Living in Metro Detroit in the 20th Century once centered around owner-occupied single-family homes, but that has started to change as Southeast Michigan has grown into the 21st Century and the new economy that comes with it.
More and more people have trended toward renting lofts and apartments in dense city centers. The younger and more educated the person, the more likely this is to happen. This has allowed numerous former for-sale condo projects to switch to full rentals charging pricey rents, and apartment companies like Urbane Apartments to surface as a fast-growing alternative. It's been a nice shelter for developers in this real-estate storm.
But the economy is starting to take even that away. Urbane Apartments is getting ready to open and fill two new developments in the city centers of Ferndale and Birmingham. They are the latest in the line of redevelopments that have flooded southeast Oakland County in recent years. But that streak is coming to an end this year, as far as the people at Urbane Apartments can see.
"The fundamentals are strong," says Eric Brown, co-owner of Urbane Apartments. "We'd like to do another deal and there are deals to be done, but we can't find a lender."
They have more apartment buildings they would love to acquire and renovate at current low prices. Investors are ready to put the cash up to make it happen, but credit lines from banks are dead.
And that's with occupancy in the high 90th percentile for Urbane Apartments' offerings in places like Royal Oak, Clawson, and Berkley. Of late, Urbane has undergone a high turnover as its residents are increasingly jumping into their first houses.
"We have lost more residents to buying new houses in the last 6-7 weeks than we have in the last 6-7 years," Brown says, adding that there is a steady stream of people ready to fill the new spots.
Those spots are about to become few and far between as Urbane fills up its new projects in Ferndale and Birmingham.
Source: Eric Brown, co-owner of Urbane Apartments
Writer: Jon Zemke
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.