REHABBED

e condition of a house, the condition of the market and individual interest help determine whether a house will be demolished or sold, and Linn said an improving housing market has led to more homes that would have been demolished in years past making the cut for sale. In recent months, as the housing market has slowed in Detroit and nationally, the sales rate has done so as well, Linn said. But he said he considers the shift a seasonal lull, anticipating that sales will pick back up in the spring.

In early years, the majority of land bank houses were demolished. Now, Linn said, about half of those in inventory are likely to be saved.

“It’s an exciting time when you can go to a neighborhood,” Duggan said. “ ey cheer when we knock the house down. But they’re a lot more excited when a family moves in.”

Tim Palazzolo, the deputy director of Detroit’s Demolition Department, said the pace of residential demolition has slowed.

“It’s evident to me our residential program is transitioning out,” he said.

Palazzolo said there are about 1,100 properties waiting to be demolished, 1,600 in a due diligence stage and 800 that have been approved for demoli- tion, but aren’t yet on a list for a particular contractor. In the past, he said, those numbers could have been three times that high.

“We’re just in a di erent place,” Palazzolo said of the housing market.

“It seems like we’ve had a lot more pulls from the pipeline.” e blighted homes that come down have often been a health and safety issue for residents for years, he said. And while he said home demolition should be a last resort — the team is always happy to step aside if a home can be salvaged — Palazzolo said residents who see neighboring homes torn down are excited about the progress. e shift has done more than make more homes available for city residents, said Austin Black II, an associate broker with @properties Christie’s International Real Estate.

“It’s helped change an entire narrative of the city of Detroit,” Black said. He said the milestone represents a signi cant step in stabilizing Detroit’s neighborhoods, especially after years when there were so many dilapidated houses to be demolished that the city couldn’t get to. In the busiest year of the last decade, 2015, more than 3,000 houses were taken down, according to land bank data.

“I think it’s a signi cant turning point for the city,” Black said. “For decades, the city just didn’t keep up.”

Because land bank houses often require a great deal of work, Black said the fact that more people are willing to take those projects on is important for the city. It’s a testament to the amount of work that’s already been done, he said.

And the shift to rehabbing more homes “will have very real ripple effects,” said Laura Grannemann, the vice president of the Rocket Community Fund and executive director of the Gilbert Family Foundation.

In the future, she said, she hopes demolition is a tool that’s rarely used in Detroit.

“I think it’s a huge milestone,” she said. “It’s not all about tearing our city down. It’s about building up.”

Duggan said private owners’ e orts to improve their own properties was part of the shift. He said residents continue to move into land bank homes; Linn called them a source of fuel for Detroit’s continued growth.

“ is is in line with the master plan to bring Detroit back,” said Daniels, the land bank CEO. “All the tools have converged and worked. e housing market is stronger. Property values are going up. It’s working.”

Contact: arielle.kass@crain.com; (313) 446-6774; @ArielleKassCDB

From Page 3

News that the Gilbert-owned Cavaliers abstained from voting in favor of Isbhia’s deal to become a fellow NBA team owner came just hours after Rocket Mortgage made public plans to spend some of its considerable holdings on potential legal battles ghting a UWM ultimatum to brokers that has long sent shockwaves across the mortgage industry.

Bully Shield vs. All In

Rocket on Feb. 6 announced the “Bully Shield” initiative, o ering to pay penalty and legal fees of independent mortgage brokers who wish to defy UWM’s “All In” edict.

Announced two years ago by Ishbia, that initiative amounts to an addendum to brokers’ contracts that to keep doing business with UWM they had to cease doing business with Rocket, as well as a Wisconsin lender.

Ishbia and his supporters claim that Rocket does harm to the wholesale side of the business, while executives at Rocket say the UWM boss is nothing more than a playground bully.

Ishbia’s ultimatum has brought on a wave of litigation.

e two latest examples are just the tip of the iceberg, however, in a feud that dates back years.

Some examples are obvious, such as Ishbia publicly calling out Rocket’s decision last year to implement a round of employee buyouts amid a mortgage sector that was in free-fall due to rising interest rates.

And in the summer of 2018, the feud spilled into public view when several employees of United Shore (now United Wholesale Mortgage) were found handing out yers near the downtown Detroit headquarters of Quicken Loans (now Rocket Mortgage). e yers claimed that Quicken Loans didn’t pay its in-house loan o cers as well as it compensated outside brokers. Quicken Loans boasted of its workplace quality awards, so criticism of its employee business practices raised the ire of company executives, as CEO Jay Farner told Crain’s at the time.

“ is whole time, this is not a war, we don’t say a word,” Farner said. “We just go about our business, taking care of our clients … But at some point in time, I have nearly 17,000 people here working very hard, and when a guy shows up putting yers on your property, there comes a time when you have to set the record straight. Let’s just stop this behavior.”

Others are a bit more subtle.

Both billionaires are graduates of Michigan State University and have been generous boosters of university athletics, sometimes piggy-backing on each other’s donations.

Both Ishbia and Gilbert have been named a Crain’s Newsmaker of the Year multiple times, including Ishbia in 2022 and Gilbert as the inaugural recipient of Crain’s Newsmaker Hall of Fame award.

Contact: nmanes@crain.com; (313) 446-1626; @nickrmanes

Playing for the Home Team.

Growing up in Birmingham, Michigan, sports were a big part of Bill Feldmaier’s life. From little league baseball to playing quarterback at Birmingham Seaholm and earning a full athletic scholarship to the University at Buffalo, he enjoyed the camaraderie, competition and strategy required to lead winning teams. For 22 years, Bill worked in the institutional pension and 401(k) space. He loved navigating the complexities of employee benefit plans but found himself spending more time traveling than being home. Missing activities for his four sons and wanting to be more involved locally, he knew it was time for halftime adjustments. Bill frequently brought his wife and children to visit family in his hometown of Birmingham. On one of these trips, six years ago, he connected with Greenleaf Trust. Over the years, he kept in touch with the team and was impressed by their continued growth and how their values were not merely a game plan but are purposefully executed. Last fall, Bill felt it was the perfect time to run the option. At the root of this decision was the first-class team, unwavering commitment to clients and the warm, inviting culture.

As a natural connector of people, Bill is excited to serve clients and collaborate throughout the community. Greenleaf Trust scored a touchdown and is thrilled to have Bill quarterbacking our team in the place he can once again call home professionally and personally.

To learn how Bill and Greenleaf Trust can help you achieve financial security from generation to generation, call us. It may be the best play call of your life.

Bill Feldmaier Managing Director – Southeast Michigan 248.530.6402 | bfeldmaier@greenleaftrust.com