A new four-story apartment building has been proposed in Midtown Detroit on land that now has a pair of abandoned solar panels.
The 57-unit building will be built at 3740 Second Avenue, adjacent to the Brainard Apartment Building, which was damaged in a fire in February 2020 and is just beginning to recover tenants.
Two solar panels built in the early 2000s provided electricity to Brainard's apartments at 484 Brainard. After the fire, the solar panels were dead.
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The project is being developed by Greatwater Opportunity Capital, which bought the site and nearby Brainard Apartments, which were damaged by fire in late 2020. Greatwater owns several other apartment buildings and is planning new housing developments in the area.
The developers have also completed the renovation of 45 Brainard apartments.
© Mcintosh Poris Associates Greatwater Opportunity Capital has offered a 57-unit, four-story condominium at 3740 Second Ave. in downtown Detroit.The proposed building is adjacent to the Willis Selden Historic District. Members of the Detroit County Historical Commission voted Wednesday night that the new building will have a "beneficial" impact on the neighborhood rather than a detrimental one.
The developers plan to remove unused solar panels to make way for a new building. The building will contain 33 studios (370 square feet each), 24 one-bedroom apartments (550 square feet), as well as commercial space on the ground floor.
The 20% of the apartments will be reserved at a below-market rental rate for eligible tenants. The rest of the apartments would be "working accommodation" for those earning less than 120% of the region's median income, which could yield around $1,150 per month to rent a studio and $1,400 for a one-bedroom apartment. bedroom.
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Residents will park their cars in the future underground car park to the east of the new building.
“We are excited to see more workforce housing in our area,” said Matt Tiomkin, partner at Greatwater Opportunity Capital. "If all goes well, we will start construction early next year."
The solar panels were installed by the former owner of Arid Apartments, Brainard.
One of the former owners, Randy Levarchik, said in a telephone interview Wednesday that the solar panels were installed about a decade ago and become less efficient each year as they age.
These panels generate some, but not all, of the electricity used in the Brainard apartments.
“The building required a lot more energy than the solar panels could produce,” he recalls. “It does make a difference in general area lighting, etc., but in northern climates like Michigan…it's hard to get off the grid with intermittent power.
"The panels themselves don't have a lot of data on how many tonnes of carbon dioxide they're removing," Levarchik added. So it gives you hot fluff, 'Well, at least we don't burn coal. ""
The Brainard apartment building was severely damaged in an electrically ignited fire in February 2020 and all residents had to relocate.
Then, in December 2020, Greatwater Opportunity Capital purchased the vacant building and vacant land with solar panels for $2.95 million in one package.
© MHT HOUSING, INC. Introducing the proposed affordable apartment building at 10201 Woodward.Also on Wednesday, the Historical Commission released plans for a new four-story, 53-unit affordable apartment building at 10201 Woodward Ave., across from the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament.
The developer is MHT Housing Inc. All apartments are two bedroom.
© JC Reindl Proposed land for an affordable 53-unit four-storey building.Contact JC Reindl at 313-378-5460 or jcreindl@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @jcreindl .
This article originally appeared in the Detroit Free Press: New downtown Detroit apartments slated for unused solar panel sites.
