That empty lot on Gratiot finally clicked for me

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?

3 comments

3 Comments

vera_palmer20d ago

And what @garcia.tyler said about service businesses actually makes me wonder if the whole zoning game is shifting underneath us too. I had a buddy who bought a lot on the edge of a "trending" area and found out the city quietly changed the parking requirements for that block six months before. He wasted a year of interest payments because his plans needed twice the parking spots he budgeted for. Might be worth checking if there's been any zoning tweaks that make your lot harder to build on than the competition's sites.

garcia.tyler23d ago

Well, I wonder if you're looking at this wrong. Maybe the issue isn't just residential versus retail but what kind of residential is coming. I've seen a similar situation over on the west side where a whole strip of storefronts sat empty until someone realized the new condos were all built for young families, not just hip singles. They ended up needing things like a quick oil change place and a dry cleaner, not another coffee shop or boutique. So maybe your bid was getting passed over because the brokers see a need for service businesses, not retail shopping. It might be worth checking what kind of rooftops are actually being built around there.

garcia.tyler23d ago

Heard a developer say raw land near Eastern Market is basically a goldmine for townhouses right now.