Washtenaw County Housing Market

“Rising employment” and “rising enrollment” don’t sound like problems. In fact, they are metrics by which you can usually assess a community’s economic and civic well-being. An influx of new jobs and students only becomes problematic once the people involved are looking fora place to live.

Imagine getting accepted to the venerable U of M, packing your things, and moving to Ann Arbor, only to learn that you’re temporarily homeless.

This was precisely the scenario some recent U of M enrollees encountered. Approximately 300 students had to pursue alternate housing options in the area because of this year’s over-enrollment at U of M. Ypsilanti was a natural place to turn for housing the students left adrift. This, in turn, served to saturate Ypsilanti’s already cramped housing market even further.

As an Ypsi resident and someone with a big investment in the city’s future, I am pleased to see so many people choosing to make this community their home. (Or being dropped here at the last second and learning to love it.) Having so many students from both EMU and U of M makes the community lively, diverse, and energetic. But we need a place to house the growing tide of students and professionals who see Ypsi as a great low-cost alternative to living in Ann Arbor.

The housing situation is more dire than many realize. My company, Beal Properties, does not have any(!) efficiency, 1 bedroom, or 2 bedroom apartments available for rent in Ypsi.Other landlords report similar situations. Last year saw unprecedented enrollment at EMU, with new freshman accounting for about 2,800 members of the student body. When you compare that with 2,500 from the previous year, you can see that EMU’s efforts at buildingnew facilities and new curriculum are paying off. This is great for Ypsi’s future, but burgeoning population and finite dwelling space is a bad recipe for keeping a community vital.

In the last 12 months, the price of efficiency, 1, and 2 bedroom apartments has risen by 15%. Meanwhile, U of M predicts that Washtenaw County will grow by more than 12,500 jobs over the next three years. While new housing development and construction are booming in Ann Arbor (try driving anywhere, anytime to experience the feeling of prosperity…), Ypsi’s housing scene is having trouble keeping up with the area’s influx of people. This influx is attractive to entrepreneurs and established businesses, since agrowingcommunity is a lower-risk proposition for opening a business. The creation of new jobs then comes into play, and thus we have the momentum of the up-and-coming community.

The downside of this is the bottleneck created by limited housing. The upside of all this, as a developer and a resident, is that Ypsilanti is becoming close to a sure thing as an investment. People are realizing that Ypsilanti is far different than it used to be. As a conduit and neighbor of both Ann Arbor and Detroit, yet still featuring a vibrant culture all its own, I think Ypsi’s future is the brightest it’s been in decades.

I am heavily involved in the Ypsilanti development scene, and I hope to look back in the years to come and see many standing testaments to the hard work done in this era. Obviously, I’m not alone in my aspiration to see more attractive and affordable housing options and destination-caliber businesses come to our city.

The Thompson Block project will add immeasurably to Ypsi’s atmosphere. (I’ve written extensively about the Thompson Block elsewhere.) In time, other enterprising developers will capitalize on the area’s avalanche of growth and convert some of its vacant spaces into attractive apartments. But they need to do this sooner than later. The situation has already transcended the classic Field of Dreams line--they’re already coming, and now we need to build it, or they won’t have anywhere to live.

We all know that actions speak louder than words. That’s why, as an investor and developer, I can say it’s a great time to invest in Ypsi. It is my hope that the evidence of this conviction is apparent in all I do.