally bound by Linwood to the west, Woodward to the east, Edison to the South and Boston to the north.

The neighborhood, which is stable by Detroit standards but still has several relatively low-priced, historic single family homes for sale, is just to the north of the Northend, New Center and Woodbridge areas, which are also included in the Live Midtown program.

The Midtown neighborhood now stands at a 97 percent residential occupancy rate, according to Midtown Detroit, Inc.
“This expansion not only opens up an array of quality housing stock, but also supports the Detroit Future Cities Framework Plan which identifies this area as an important district to stabilize,” the non-profit said in a statement.

The Live Midtown and Live Downtown programs thus far have moved 1,600 people in to the city and helped another 1,000 to renew leases there, according to Midtown Detroit, Inc.

Inside the REDESIGNED David Whitney Building in Downtown Detroit!

The iconic David Whitney Building is set to reopen to the public in December.

Designed by renowned Chicago architect Daniel Burnham and constructed in 1915, the building at 1 Park Ave. in downtown Detroit has been empty since 1999, when it last served as an office building.

After being left vacant for more 12 years, the journey to restoration started in March 2011, when Whitney Partners LLC, a joint venture between Detroit-based developer The Roxbury Group and Farmington Hills-based hotel investment firm Trans Inns Management Inc., bought the building for $3.3 million.

Whitney Partners has preserved the building’s historical touches, including its terra-cotta, mahogany and marble surfaces. The building’s exterior is also being restored to bring its façade as close as possible to the original 1915 design.



 “We are in the final stages of redeveloping one of Detroit’s most celebrated buildings and returning it to Detroiters and visitors to enjoy,” David Di Rita, principal of The Roxbury Group, told a 50-person crowd during a media tour and update of the building’s $94.5 million redevelopment project.The building includes:

• a four-story atrium;
• The Residences at the David Whitney, 108 one-, two- and three- bedroom apartments;
• Aloft Detroit, a 136-room boutique hotel that is part of the Sherwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. chain; and
• Grand Cirque Brasserie, the building’s signature restaurant.

The building will also be a transportation hub, with second-floor access to the Grand Circus Park Detroit People Mover station, which has been closed for renovations, and an M-1 Rail stop outside the building

Triton Properties buys 4 apartment buildings along DETROIT RIVERFRONT

Denver, Colo.-based Triton Properties Inc. has purchased four apartment buildings totaling 143 units near and along the east Detroit riverfront for an undisclosed amount.
The buildings in the sale are:

• The 49-unit Kean Apartments, at E. Jefferson Avenue and Hibbard Street.
• The 43-unit Hibbard Apartments, at E. Jefferson Avenue and Hibbard.
• The 9-unit Parker Apartments, at Parker and E. Lafayette streets.
• The 42-unit Van Dyke Apartments, at Van Dyke and E. Lafayette streets.

Detroit-based Cynex Enterprises owned the buildings, according to Rich Deptula, senior vice president of investment and loan sale advisory services for Farmington Hills-based Friedman Integrated Real Estate Solutions LLC, which represented Cynex.

The purchase is the latest for Triton, which bought the Alden Park Towers at E. Jefferson and Parker for $2 million in August 2012. Triton completed a $5 million renovation of the property earlier this year.
“They have done an incredible job turning around and repositioning Alden Park,” said Barry Swatsenbarg, national director of investment and loan sale advisory services for Friedman.

April Sedillos, executive vice president of Triton, said the company will first address deferred building maintenance. Triton is still developing budgets for capital improvements to the buildings.

Sounds like there are some new and EXCITING projects coming up in Detroit!

Winning design announced for former J.L. Hudson site

A winning design was announced today for the former J.L. Hudson Co. department store site.
Davide Marchetti and Erin Pellegrino of Rome, Italy, took first place in the "Redesigning Detroit: A New Vision for an Iconic Site" competition and the $15,000 prize that comes along with it.

