Detroit – Matching Vacant Space and a Business

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Business, Commercial Real Estate, Detroit, Entrepreneurs, Grants

In 2015, Motor City Match provided $500,000 in matching grants; connecting business owners with property owners. Property owners with vacant space looking for tenants and entrepreneurs looking for space in Detroit may look to find help through this potentially viable option.

Grant Applications for Business Owners and Building Owners in Round 3 is currently open and will close January 1st.

In the previous round, 10 businesses received a share of the $500,000 Grant to start or expand a business plus 87 businesses received assistance in planning or guidance to get their businesses started.

For more information and to submit an application go to www.motorcitymatch.com.

The Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, a private, non-profit organization, one of the partners in Motor City Match, has a lot of resources to help companies and businesses arrive and thrive in Detroit.

 

Downtown Condos in Demand Across the Country

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Commercial Real Estate, Downtown Condos, Office Space

Downtown Ann Arbor condo developments are booming. Urban living is more desirable than ever all across the country. A recent NPR broadcast reports larger cities, that were once ghost towns on the weekends, are emerging as the new places that Millennials want to live and developers are altering their mindset from office developments to walkable residential community.

Some cities are turning vacant floors in office buildings or total office buildings into higher-end residential condos or apartments. Detroit, Michigan, Wilke-Barre, Pennsylvania, Cleveland, Ohio, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin have all had residential conversions and are experiencing an upturn in downtown living.

Detroit has numerous companies that have moved from the suburbs to downtown.

Office markets are improving, due in part to conversions pulling office space out of the market.

The largest age group living in cities is 25-34 followed by Baby Boomers who are finding it increasingly more attractive to live “downtown”.

Source: Crain’s Detroit

Source: Urban Milwaukee

Source: Cleveland.com

Source: Citizens Voice

 

Commercial High-Rent Blight

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Blight, Commercial Real Estate, Detroit, Downtown Ann Arbor, Retail Leasing

Recently an article in The New Yorker explained high-rent blight in the West Village area. Rising properties values allow landlords to justify raising rents on commercial properties often pricing long-term tenants out of the market. This has resulted tenants being forced to close their business or having to move. Many storefronts have been closed for a long time, as landlords wait for higher paying tenants, often whom are national chains.

New York City is not the only place that high commercial rents start to undermine the unique character that makes areas of a city appealing to shop and visit. When too many national chains move in, it reduces an area’s special attributes and hurts the small businesses that have created the charm and character in the first place.

Ann Arbor’s State Street retail district, adjacent to the University of Michigan’s central campus, recently saw two restaurants closing with claims of “high rent” as a factor in their decisions.

One city is finding a way to deal with empty storefronts. In 2011 a group of people in Minneapolis came together to develop a community real estate cooperative. Northeast Investment Cooperative buys and develops real estate. They have bought, sold, and renovated buildings in an area that was once empty storefronts. The area is now thriving with several businesses enhancing the neighborhood.

To reduce blight in Detroit a task force was created in 2013 called Detroit Blight Removal Task Force. They have been targeting residential neighborhoods first; starting with those that are most populated and have the fewest abandoned homes. The city’s goal is to tear down 200 houses a week.  Commercial blight will be more challenging as there are more than 5,400 commercial, civic and church properties on the removal list.

Source: MLive.com

Source: MLive.com

Source: Crosscut.com

Source: Detroit Free Press

Source: MLive.com

Detroit from Above and Before

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Cities, Detroit, Investment, Planning

In the New York Times Sunday Review, aerial photographer and pilot, Alex S. MacLean, showcases Detroit. Not every photo is flattering but all are interesting. Detroit is rebounding and as with all cities that have rebounded, it takes time.

A fantastic place to see photos from Detroit’s great past is at HistoricDetroit.org, on their website they have photos of “Buildings, Places and Landmarks”.

Looking at what Detroit once was it’s easy to be optimistic that the city can reflect that spirit once again.