Lofts at Merchants Row Now open for Leasing

[Allan]

The Lofts at Merchants Row have opened for leasing. Have you reserved your loft yet? LOL. I'd love to live there, but it is quite expensive. Does anyone know if it's true that you must sign a five year lease? I heard that today, and that is a very long lease. The good thing is that you get 25% off the purchase price if you decide to buy the loft after five years.

I have contacted the leasing agent, and so far they have leased space to a high end breakfast and lunch place, a high end dinner restaurant, and a music operator. I don't have any more specifics than that, but I will try to get some.

Does anyone know if it's true that a small grocery store is being built in the Compuware building? I heard that, but have not seen it myself. A grocery store in the neighborhood would certainly help attract residents. Right now downtown residents have to drive quite a ways just to get groceries.

Lofts at Merchants Row

[bobliocatt]

Wow, those prices are pretty high. Do you know the names of retail shops going in on the first floor?

[Allan]

No, I couldn't get any specific names from the leasing agent. That is what he said is going in there so far. There is 40,000 square feet of retail space, so hopefully some other kinds of businesses, like clothing stores, grocery stores, etc. will move in to service downtown residents. Right now there is a lack of these things, and if they existed downtown, it would be more attractive to people who would consider moving there.

[ClevelandNO!]

regardless of what goes in, though necessary services are preferred, that entire two block stretch when completed is going to give a huge kick in the pants to downtown detroit.

I mean for someone to (a visitor or suburbanite) to walk from hart plaza to say, grand circus, they would have to walk past pretty much two complete blocks or neglect, which probably burns pretty deep into the memories of passer-bys.

By the end of the year, they'll see a living breathing downtown on its way to being functional.....

just like novi [/sarcasm]

[Brickcity]

What a great project it is great watching rust belt cities like Detroit and St. Louis reviving themselves, but we still have a long way to go.

[Allan]

Yeah. We've come to far, but have so long to go. One step at a time. The city is coming back, slowly but surely.

[Allan]

Just so you know, the lofts at Merchants Row includes the block in the photo below, as well as the block directly north of this one.

More of the project can be seen in my Detroit Photos.

[baldy]

I've been trying to get an idea on the prices for the new lofts going in downtown. These are probably by far the nicest from what I've seen and with their location, I think it is fair to say these are going to be the most expensive lofts downtown. Does anyone know if you can buy the loft now, or do you have to wait the 5 year period (mentioned above)? I know for myself, renting really isn't an option for tax reasons, and with the rental rates what they want, it might be tough to find the right people. What I mean is that the people that can afford to pay $1600 + a month for a place aren't going to rent, they'll buy.

Selling as condos can either help or hurt the developers of these. I think their 5 year rule is in place because they're banking on the property values of this increasing as the development in this area increases. Then they can charge whatever the going rate is. If they sell out right, then all the profits will go in the hands of the condo owner and instead of the investment being just the developer, its in the hands of the tenants. The short of my opinion is rental is good for the develper, and condos are good for the tenants and the city.

As for businesses going in downtown, I am glad to see all these "high-end" places going in, but where's some of the regular businesses? Give me a walgreens, McDonalds? I think the whole grocery thing is a huge deal. By the way, I was just in the Compuware building over the weekend and although there is a new coffee shop in there, I didn't see a grocery type store. In my opinion, in order for downtown to really work, they can't have everything high end, especially when trying to grow.

On the same note as this, does anyone know what the going rates are for the Kales building? I think the largest place is under 1200 sq ft, and with some as low as 500 on the same floor, I would think these would be priced more economically. Their website has some floor layouts and 2 larger layouts on each floor occupy and get 3 sides of windows due to being at the ends of the "U". Imagine the view!

[Allan]

The five year lease period has to do with the tax breaks the developers used to help them fund the project. I'm not sure how much they are going for, but compared to similar properties in other cities, they are a steal! I do know that at the end of the 5 year lease period, you get a large sum of money deducted off the purchase price.

I'm not sure about the Kales building. I think I heard that they start at $750 per month, which is comperable to other downtown apartments.