Housing

Coverage of low-income and affordable housing solutions, housing developments, and resources for the unhoused.

New $30M student housing, other upgrades for Oakland University

By Newsroom

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February 21, 2013

Oakland University's campus will take on big changes, millions of dollars in changes, by 2014. The changes include a $30 million student housing development, a new recreation and athletic complex, a new facility and grounds maintenance building and 1,240 parking spaces to keep up with student growth. On top of that, the 1,443-acre campus in Rochester Hills will build a carillon tower on campus. The housing complex will provide additional parking as well as businesses such as a cafe, classrooms, student gathering space and more. The new athletic facilities will be equipped to host NCAA Division 1 events. The future changes follow several other improvements to the campus, including a new engineering center and a human health building. The goal is to enrich the college experience for students and to build on a 37-percent increase in student enrollment over the last 15 years. Benjamin Eveslage, student liaison to OU's Board of Trustees, says the changes are what students have asked for. “These improvements will greatly contribute to student life, the growth of our university, and the value every graduate holds in their diploma, Eveslage says in a statement. "I am glad to be a student at OU, at a point where OU is changing its game and improving in so many new ways” Writer: Kim North Shine Source: Oakland University

Latest in Housing

The boardwalk in Portland made upper floor housing possible for more buildings

Upper Floor Housing Rehabs Spur Neighborhood Growth

By Natalie Burg

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General

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December 20, 2012

When shopping in your favorite downtown store, ever wonder what's upstairs? For decades, the answer has been "not much" for many Michigan cities. Take a look at how that trend is changing across the state, in communities like Manistee, Portland and Detroit's Eastern Market, where local property owners are redefining downtowns by reviving upper floor residences.

The Artists’ Touch: How creatives’ investments in upper floor housing built a neighborhood

By Jon Zemke

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General

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December 20, 2012

There’s something different about the Eastern Market neighborhood of Detroit. It’s evident today in the creative investment happening on Gratiot just north of Russell, where a beautiful Art Deco building is being brought back to life, inside and out. The project continues a trend that began on the same block more than 30 years ago when upper floor housing first made an appearance in the neighborhood. Now, the residents living in Eastern Market make the mixed-use area uniquely vibrant, spurring increased redevelopment.

$30 million complex offers U-M-Dearborn students new housing options

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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September 20, 2012

A Sept. 24 groundbreaking for a student housing complex will take the University of Michigan Dearborn, largely a commuter school, into the direction of creating a campus residential community. The $30-million The Union at Dearborn, a project of Bloomfield Hills based developer Urban Campus Communities, will convert a closed Ford Motor Co. diagnostic center into 231,791 square feet of space for 500-plus students and other campus amenities. Inside the buildings, which are located across Evergreen Road from the U-M Dearborn campus at 760 and 780 Town Center Drive, will be space for student life activities, meeting rooms, student study areas offices and a cabaret style theater. Construction is expected to be completed in time for the fall 2013 school year. School and city officials see it as a major academic and economic opportunity for Dearborn. The Union at Dearborn also will bring a newly revived, 24/7 presence to the community, with economic growth expected for the surrounding businesses. “This is such an exciting development for the City of Dearborn,” Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly Jr. says in a statement announcing the groundbreaking. “We are thrilled that UM-Dearborn students soon will be able to call Dearborn home throughout the year and we look forward to welcoming them to our community.” U-M Dearborn Chancellor Daniel Little says students have asked about campus housing for many years. “With the reduction of state funding and our commitment to minimizing tuition increases, this public-private collaboration will allow the university to continue to invest in its academic mission, while transforming the campus experience for all students. The Union at Dearborn also will provide greater access for students wishing to pursue a Michigan degree in southeastern Michigan,” Little says. Source: Beth Marmarelli, associate director, communications & marketing, University of Michigan-Dearborn Writer: Kim North Shine

The next trend in housing? Smaller, urban, walkable, rentable

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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April 5, 2012

