DTWNews

Category: Business

  • Husband and Wife Duo Work to Restore Detroit’s Properties

    Husband and Wife Duo Work to Restore Detroit’s Properties

    Using a tape measure

    Generating an estimated $47 billion in revenue annually, it’s safe to say the home remodeling industry in the United States has made a strong post-Recession comeback, even in Detroit. After years of being stuck in a rut, the metro-Detroit housing market bloomed this spring — and is set to become even hotter this summer — thanks to lenient lenders, low down payment initiatives and newly restored properties.

    In particular, one husband and wife team is helping to make homes and businesses throughout the Detroit metro area look and feel beautiful again. Andrea and Sal Lupo are combining their years of experience to design, build, and add the perfect finishing touches on commercial and residential properties to help reinvigorate the area.

    Located in the northern outskirts of Detroit in Rochester Hills, Lupo Interiors, LLC was founded by Andrea, who graduated from the College for Creative Studies with a concentration in Interior Design. In 2013, she began offering full time services. Similarly, Sal founded Lupo Custom Painting, LLC which is also located in Rochester Hills. Sal began honing his craft in the remodeling industry at a young age and opened his first business 18 years ago.

    In true power-couple style, Andrea and Sal combine their expertise in their respective fields to deliver a cohesive finished product. Andrea provides custom interior designs for both commercial and residential clients, from small single-room projects to sprawling 6,000 square foot homes to corporate buildings. She makes it a point to involve herself in the process at every step of the way. Serving as the team’s muscle, Sal specializes in framing, drywall, carpet installation, and interior and exterior painting for both commercial and residential clients.

    Working both individually and together, the couple has seen an increase in business and are anticipating even more as Detroit continues to experience city-wide revitalization. Homeowners and business owners are spending more to renovate all or parts of their properties as a renewed sense of pride sweeps the Motor City.

    Over time, Detroit and its residents have earned a reputation for continually being resilient in the face of adversity, a sentiment highlighted by the efforts of Andrea and Sal to breathe life back into the city’s properties.

  • Detroit to Shift Water Authority to Suburbs

    Detroit to Shift Water Authority to Suburbs

    wastewater (2)
    Detroit and its surrounding suburbs broke new ground by approving a multi-million dollar deal involving the area’s water authority.

    MLive.com reports that the deal will give Detroit suburbs control over 300 miles of water pipelines and five water treatment plants previously controlled by the city. The suburbs will now have control over the water rates and contracting options. In return, they will help out Detroit with its debt relief and will pay it $50 million a year for the water pipe’s lease.

    In addition, nearly 900 workers from the city’s Water and Sewerage Department will move to the new Great Lakes Water Authority.

    “This is an historic step forward in resolving decades of conflict between Detroit and our suburban neighbors,” said Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan. “Detroit will have the resources we need to rebuild our city’s crumbling water and sewer pipes. County leaders will have a true voice in running the part of the system that serves the suburbs.”

    The deal has been in the works since September, via court-mediated negotiations involving state, county, and local representatives. One of the major issues discussed in the negotiations was the $25 million water debt owed to Detroit by Highland Park, a small metropolitan area with total 2015 revenues projected to be $11.4 million.

    The negotiations regarding the debt fell through and the issue will most likely be decided in court.

    Of the six representatives who voted on the deal, only one voted against it. Brian Baker, the representative from Macomb County, voted against the measure out of concern that it would raise water rates for Detroit’s suburbs.

    “We’re paying more with too little say,” Baker said.

    However, Gary Brown, the city’s chief operating officer, disagrees with Baker, stating that the lease agreement is more than fair.

    “There was never any intent to shift costs to any community, and I think this lease has done an outstanding job in ensuring every community, including Detroit, will be responsible for collections and pulling their own weight,” Brown said.

    One method the workers of the new Great Lakes Water Authority may employ is trenchless pipe repair. Trenchless pipe repair uses cured in pipe placement to replace pipes, causing considerably less damage than conventional methods. Amazingly, the method is relatively unknown. A recent poll conducted by Angie’s List found 78% of people have never heard of trenchless pipe replacement.
  • Duggan: Repair Detroit One House at a Time

    Duggan: Repair Detroit One House at a Time

    Man Examining and Repairing Rotten Leaking House Roof
    On Friday, June 5, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan unveiled a new initiative that will help city employees buy and repair homes in the city. The new pilot mortgage loan program is available to all active and contract city workers who purchase a home through the Detroit Land Bank Authority’s home auctions this year.

    The Great Recession and high unemployment led to a rash of vacant urban homes in Detroit; however, Mayor Duggan says the new loan program will be a salve for neighborhoods suffering from urban blight. And because only half of the city’s employees actually live within the Detroit city limits, the mayor hopes the program will boost employee residency as well.

    Detroit city workers with a credit score of at least 620 will be eligible for the loans, so long as they volunteer for financial counseling. Then, home buyers can receive 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages of up to 300% of the home’s value to make needed repairs. The loans will be available to city employees, retirees, contract workers, and their families.