The contest was sponsored by Rock Ventures LLC through its Opportunity Detroit campaign.
A team of five architects and planning experts were judges for the competition. They finished judging Friday, and the public voted on the entries on Saturday and Sunday, with cash prizes going to the top three vote-getters.

Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert has announced plans to build a residential development on the portion of the former J.L. Hudson department store site on Woodward Avenue immediately north of the Compuware Building.

NEW HOME permits up 46 percent in Metro Detroit

New home permits rose by 46 percent in February over a year ago in four metro Detroit counties, according to the West Bloomfield Township-based Home Builders Association of Southeastern Michigan.

There were 277 new single-family home permits issued in February in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and St. Clair counties, up from 189 in February 2012.

There were 118 issued in Oakland County and 99 issued in Wayne County in February. Sixty were issued in Macomb County.

No single-family home permits were issued in St. Clair County in February.

With a rebound in home sales prices, buyers feel more financially capable of building a new home after selling their current one, said Michael Stoskopf, CEO of the association.

Plans for former NOVI EXPO CENTER

A 25-acre tract where the Novi Expo Center was demolished last year is set to be redeveloped with a commercial building and hotel.

Details of the $100-million project, along with artist renderings, were announced this morning on the property at I-96 and Novi Road.

Kevin Adell, who is leading the project, said he has been in talks with hotel chains – including Hyatt, Hilton and Marriott – and the Cleveland Clinic, about becoming tenants.

Plans for the development, dubbed Adell Towers, call for twin 8-10 story buildings, each about 176,000 square feet. Adell said he envisions a medical center and offices, including his own, in one tower – and a hotel in the other.

Before its demolition, the expo center had been vacant since 2005, when the center's event management company was moved into what is now the Suburban Collection Showplace at 46100 Grand River Ave. in Novi.

Before the expo center opened in 1992, the property was headquarters of Adell Industries, a maker of automotive door guards, and later a Kahlua manufacturing center for Mohawk Liqueur Corp.

New CHEESECAKE FACTORY to open in Novi!

The Cheesecake Factory will open its first Michigan restaurant at Twelve Oaks Mall in Novi later this year, Taubman Centers said today.

The Cheesecake Factory can be found in nearly three dozen states, but Twelve Oaks Mall will be the popular chain's first Michigan restaurant.

For years, real estate developers in Michigan tried to convince the restaurant chain to open in the state. The restaurant offers an extensive, full-service menu ranging from seafood to steaks along with, of course, a large dessert menu that includes more than two dozen cheesecake choices.
Bloomfield Hills-based Taubman Centers said the Cheesecake Factory will operate an 8,430-square-foot restaurant at Twelve Oaks that will accommodate approximately 225 guests and another 60 on the patio.

“Having grown up in Detroit and watched my parents start their cheesecake business here in the 1950s, opening a Cheesecake Factory at Twelve Oaks feels like a true homecoming,” David Overton, founder and CEO of the Cheesecake Factory said in a statement.

Founded in 1978, the Cheesecake Factory operates 177 restaurants in the U.S.

FREE MONEY available from state housing agency!

Buying a house is a big financial responsibility. But everyone likes FREE MONEY right? The Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) has set up a $15 million dollar fund for First-Time home buyers.

The program will make $3,000 available to first time home buyers, and $5,000 available to first time home buyers who are veterans, until the $15 million dollars is exhausted.  How AWESOME is that?!

To qualify you must:

• Be a first time home buyer

(defined as a person who has not owned a principal residence in 3 years prior to date of purchase)

• Finance with a qualifying lender

Visit the state's website below for the application and additional details

First-Time Home Buyer Assistance Program

This is fantastic news! But you must hurry before the funds are exhausted.  So now you just have to find a house! Call me so we can get started.

Kandiss Ecton

Realtor

Dwellings Unlimited

248-875-5868

kandiss@dwellingsunlimited.com

Exciting news for Downtown Detroit!