This terrific first-person editorial on the current trends in American housing highlights both the virtues and concerns of moving toward a walkable, more compact rental market. Excerpt: "Beyond rentals, the clear changes in the residential marketplace also bode well for innovative approaches to smaller-footprint but nonetheless high-quality types of housing, such as “pocket neighborhoods” of cottages and slightly larger homes arranged around a common green, as championed by Ross Chapin. Downsizing trends may provide opportunities as well for more applications of the “Katrina Cottages” designed for quick rebuilding along the Gulf of Mexico coast following the loss of homes to Hurricane Katrina. A LEED-Platinum version of the latter was just celebrated in a cluster of 29 of the homes on two acres in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. (Marketing tip: it may be time to lose the “Katrina” part of the trademark for these cottages – whose concept I love – since the potential market might increase without the association with temporary housing in the context of a national tragedy. Just saying.)" Read the rest here.

Graduate housing, downtown parking and retail complex coming to Auburn Hills

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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December 1, 2011

A four-story, 97-apartment-unit, 279-parking space mixed-use development with room for 6,150 square feet of retail on the bottom floor is moving toward the start of construction and a completion date of January 2013. The project in the Auburn Hills downtown area about two miles from Oakland University and Cooley Law School will be designated a preferred residence for the schools' graduate students. As many as 130 students could live there. City officials see potential to transform the city's developing downtown at Auburn and Squirrel roads. The $14 million development is a public private partnership with the city's Tax Increment Financing Authority owning the parking structure and putting in about $4.5 million and the building being developed, owned and operated by Lansing-based Prescient Growth LLC, which is committing $9.5 million. “With Oakland University, Cooley Law School, Baker College, Oakland Community College and an extension of Central Michigan University located here, Auburn Hills is visited by more than 20,000 college students on most week days. With the addition of this new residence, we will add a critical mass of students who bring energy and vibrancy and want to create a sense of place in downtown Auburn Hills,” City Manager Pete Auger says in a statement announcing the groundbreaking. The building and parking structure will be done in a wrap style, where the housing wraps around and is attached to the parking structure. It masks two sides of the structure from view. Amenities for the student residents will be plentiful and ideally the businesses in and around the building will be their go-to spots, says Stephanie Carroll, coordinator of community relations and legislative affairs for Auburn Hills. That's more in line with what comes to mind in a college town. "We're not trying to be an Ann Arbor at all," she says, "But we thought what better way than to capture that student population but give them a place." Source: Stephanie Carroll, coordinator of community relations and legislative affairs, city of Auburn Hills Writer: Kim North Shine

Student housing proposed for downtown Auburn Hills

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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September 29, 2011

Auburn Hills could see dramatic change under a proposal to bring college student housing downtown. With Oakland University and Cooley Law School attracting more out-of-towners, there's been a housing shortage, says Assistant City Manager Tom Tanghe. Hausmann Construction Company, which has built, improved and expanded other campuses for Cooley Law School, would lead the project. Cooley has locations in Lansing, Grand Rapids, Auburn Hills and Ann Arbor. The Auburn Hills student housing complex would have 97 rooms in a four-story building. There would be single and double rooms and the residents would most likely be graduate students from OU and Cooley, Tanghe says. "They've literally run out of housing at OU. This year they housed about 30 students in a hotel," Tanghe says. "We kept saying to OU and to Cooley, 'Let's work with you to create an environment that makes coming to your campus more attractive.' " A student housing complex on Auburn and Squirrel roads in downtown with walking distances of restaurants and within one to two miles from both schools may offer that attraction. In addition, the complex would have a 288-space, wrap style parking deck that's popular in the South. The parking lot is wrapped on two sides by student apartments and has dedicated hallways leading from parking space to residences providing convenience and security. On the ground floor of the apartment building would be 5,000 square feet of retail space. So far about half of that space already has interested tenants, Tanghe says. About 33,000 students, the majority at Oakland University and Oakland Community College, attend school at six campuses in Auburn Hills. "This could be transformational for Auburn Hills," he says. If the planning commission approves Hausmann's plan, the construction shovel could go into the ground in October in time for an opening around August of 2012, in time for the next school year. Source: Tom Tanghe, city of Auburn Hills assistant city manager and director of human resources and labor relations Writer: Kim North Shine

New student housing, student center planned for U-M Dearborn

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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September 22, 2011

