Wednesday, March 18, 2026
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AcquisitionsAffordable HousingMichiganMidwestMultifamily

Standard Communities Acquires 124-Unit Affordable Housing Property in Metro Detroit

by Kristin Harlow

ROSEVILLE, MICH. — Standard Communities has acquired The Meadows, a 124-unit multifamily property in Roseville, a suburb about 15 miles northeast of downtown Detroit. The transaction marks Standard’s second investment in Michigan. All of the units will be income-restricted and supported by project-based Section 8 Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) contracts. Of the 124 units, 111 are restricted to households earning at or below 60 percent of the area median income (AMI) and 13 are restricted to those earning up to 40 percent AMI. Affordability has been extended through a 20-year Section 8 renewal via a HAP assignment and assumption and mark-up-to-market structure. The property consists of 21 residential buildings along with a leasing and community building. Financing for the acquisition was completed in partnership with the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, which served as tax credit allocator and bond issuer. The City of Roseville provided a new Payment in Lieu of Taxes agreement, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development approved the contract renewal. Standard will complete a comprehensive tenant-in-place renovation totaling approximately $10.5 million. Units will be updated with quartz countertops, stainless steel appliances, luxury vinyl plank flooring, refreshed bathrooms and upgraded lighting. The community building will …

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Leasing ActivityMichiganMidwestRetail

AutoZone Leases 8,000 SF Former Rite Aid Store in Buchanan, Michigan

by Kristin Harlow

BUCHANAN, MICH. — AutoZone has leased an 8,000-square-foot former Rite Aid store located at 715 E. Front St. in Buchanan within southwest Michigan. Construction is underway at the building. Joshua Jacobs of NAI Wisinski of West Michigan and Brandon Hanna of Encore Real Estate Investment Services represented the undisclosed landlord. Mike Murray of Advantage Commercial Real Estate represented the tenant, which operates more than 6,000 stores nationwide.

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AcquisitionsMichiganMidwestOffice

Colliers Arranges $156M Sale of Huntington Tower in Downtown Detroit

by Kristin Harlow

DETROIT — Colliers has arranged the sale of Huntington Tower, a 21-story office building located at 2025 Woodward Ave. in downtown Detroit. Completed in 2022, the 311-foot-tall property includes 203,300 square feet of office space across 10 floors along with 10 levels of structured parking, a ground-floor bank and lobby, collaborative workspaces and flexible floor plates designed to accommodate up to 800 employees. The asset, located across from Comerica Park in the heart of The District Detroit, features a long-term net lease to Huntington Bancshares. Raymond Jonna of Colliers represented the undisclosed buyer and the seller, The Herrick Co., a Florida-based investment firm. The transaction is likely the most expensive office sale in city history, according to Crain’s Detroit Business.

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Market ReportsMichiganMidwestMidwest Market ReportsOffice

Flight to Quality, Slow Road to Reinvention Define Detroit’s Office Outlook

by Kristin Harlow

By Andy Gutman, Farbman Group The Detroit office market has moved past the initial shock of the post-pandemic years, but the idea that all challenges are over would be premature. Looking ahead in 2026, office in Detroit would be best described as stabilizing but still highly selective, shaped by a continued flight to quality, cautious capital markets and a growing emphasis on service and tenant experience.  While vacancy remains elevated compared with pre-pandemic norms, limited new construction and a clear bifurcation between high- and low-quality assets are helping prevent further deterioration. The next phase of the cycle will be defined by how effectively landlords adapt to tenant expectations and how long it takes for capital markets to allow older assets to meaningfully change hands. Detroit office in 2026 By the numbers, Detroit’s office market in 2026 shows stability without significant growth pressure. Vacancy estimates range from approximately 15.7 to 23.3 percent, depending on data source and asset class. Marcus & Millichap, for example, projects a 2026 year-end vacancy of roughly 15.7 percent, which is a modest 10-basis-point increase year-over-year. Broader datasets that include older inventory report vacancy closer to 23 percent. Asking rents have remained largely flat, with Class A …

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CivicHospitalityMarket ReportsMichiganMidwestMidwest Market ReportsMultifamilyOffice

Detroit Developments Showcase Urban Adaptive Reuse, Preservation

by Kristin Harlow

By Michael Poris, McIntosh Poris Architects Long defined by its industrial legacy, Detroit development currently combines ground-up construction with intelligent, innovative adaptive reuse. Brick-and-mortar manufacturing-era remnants include many buildings that originally served the automotive industry. As large-scale manufacturing relocated and Detroit’s population declined, several significant buildings were abandoned. Many are viable for second lives, ones that fulfill current commercial real estate market demands. Adaptive reuse makes sense I co-founded McIntosh Poris in 1994 to protect Detroit’s historic buildings from bulldozers and redesign them for a post-manufacturing economy. At that time, demolition was the most expedient option.  To address this, we focused as much on civic networking and preservation education as architectural design. Implementation involved organizing events with public officials and the local business community to meet leaders of other cities’ successful urban-renewal programs. To make Detroit more attractive to commercial real estate investment, we lobbied for zoning changes. Most relevant, commercial and historic districts were re-evaluated to permit mixed-use redevelopment. Historic preservation became viable, often making sense both financially and culturally. Well before sustainability became a commercial real estate consideration, we educated developers on available adaptive reuse incentives such as historic tax credits. Combined with the inherent efficiencies of reuse, …