Downtown Detroit has received a new burst of energy!  Dan Gilbert, founder & chairman of Rock Ventures, has acquired 5 buildings in downtown Detroit. This adds to his portfolio of 10 purchased properties in the city. Plans for the past purchases include retail, offices, and multi-family.

How exciting is this news?!?! The fact that a major company, Quicken Loans, has moved it's headquarters to the city, and is acquiring properties gives hope.  The company itself has moved 7,000 workers downtown.

Not only will this bring many oppurtunites, but it also shows progression. Detroit is making strides to move in the right direction.

Now is a great time to purchase a property in Downtown Detroit. Love baseball? Think about how exciting it would be to have Comerica Park within walking distance. Want to catch a show? The Fox Theatre & The Detroit Opera House offer a wide array of performances year round.  There are also many cool bars and elegant restaurants like HockeyTown Cafe, Centaur, and Andiamo in the heart of downtown.  This can all be at your doorstep.

Now, let's talk incentives. It can literally PAY to live downtown! Partnering employers are offering financial incentives for their employees to live where they work. Live Downtown is a residential program to entice you to live and invest in a downtown home.

There are so many exciting opportunities available.  I can help you make the move. Let's talk real soon.

Kandiss Ecton
Realtor
248-875-5868

47% rise in housing starts in metro Detroit. A sign of a stronger job market

The dark days of home building in metro Detroit appear to be ending as renewed hiring fuels demand for new homes, sparking a 47% rise in southeast Michigan housing starts for the first quarter. Yet building activity remains well below normal.

Construction began on 741 single-family homes. That compares to 505 in the same period of 2011, according to Housing Consultants of Clarkston.

At the peak of home-building activity in the 2000-05 period, an average of 5,000 homes were started per quarter.

Still, it was the most active January-March period in five years.

And experts say it could be the start of a more permanent trend upward for the area's beaten-down housing market; 22,000 more people are working in Macomb, Oakland and Washtenaw counties this year than in 2011, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

That is 10,000 to 20,000 possible more homes needed this year. I hope it continues," said Michael Stoskopf, chief executive of the Building Industry Association of Southeastern Michigan. "I think we are seeing improvement, and part of that points to the number of people who have jobs."

A shortage of move-in ready homes for sale on the existing market has spurred some of the new home building. And the unseasonably good construction weather in March also helped boost the quarter.

Building permits in southeast Michigan rose 25% in 2011 compared with 2010, with 3,110 single-family permits issued, according to the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments. The permits indicate future construction.

PulteGroup, the nation's largest homebuilder, ended 2011 with a quarterly profit -- its first profit in more than a year. The Bloomfield Hills-based homebuilder said it could be a sign of better things to come this year.

National data for March show that housing starts were up in the Midwest and on the East Coast, but down in the South and flat in the West.

Economists expect this year nationally to top 2011 in home-building activity, but a return to normal isn't expected until 2015, according to IHS Global Insight.

In local Real Estate News...

New Detroit Red Wings arena part of mall complex?

With a ton of real-estate activity at the rumored site of a new Detroit Red Wings (NHL) arena, the talk is a new facility could be part of a larger mall complex. The area between Woodward Avenue and Cass near Temple, a blighted area, has emerged as a hot real-estate market in recent months, with several properties changing hands or in the midst of negotiations for a sale. Red Wings coach Mike Babcock may have let the cat out of the bag during a radio interview with the local 97.1 The Ticket station:

“If you want the city to come back, you got to revitalize downtown. A big part of that’s going to be the new arena, and the mall and the stuff going around it,” he said. “And that’s very important. That’s why we need the state to jump onside, and the sooner the better, if we’re going to revitalize Michigan. It’s got to start right here in Detroit.”

With developer Al Taubman rumored to be looking at a downtown shopping center, the outlines of the plan become clearer: a new arena as part of a much larger development. And this is the same site where a stop was added to light-rail plans several months ago, despite the lack of any current need for a stop.

I think that would be a great move! Detroit's downtown would get a boost with the best team in hockey for the last 20 years having a shiny new arena in the middle of downtown.