    “We want to find constructive ways to get folks back,” said Mayor Duggan. “This is what we are going to continue to do. It’s our way of saying thank you to the employees.”

    In March, the mayor rolled out another home improvement incentive program to help the city’s low-income residents. The Duggan administration and nonprofit Local Initiatives Support Corp. offered low-income homeowners interest-free loans of up to $25,000 for home repair and improvement projects. Typically, homeowners spend as much as 4% of their home’s value on repairs every year, and many residents in high-poverty neighborhoods will benefit from the program. The interest-free home improvement loans cover necessities like window replacement, plumbing, and roof repair costs.

    The programs are just the latest headlines to come from an ongoing effort to revitalize Detroit’s neighborhoods. In February, the Mayor offered a 50% discount to employees who bought homes at auction.

    “This isn’t about publicity,” said Sandro DiNello, CEO of Flagstar Bank, which partnered with the mayor for the new loan program. “This is about getting something together that works…It’s important that we provide this little boost to getting these neighborhoods back on their feet.”
  • DTE’s Michigan Consumers Saved Millions Last Year Through Efficiency Efforts

    DTE’s Michigan Consumers Saved Millions Last Year Through Efficiency Efforts

    install solar panels
    Energy efficiency initiatives saved Michigan utility consumers $585 million in 2014, DTE Energy announced in June, and the steps taken by these residents are projected to have a combined lifetime savings value of more than $4.5 billion.

    “In 2014, more than 550,000 electric and 300,000 natural gas customers participated in programs to better manage their energy use and save money,” Irene Dimitry, DTE Energy’s vice president of business planning and development, said in a statement. “We’re delighted that so many of our customers are engaged in programs and services designed to make energy more affordable.”

    Energy efficiency refers to accomplishing the same tasks while using less energy, and often relies on upgrading technological components or whole appliances. The average fridge sold today, for example, uses 75% less energy than its 1975 counterpart (despite being 20% larger and 60% cheaper).

    DTE offered programs and rebates for the installation of energy-efficient equipment and fixtures to both business and residential customers last year. Highlights of the company’s initiatives include, according to Dimitry:

      • Performing more than 29,000 in-home residential consultations
      • Outfitting more than 27,000 individual apartments with more efficient fixtures
      • Recycling more than 33,000 outdated appliances
      • Offering discounts on more than 4.7 million energy-efficient lights, including compact florescent bulbs and LEDs
      • Drawing more than 15,000 businesses into efficiency efforts

    The company also launched the DTE Insight app, designed to help customers track and manage their energy use. The app was downloaded more than 35,000 times in the last year.

    Dimitry said all these efforts are part of the utility company’s mission to provide affordable and responsible energy to all its customers. She also announced earlier this month that DTE is looking to cut a 43-cent surcharge from its bills starting next January, lowering overall consumer costs by about $15 million per year.

    The utility is now seeking contractors to evaluate its current efficiency programs and shape their trajectories into 2016 and 2017 (with bidding for the contracts due to end June 12).
  • Detroit Dubbed 10th-Hottest Real Estate Market in the Nation

    Detroit Dubbed 10th-Hottest Real Estate Market in the Nation

    Real Estate Money

    The Detroit-Warren-Dearborn metropolitan area was the 10th-hottest real estate market in the nation in May, according to Realtor.com figures released June 1.

    Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke and his team looked at views per listing on the website as a stand-in for demand, with the median age of inventory acting as a proxy for supply.

    Michigan was actually represented twice on the resulting top-20 list, with Ann Arbor coming in ninth, just ahead of Detroit.

    Denver, CO, topped the list, and various cities in California claimed half of the 20 spots.

    Detroit was able to move one spot higher than it was in April to get into the top 10. The city as a whole has seen a resurgence lately, especially considering it filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy just under two years ago, in the largest municipal bankruptcy filing in U.S. history.

    Visits and searches for listings across the country have increased, Smoke said, indicating the still-recovering home market and growing interest among would-be homebuyers. Visits and searches are up more than 50% and 35%, respectively, when compared to this same time last year, he explained.

    But many housing markets are seeing a tighter supply, making it difficult for buyers to find the properties they want (and, of course, some buyers are notoriously picky — about 38% of people want carpet in the master bedroom, more than half of buyers will pay more for hardwood floors, stainless steel appliances are in high demand, etc.).

    Housing Supply Concerns in Detroit
    In Detroit’s housing market, there’s also quite a bit of concern over gentrification, as lower-income and largely minority neighborhoods are being taken over and renovated to appeal to high-end buyers.

    Upgrading may sound like a good thing all around, but it can leave to a severe shortage of affordable housing and displace people from the neighborhoods where they have long worked and lived.

    As recently as June 3, New American Media reported on a case in which Detroit low-income elders, many of them black, were essentially forcibly relocated when their senior housing was converted into a luxury building.

    Tam E. Perry, an assistant professor at Wayne State, told the New American that the objective isn’t to stifle progress, but rather to make sure Detroit is a city that takes care of residents of all backgrounds. “We are trying to ask … what do we need to do to ensure that whole cohorts are not leaving the city because of these issues?” she said.