The University of Michigan-Dearborn and a private developer are embarking on a project that would bring the first student housing to campus and also revive shuttered Ford Motor Co. property. The city of Dearborn and the state of Michigan are supporting the Union at Dearborn development by approving discounted taxes and other incentives to help Urban Campus Communities, the developer, renovate and turn prominent, vacant buildings into student housing and a student activity center, says Barry Murray, director of economic and community development for the city of Dearborn. "We are just thrilled about this," Murray says of the $47 million proposed project that could employ 20 people in full-time jobs and lead to numerous construction jobs. The first phase of the project, he says, would renovate former research and testing facilities vacated by Ford Motor Co. when it began its downsizing. Three buildings ranging from one to four stories tall would house about 525 students, possibly by fall 2012, Murray says. A second phase, if it comes to pass, would add more housing, possibly another 300 beds. There is also talk of bringing student housing to downtown Dearborn, he says. One building in the first phase would also include a student union. The buildings are located on Evergreen, on the ring road around Fairlane, across the street from the university. At 150,000 square feet, they represent 10 percent of the city's unused buildings and have been declared brownfields, which makes the project eligible for tax abatements, $2.34 million of which were approved last week by the Michigan Economic Growth Authority. Murray points out that UM-Dearborn is the only state school to have no student housing, something that market research by the school found to be a deterrent to choosing it over other schools with housing. He says that research shows the school could support 2,000-3,000 students in housing. "This is a true green use for obsolete buildings," Murray says. "The best thing you can do for the environment is re-use buildings." Beth Marmarelli, associate director for communications and marketing at UM-Dearborn, says enrollment numbers for this year will not be finalized until next week. The project is still in the planning stages, she says. Sources: Barry Murray, director of economic and community development, city of Dearborn; Beth Marmarelli, associate director for communications and marketing at U-M Dearborn Writer: Kim North Shine

Incentives available for energy efficient upgrades to multifamily housing

By Tanya Muzumdar

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Economic Development

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September 1, 2011

While utilities often target energy efficiency programs directly towards easier-to-reach individual residential customers, multifamily housing properties have typically been slow adopters. But those programs are out there. In 2010 DTE Energy outfitted almost 38,000 apartments and other multi-family housing properties with CFL bulbs, faucet aerators, and low-flow showerheads. And through the end of 2011, Consumers Energy is offering a no-charge energy assessment and rebate program for multifamily properties at least five units in size that are serviced by Consumers Energy. The Consumers Energy Savings Solutions program is offering free energy assessments of lighting, heating, cooling, and water heating systems in common areas, as well as complimentary installations of CFLs, energy-efficient showerheads, and faucet aerators in individual living quarters. Rebates include, among other things: $1.50 per lightbulb change, $18 for a furnace tune-up, and $75 per water heater replacement. "Owners and managers will see an overhead savings as well as savings for their tenants' utility bills because tenants typically pay for their electric," says Thomas Glendening, program manager for multifamily at ICF International, the contractor for Consumers Energy efficiency programs. There's also room for inventiveness in energy savings options. "Folks can come to the table with custom energy-efficiency ideas, and as long as they can show us savings through calculations that we can all agree upon, we rebate for a portion of the energy that's saved," Glendening says. The utility is offering incentives up to $100,000 on the gas side and up to $25,000 on the electric side per facility. Total funds available under the program are capped, Glendening says, so property owners and managers should apply well before year-end. Source: Thomas Glendening, program manager for multifamily at ICF International; DTE Energy Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

Berkley is the nation’s best buy for housing, says Bloomberg Businessweek

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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February 17, 2011

Affordable and bargain are two words Metro Detroiters are used to hearing when it comes to home buying in the Motor City. Now the Oakland County suburb of Berkley is getting a shout-out as the best bargain U.S. city.Excerpt:Berkley, Mich., a city of 14,416, ranked as the most affordable suburb on the list. Says Jane Bais-Disessa, Berkley's city manager, "we are unique in that we offer some of the amenities of a large city, such as a large downtown, but are still small enough that everyone knows everyone." Homebuyers looking at Berkley may find opportunities: The median home-sale price fell to $103,799 last year, from $130,000 in 2008, according to Onboard.Read the rest of the story here.