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Affordable HousingDevelopmentMichiganMidwestMultifamily

Lockwood Cos. Opens 295-Unit Affordable Housing Community Near Ann Arbor

by Kristin Harlow

PITTSFIELD TOWNSHIP, MICH. — Lockwood Cos. has opened Haverhill on Clark, a 295-unit affordable housing community located at the southwest corner of Clark and Golfside roads in Pittsfield Township near Ann Arbor. Haverhill on Clark represents a more than $76 million investment in Pittsfield Township and Washtenaw County. The community is located across from Washtenaw Community College and Trinity Health St. Joseph Mercy Hospital. Amenities include a pool, fitness center, gathering spaces, outdoor play structures, electric vehicle charging stations and pet-friendly accommodations.  

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DevelopmentHealthcareMichiganMidwest

UM-Board of Regents Approves $143M Behavioral Health, Ambulatory Surgery Centers in Lansing

by Kristin Harlow

LANSING, MICH. — The University of Michigan Board of Regents has approved two projects for mental health resources and certain surgical procedures in mid-Michigan. UM Health-Sparrow is building a behavioral health hospital and an ambulatory surgery center in Lansing. Groundbreakings are scheduled this summer, with plans to open each facility in 2028. The behavioral health hospital will be located in a park-like setting. The building is slated for vacant UM Health-Sparrow-owned property behind the Lansing hospital near Pennsylvania Avenue and Jerome Street. The 64-bed, $83 million facility will serve adult, geriatric, child and adolescent patients. UM-Health is collaborating with Sheppard Pratt, the nation’s largest private, nonprofit provider of behavioral health/substance abuse services, to manage the new hospital and behavioral health services. The $60 million UM Health-Sparrow Lansing Ambulatory Surgery Center will be located west of the Lansing hospital near Michigan and Pennsylvania avenues. The outpatient facility will feature four operating rooms at the start, with options to expand. The new surgery center will care for patients currently undergoing procedures at the 100-year-old St. Lawrence campus and will handle some cases currently performed at the Lansing hospital. Cardiac patients will also benefit from a new MRI planned for the facility.

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IndustrialMarket ReportsMichiganMidwestMidwest Market Reports

Return of the Spec: Metro Detroit’s Next Industrial Chapter

by Kristin Harlow

By Ryan Brittain, Colliers Speculative construction has always carried a certain boldness in industrial real estate. Building without a tenant can either signal visionary thinking or a bold bet on future demand.  In metro Detroit, that confidence was on full display during the post-COVID boom. To meet the surge in tenant demand, highly respected industrial developers raced to deliver modern distribution space across the region. At the height, preleasing was not always necessary but often occurred. Developers pushed forward on new Class A warehouses, confident that tenant requirements would catch up and, for a time, they did. Yet here we are in 2026, and speculative development is not an idea of the past. It is returning, this time with more discipline. This is not another Resurgit cineribus Detroit comeback story, but rather a thoughtful recalibration. The “Return of the Spec” reflects a market that has matured and learned, not one that has overheated. To understand it today, it helps to revisit how we arrived. As a wave of newly completed speculative projects delivered (at one point, the market saw 12 million square feet under construction), availability expanded. Shortly thereafter, the automotive industry hit an uncertain patch in late 2023. Vacancy …

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DevelopmentMichiganMidwestOffice

Michigan Central to Debut 17,000 SF The Mezz Workspace in April

by Kristin Harlow

DETROIT — This April, Michigan Central will open The Michigan Central Mezz, a new work and collaboration space that expands access to the innovation district in Detroit. The Mezz spans 17,000 square feet on the mezzanine level of Michigan Central Station. The workspace offers a variety of desks and work setups, meeting rooms, quiet zones, a kitchen and private wellness rooms. Access to The Mezz requires Michigan Central membership. The network at Michigan Central includes founding partners Ford Motor Co., Google, the State of Michigan, the City of Detroit, Henry Ford Health and Newlab, a venture platform that partners with Michigan Central to support the mobility, energy and manufacturing startups that are part of the district. More than 2,000 professionals and 240 companies work across the 30-acre Michigan Central.

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AcquisitionsMichiganMidwest

TopSide Marinas Acquires 80-Acre Bay Harbor Marina in Bay City, Michigan

by Kristin Harlow

BAY CITY, MICH. — TopSide Marinas has acquired Bay Harbor Marina, a full-service marina located along the Saginaw River in Bay City. The transaction marks TopSide’s entry into the Michigan market. Established in 1967, Bay Harbor Marina spans 80 acres and features 400 wet slips, 100 dry stack slips and more than 500 winter storage spaces, including over 120,000 square feet of heated indoor storage. Onsite services include fuel docks, a ship store, mechanical and electronic repair, fiberglass and paint services, haul-out capabilities and both indoor and outdoor storage options. The marina serves boaters of all kinds, with members ranging from pontoon and sailboat owners to those operating large cruisers. TopSide plans to expand the service department and storage availability as well as enhance the store.

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