Three years of sitting on a building in Midtown finally paid off last month

I bought a small commercial building on Forest Ave back in 2021 right when things were still weird during the pandemic. The place needed a new roof and the HVAC was shot, so I just sat on it while I saved up cash. Last month a developer reached out wanting to lease the ground floor for a new cafe concept they had in mind. They loved that the bones were solid even though the finishes were rough. We signed a 5 year lease at $28 per square foot, which is way more than I thought I could get. Has anyone else here held onto a property in Detroit for years and then seen the market shift in their favor? What was your timeline like?

2 comments

2 Comments

jordan90323d ago

...and that's the kind of payoff that makes all the waiting worth it, especially after buying during the pandemic when everyone thought you were nuts. I've seen a handful of similar stories from guys I know who bought small places on side streets that everyone had written off, and now they're getting calls from developers who wouldn't have looked twice a few years ago. $28 a square foot in that area is solid, especially after you had to sink money into the roof and HVAC first. Three years of holding and sweating it out sounds about right for this market, it's like the city finally remembered those streets exist. Happy for you, man.

terryk1023d agoTop Commenter

28 a square foot? That's wild. City is definitely spreading out.