I was reading the Detroit Free Press online yesterday and saw they're planning over 700 residential units alongside office space at that block. Reminded me of how that corner was basically a dead zone for 30 years after the store closed. Anyone else remember walking through Hudson's as a kid and now seeing cranes go up there?
I signed a two year lease on a ground floor spot on Woodward back in 2021 thinking foot traffic from the stadiums would bring customers. Turns out game days barely helped and the rest of the week was dead quiet, now I'm stuck paying rent on an empty storefront. The broker hyped up the location but never mentioned the parking situation scaring people off after 6 PM. Anyone else get burned by one of these so-called prime spots around the Fox or Comerica area?
He’s been in the building 4 years and yesterday he handed me a 3 page list of stuff he fixed himself because he said calling me was too slow. Now I’m wondering if I should offer a rent credit to tenants who handle minor repairs, anyone else doing that in their buildings?
I was showing a small retail space on Gratiot to a potential tenant and the ancient rooftop unit just gave out mid-sentence. It was 90 degrees in there and the guy was sweating through his shirt. I ended up having to cut the tour short and offer to buy him lunch to make up for it. Anyone else deal with building systems failing at the worst possible moment?
The landlord switched from asking $28 per square foot down to $18 and offered six months free rent, and within three weeks a bakery signed a ten-year lease, which makes me wonder if anyone else has seen landlords get realistic on pricing and actually fill spaces faster.
I drove past the old warehouse on Michigan Ave near Trumbull yesterday and saw work trucks out front. After sitting empty for like 3 years, someone finally leased it. But thing is... the landlord that owned it was impossible to reach, never returned calls. That experience made me stop even looking at properties managed by out-of-state owners. Has anyone else just given up on certain landlords around here?
Last year I was looking at a small retail space on Michigan Ave and the landlord told me triple net leases are no big deal, just a few hundred extra per month for taxes and insurance. I went with it because the base rent was cheap. Six months in the roof needed replacing and I got stuck with a $12,000 bill because there was no cap on maintenance costs in the lease. My buddy who does commercial leasing told me I should have asked for a hard cap on repairs or gone with a gross lease instead. Anyone else get burned by a landlord brushing off the fine print in a NNN lease?
I put off fixing a small drip in the back warehouse at my building on Gratiot. Then the ceiling caved in during a storm last Tuesday and it ruined two units of inventory. Anyone else deal with water damage that snowballed way too fast?
I was just managing one multi-tenant property in Woodbridge and the commissions finally stacked up. Has anyone else broken into that range from a smaller portfolio?
They ghosted after the inspection found old electrical issues, and now we're stuck with two months of vacancy costs and a broker fee we can't claw back, has anyone else had to deal with a walkaway after a failed inspection?
I had a deal all lined up for a retail space on Gratiot, got the LOI signed, then they just stopped answering calls last Thursday. Now I'm out 12 hours of work and the landlord is blaming me. Anyone else had a tenant pull this and actually get them back to the table?
Was at a property near Campus Martius last week and a broker pulled out the actual lease rates for the floor we were standing on. I always figured the whole 'Detroit is coming back' talk was just hype but seeing $32 per square foot on paper for a space that was empty three years ago kinda changed my mind. The building manager walked us through their tenant mix and it was 70% tech and creative firms with real payrolls. Has anyone else seen concrete proof of the shift or am I just catching a lucky snapshot?
I finally got a chance to tour the Packard Plant site with a buddy from the city planning office. Honestly, I knew it was bad but the amount of crumbling concrete and exposed rebar is way worse than any drone video shows. Some of those beams are just hanging there, looks like one bad windstorm could take out a whole section. Has anyone actually looked into the structural cost to make even a corner of that site safe for redevelopment?
I was looking at the CoStar data for the CBD and saw that Class A vacancy hit like 28% in Q2. Thats way higher than I thought it would be even post pandemic. My buddy who brokers office space said "people arent coming back to the old buildings unless you drop rent to $12 a foot." Has anyone else noticed the older towers on Woodward just sitting empty for months?
I was digging through city records last week for a potential development deal and found out the city owns over 40,000 vacant parcels. That number is a lot higher than I thought given all the demolitions they've done since 2014. Has anyone else run into hidden lots that make you rethink what's available?
Three years ago my uncle warned me the contamination would bankrupt me. I just signed a lease with a solar farm company that wanted the brownfield credits.
I was showing a space on Grand River near the old Fisher plant. The guy shook my hand and said we had a deal. Then he vanished and stopped answering calls. Has anyone else had tenants ghost them after a handshake in Detroit?
I was scouting a spot near the Michigan Central Station last Tuesday and poked into a second floor that's been vacant for years. Pulled down one tile and found original tin ceiling that just needs some cleaning, not replacement. Anyone else find hidden gems in these old buildings that save you big money on renovation?
I've been looking at commercial spots in Detroit for about six months now for a small workshop setup. Everyone I talk to is going crazy over those lofts near the stadiums, but I spent a Saturday walking through a warehouse off Rosa Parks near I-94 and it was a third of the price with way more square footage. The ceiling height alone made it worth it, plus the concrete floors are perfect for heavy equipment. Am I missing something or are people just paying for the neighborhood name?
I spent 6 months trying to figure out why my bid for that lot near Eastern Market kept getting passed over, then last week a broker told me I was pricing it for retail when the whole block is trending residential. Has anyone else had to completely rework their numbers when a neighborhood flips like that?
I've been poking around the old Packard Plant area for months looking at a few parcels. Finally got a signed letter of intent from a small manufacturing tenant who wants to lease 5,000 square feet. The broker on the other side actually remembered me from a networking event six months ago and that connection sealed it. Has anyone else had luck with long shot follow-ups in Detroit turning into real deals?
Back in 2019, this broker named Dave kept pushing me to grab a spot near Eastern Market. Said it was the next big thing, prices could only go up. I listened to him, put an offer on a small warehouse off Gratiot. Deal fell through because the seller wanted cash and I couldn't swing it. Dodged a bullet. That area is still a ghost town on weekdays, and I've seen three listings sit for over a year now. Property I was looking at just sold for 40 grand less than my offer. Who else got burned by one of those "hot zone" predictions around here?
I spent 6 months holding out for a big corporate lease on my Woodward Ave space, lost two solid local businesses in the meantime. Then I signed a 3-year deal with a coffee roaster at 30% less rent and the building is finally full. Do you think chasing national chains is worth the vacancy risk in this market?
I've been tracking commercial vacancies in the CBD for about 3 years now since I opened my shop. Been watching the data from the Detroit Economic Growth Corp reports. Last quarter it hovered around 16.2% but this new Q3 report shows it finally hit 14.8%. That's the lowest I've seen since I started paying attention. I had a feeling it was turning around when I noticed three new coffee shops opened on Woodward within 6 months of each other. The old Hudson's site construction probably helped push that number down too. Anyone else seeing this trend in other parts of the city like Midtown or Corktown?