Eric Maurer’s plan is simple. Step one, find old, vacant storefront in downtown Ypsilanti. Step two, buy it, renovate it and turn the upper levels into loft apartments that rent quickly. Step three, let the success of the apartments and other nearby emerging independent stores attract businesses to lease ground floor space. Step four, profit.
Maurer, an Ypsilanti resident and Eastern Michigan University graduate, is just finishing step two of that process with 128-130 W Michigan Ave. He hopes to completely renovate the building and lease it within a couple of years.
"The reasoning is buy it, get the lofts going and that will help carry the load," Maurer says. "It just takes time. It doesn’t happen overnight."
But it is a process that builds on itself. Maures sees that the people living in the apartments, which rent out quickly, attract more foot traffic to the area. That in turn attracts businesses, which brings in more people and helps grow the area. In a perfect world, the process just keeps building on itself, creating a more vibrant downtown area.
Maurer has already done this with his other project, 200 W Michigan. He took that on a few years ago, breathing new life into a vacant building. Today it is fully leased, with its first two businesses set to open later this year.The building on 128-130 W Michigan is going through the same process now. It was built in the 1860s as a clothing store. A Cunningham’s Pharmacy occupied it for the first half of the 20th Century. It has fallen on harder times in recent years reaching the point of condemnation until Maurer came along this summer.
His team has completely gutted the building, putting in new windows, blowing insulation into the walls and ceiling, installing 90 percent efficient furnaces and high efficiency lights throughout.
While gutting the building Maurer’s workers discovered that structure once had a third floor that housed some sort of ballroom. It had burned in the 1920s and instead of replacing it, the old owners just put a new roof over it. The original third story’s wood floor can be seen in the attic’s crawl space.
That flooring is above the five loft apartments on the second floor, which range in size from 400 to 750 square feet. So far four of the five have been rented and the fifth is about to come online later this fall. The renters are mostly young professionals, such as teachers or employees of the University of Michigan Hospital, looking for an affordable downtown lifestyle.
"People seem to be really gravitating toward downtown again where they don’t have to drive," Maurer says. "They can just walk to everything down here."
The ground floor is still available, but Maurer expects to rent it out in the near future. He will start the renovation of the ground floor when a tenant is signed.
"Most likely some sort of restaurant, pub or retail," Maurer says. "Something that is going to help make Ypsilanti a destination."
Source: Eric Maurer, developer of 128-130 W Michigan Ave
Writer: Jon Zemke
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