Date: 06/22/2005

Row house condos due near Arts Institute

Incentives will provide property tax breaks of 60 percent or more for a period of up to 12 years.

Thursday, June 9, 2005
By R.J. King / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- A patch of vacant fields near the Detroit Institute of Arts is being transformed into 80 row house condominiums in the latest sign of the growing condo boom.

The condos are scheduled to be unveiled during this weekend's annual Detroit Festival of the Arts. The Art Center Town & Carriage Homes are brick residences offering one to three bedrooms, single- and multi-level floor plans, attached garage, gourmet kitchen and balcony. Cost: $134,900 to $229,000.

"We really strived to give each residence a balcony to provide an outdoor living space," said Colin Hubbell, managing member of Hubbell Group LLC, which partnered with Palmer Development Group LLC on the $15 million project. "In an urban area, the balconies are a key ingredient in encouraging interaction among neighbors."

Last year, area developers sought 6,920 building permits for condos, a 24 percent increase from 2003, a Southeast Michigan Council of Governments report shows.

Condos are bought primarily by two groups: Young people who have put their careers ahead of marriage and empty nesters who have watched their children grow up and move out. In both cases, owners say maintenance-free condos are much more attractive.

Through April, the number of permits for single-family homes and condos in Metro Detroit fell 12.9 percent over the same four-month period a year ago among nine counties surveyed. The report by Housing Consultants Inc. in Clarkston, shows a nearly 20 percent drop in permits in Oakland County, while Macomb and Wayne counties fell 8.9 and 2.1 percent respectively.

"Michigan is one of the few places last year that lost employment last year, and the growing incentives you're seeing in the housing market is a sign that the supply (of new homes and condos) is growing," said Diane Swonk, chief economist of Mesirow Financial in Chicago.

Hubbell said tax incentives recently approved by the city will provide annual property tax breaks of 60 percent or more for a period of up to 12 years for the Art Center project area at Palmer and Brush. The first units will be completed this summer.

Hubbell Group and several partners also plan to convert an industrial-style building near Woodward and Canfield into 30 condos.

You can reach R.J. King at (313) 222-2504 or rjking@detnews.com.

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