SURFING A WAVE OF INVESTMENT

Corktown booms with new condos and apartments as Ford campus takes shape

BY NICK MANES

As Ford Motor Co. makes its behemoth presence felt in Detroit’s oldest neighborhood, the Corktown area west of downtown has seen an explosion of new residential product.

e historic neighborhood’s status as one of Detroit’s hottest areas could reasonably be said to date back to Detroit Tigers star Ty Cobb hitting home runs into the intersection of Michigan and Trumbull a century ago. at site is now home to a mixed-use development called e Corner, which includes apartments, retail and, of course, a baseball eld.

But the growth of Corktown seems to be on steroids these days, and much of it is happening right in the shadow of Ford’s massive investment in Michigan Central Station and some adjacent properties. at includes a $6 million makeover of Roosevelt Park into a public plaza in front of the former train station, which had previously been largely unkempt green space.

And while the renovation of the train station stands as perhaps the most visible rehab project underway in the neighborhood known for its smaller single-family homes largely dating back more than a century, more in- ll condo and apartment projects are dotting Corktown’s blocks. Also, more large-scale projects along Michigan Avenue, such as the $93 million, seven-story housing and retail development dubbed the Michigan and Church Street project are nearing completion.

Since Ford’s announcement nearly ve years ago that it was buying the long-vacant train station for an innovation campus, there has been approaching $500 million in private investment in various projects in the Corktown area, according to an estimate by city of Detroit o cials.

From at’s all in addition to the roughly $950 million that Ford has invested in its projects in the neighborhood.

Additionally, city and state investments in infrastructure in the area total about $27.5 million.

Real estate experts in the area are quick to note that the development boom happening in Corktown is occurring before the Dearborn automaker has even begun to fully occupy the buildings in which it has invested.

“We still haven’t seen the full of impact of Ford hit yet,” said James Tumey, a real estate agent with O’Connor Real Estate, a residential and commercial brokerage rm with its o ces on Michigan Avenue in Corktown, and which has worked on several of the condo projects in the area. “It’s exciting to surf the wave and build more projects. I don’t know if Corktown will be ready for it.”

A ‘walkable neighborhood’

As the development boom continues, Corktown is attracting new entrants for a variety of reasons.

Among the neighborhood amenities touted by residents in interviews with Crain’s are the increasing number of bars, restaurants and co ee shops, as well as proximity to downtown and the riverfront, particularly with a new greenway connecting Corktown to the banks of the Detroit River.

It was the sense of being able to walk to all those places that stood out to Ti any Ebert-James and her husband Trevor James, who is the gener- al manager and head coach of the Detroit City FC soccer club. e couple were initially looking at buying in Brush Park, but it was the added amenities in Corktown that ultimately sold them on the neighborhood, said Ebert-James, who works as director of player well-being for the soccer club.

Two years ago, the couple purchased an updated brownstone condo on Leverette Street that was initially built in 1895. Moving to Corktown turned into a “happy accident,” she said.

“We liked the walkability of Brush Park,” Ebert-James said. “Corktown has the walkability but with restaurants and co ee shops, and not all the (Detroit) neighborhoods have that. It’s a fantastic neighborhood feel and the walkability is great.” at’s the case for Claire Phillips and Misha Strauss Moore, each of whom have bought condos at e Coachman on Bagley Street in recent months. e roughly $7 million new-build development just south of Michigan Avenue consists of 22 condo units being built over two phases and developed by Altia Bagley LLC, an a liate of Altia Capital in Laguna Niguel, Calif.

Other, newer residents are also making their way to the neighborhood and calling some of the newer condos home.

Seven out of the initial 11 units to be built have sold thus far, according to Tumey, who is marketing and selling the project.

With units starting in the high $200,000 price range and reaching to more than $600,000 for a penthouse that’s on the market, a goal with the project was to “hit multiple price points,” Tumey said.

Phillips said she “fell in love” with the condo project upon touring it, and the broader area.

“Corktown is everything I want and need,” she said, noting that the work to connect the area to the river played the biggest role in her decision to move to the area.

Strauss Moore and her husband Scott Moore recently bought a one-bedroom unit to use as a second home in addition to their main house in Chelsea, as a means to cut down her commute to work in health care administration in various western metro Detroit suburbs.

“It’s almost like on every corner it feels like an exciting place to be,” she said, noting she’s in the process of meeting neighbors. “ e neighborhood part was important for my husband and I. ( e neighborhood) feels charming.”

Will it continue?

Detroit’s condo market overall has been sluggish in recent years with increased interest rates and buyer fears of a recession leading to a slowdown in sales, as Crain’s has previously reported.

Neighborhoods such as Brush Park and Midtown have seen ample condo development, but sales velocity has been slow, according to Matt O’Laughlin, a Detroit-based Realtor with Max Broock Realtors.

For condos, “Corktown is probably the strongest neighborhood on the buy side,” O’Laughlin said.

e Realtor said that he’s seen home prices in general escalate signi cantly in the years since Ford’s announcement, in some cases doubling.

Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. also acknowledged that dynamic during an interview with Crain’s in 2018, and noted it as one reason why the Dearborn-based automaker sought to keep its plans under wraps for as long as possible.

So, will the boom continue and Corktown rapidly transform into one of the city’s most elite neighborhoods?

On the latter note, there are some elements of the area that will likely keep housing prices at least somewhat in check. Namely, fairly small lots, which means the area “can only go so crazy with pricing,” O’Laughlin said.

Realtors familiar with the Corktown area are also quick to note that the development boom is unlikely to remain con ned to the speci c geography of the neighborhood.

Rather, and particularly as Ford’s presence becomes more tangible, Tumey said it’s inevitable that more development pushes north over I-75 into the neighborhood often called North Corktown.

O’Laughlin agreed with that assessment.

“It still feels a little desolate there block-by-block,” he said of the North Corktown area, which still has many vacant lots. “But it should start to ll in.”

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