Build it, price it competitively, and they will come.
That is the lesson the Detroit-based Sterling Group is learning with its two recently released Ferndale Loft projects: ID Woodward and Twelve:01.
So far 10 deposits have been taken on 18-unit ID Woodward development and two more deposits have been taken on the 21-unit Twelve:01 project. The developer expected to have 40 percent of the units reserved in the first 90 days, but is on track to have half of them sold within the first 60 days.
The price point is one of the biggest features of these two projects. Prices for the Twelve:01 lofts start at $118,000 while the ID Woodward lofts begin at $130,000. Most of the units in both developments can be had for $150,000 or less. Sterling group is able to price the new construction lofts so low because it took underutilized properties and applied innovative design, maximizing how efficiently it uses space.
For example, the ID Woodward lofts, 23350 Woodward Avenue, occupy a thin sliver of land at the corner of East Woodland Street and Woodward, five blocks north of Nine Mile Road and the center of downtown. The piece of land, only 38 feet wide, has always been a parking lot.
The Sterling Group plans to start building a four-story loft building, the tallest in the neighborhood, there this fall. Each unit is designed in a traditional urban loft-style space, ranging in size from 500 to 1,100 square feet. They come with spacious floor plans, spiral stair cases, balconies, floor-to-ceiling windows, 17-foot-tall ceilings and parking. There is ground floor retail space and Euro-style elevator parking, which is new to Metro Detroit. The system uses a lift to store the vehicles so residents can press a button to get their car.
The Twelve:01 development follows a similar idea, building a three-story building, 1201 Woodward Heights, on a what had been for years a vacant lot in Ferndale's emerging Hilton District this fall. The 21 industrial-style lofts range in size from 500 to 1,100 square feet and feature "loft" characteristics of open spaces, multiple levels, spiral staircases, floor to ceiling windows, 11-foot ceilings, balconies and attached parking.
The Sterling Group is targeting a segment of loft buyers seeking affordability in a walkable community with a vibrant night life and other amenities. Higher priced residential lofts have dominated the loft boom in Metro Detroit in recent years.
For information, visit the Sterling Group's Loft Shop sales center, 23365 Woodward, just north of downtown Ferndale or visit www.IDLOFTS.com or www.twelve01lofts.com or call (248) 417-2882.
The Loft Shop is in a restored storefront that once housed an appliance store five blocks north of Nine Mile Road on the west side of Woodward. It is open on Wednesday through Friday from noon to 7 p.m., and on Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.
Source: Frank Guirlinger, director of development services at Sterling Group
Writer: Jon Zemke
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