Dear Traverse City,

Oryana Community Co-Op would like to express our heartfelt gratitude for your patronage throughout the past 50 years. We are incredibly honored to have reached this milestone, and we couldn't have done it without the love and support of our community.

Because of you, Oryana has been able to help many local farms and businesses prosper by providing an eager shopper base for their products, in addition to creating jobs. Because of you, Oryana has been able to nourish our community and provide millions of dollars of support to dozens of local organizations.

Your loyalty and commitment has helped us grow to become the largest food co-op in Michigan. You have sustained us and helped us become an integral part of the community and for that we are humbled.

We will always be grateful for the ongoing relationships we have built and the connections we have made through our mutual love for fresh, locally-sourced food. We look forward to many more years of working together toward a stronger and more sustainable community.

With Love, Oryana Community Co-Op

Wildflower Acres (Garfield Township)

The Development: A brand-new, under-construction housing subdivision off Rusch Road in Garfield Township, which will eventually include 127 new single-family homes.

The Details: In fall 2021, TCBN sister publication The Ticker broke the news that local real estate company Mitten Real Estate Group had purchased 80 acres south of Traverse City to build its own housing development. The project has now officially commenced, with Sam Flamont recently telling The Ticker that Mitten had broken ground on the project and put in the roads that will eventually connect the subdivision and its homes. Foundations and basements are currently underway, with more construction to come as the year moves on. Flamont said the first phase will include the buildout of 35 homes, with up to eight potentially done by the end of this year. Those first homes will include model homes to give prospective buyers a better idea of what to expect from the project.

Per Flamont, homes will have basements, sit on 0.35-0.50-acre lots, and be two-story ranch-style homes. Basements will be unfinished, but some homes could have as much as 4,000 square feet of living space, should buyers choose to finish the basements. Price points for the development will likely range from $475,000 to $650,000, depending on square footage and floorplan.

The Gamechanger: When Flamont made the leap into the development side of the real estate business, he gave The Ticker a simple reason for his decision.

“There’s a complete and utter lack of housing,” he said.

Rather than wait for the problem to solve itself, Flamont momentarily hung up his real estate agent hat and took up the development mantle. Now, Flamont and the Mitten Real Estate Group are not only bringing Wildflower Acres to life, but have also recently completed a housing project at the old Shadowland Motel on Munson Avenue, are in the finishing stages of Eastside One, a new 50-unit condo development on Eighth Street, and are collaborating with Georgina’s owner, Tony Craig, on another new condo building to be built at 531 West Front St.