New property, rejuvenated apartment plan for downtown Pontiac tower
The tallest building in Pontiac has a new owner.
Dalen Hanna is a Birmingham attorney who, along with other investors, purchased the approximately 185-foot Oakland Towne Center building at 28 N. Saginaw St. earlier this year.
Hanna said a conversion of $ 7 million to $ 9 million of the current office building into 132 residential units is planned, with the project being completed in phases over a two-and-a-half to three-year period. Construction would begin once a construction loan is secured later this year.
Initial building improvements would take about a year – items such as common areas, elevators, lobbies, HVAC and electrical systems – and apartment construction would begin to be completed within six months.
The redevelopment, tentatively called Audrey Luxury Lofts, has been in the works for a long time, even under its former ownership group, Pontiac-based Todd Enterprises Inc.
Hanna said an entrepreneur is currently selected. The building was originally intended to be purchased for cash, but at the last minute one of the investors pulled out. The deal was then restructured into a land contract, which was repaid and the building is now fully owned by Loft Holdings LLC, which is registered with its Birmingham-based law firm Hanna & Jarbo PLLC.
He said rents would be around $ 1,100 to $ 1,200 for a one-bedroom unit, which, along with studios, would make up the majority of units, as well as between four and eight two-bedroom layouts.
“We want to stay in the high end of the market and we will have good tenant amenities,” Hanna said. “We hope this building comes to life, it will fix the neighborhood.”
The building sits in a Federal Opportunity Zone, which offers investors significant capital gains tax breaks, and also enjoys a 12-year tax break under the Obsolete Property Rehabilitation Act. ‘extending until December 30, 2025.
It hit the market last year for $ 2.95 million, or $ 24.95 per square foot, I reported at the time.
Prior to the sale to Hanna and her investors, it was last sold in 2012 by a court-appointed receiver for $ 1.25 million ($ 10.58 per square foot) to a subsidiary of Todd Enterprises.
The Southfield office of Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services Inc. had the list this time around.
Gordon Navarre, one of the Marcus & Millichap brokers on the deal, said there had been some interest in the building from investors in New York and elsewhere built they ultimately couldn’t make it work. the numbers on a drug rehab.
Navarre, senior vice president of investments for Marcus & Millichap, said Frank Ayar of Ayar Construction was also part of the ownership group that ultimately bought the building for between $ 2.25 and $ 2.5 million.