Blog

News, insights, and success stories from Southeast Michigan's commercial real estate market.

Brokerage August 23, 2016

Turning Vision into Tangible Results

A local investor with an East Lansing portfolio noticed that the Michigan Avenue corridor in that growing university town is sprucing up. Glimpsing the neigh…

Brokerage July 25, 2016

Looking for Four-Leaf Clovers

It seemed like a search for a four-leaf clover. A client came to us with cash she wanted to invest in a four to six-unit apartment building. She’d had her …

Property Management July 25, 2016

Stockbridge Enterprises Chooses the Thomas A. Duke Company

After years of trying to manage them alone, the ownership of Stockbridge Enterprises decided it was time to seek out leasing and property management professi…

Brokerage July 25, 2016

The Bad News and the Good News

Bad News / Good News. That was the situation facing one of Ann Arbor’s leading property owners recently. The good news: One of his profitable retail properti…

Brokerage July 12, 2016

Bidding Wars…

Bidding wars – they’re becoming a commonplace for us at the Thomas Duke Company. Our West Side team recently brokered a competitive negotiation over the sale…

Brokerage April 13, 2016

Below-the-Radar Student Sale in Ann Arbor, Michigan

The Thomas Duke Company recently achieved a below-the-radar package sale of three student housing properties in Kerrytown and the central campus area of Ann …

Brokerage March 14, 2016

Momentum

Here’s one more example of the momentum in the current seller’s market: The owner of a 28,000-square-foot light industrial building in Dearborn Heights asked…

Brokerage March 11, 2016

Challenge – Compounded!

“I need to sell my building by this date!” That was the urgent challenge the owner of a medical building in Romulus gave to Steven Valli and Frank Rakipi of …

Brokerage March 10, 2016

Timing the Open Window

A four-tenant automotive building, built in 2005. Fully leased. Zero deferred maintenance. A cakewalk for the property owner. Why sell? The owner of this pro…

Brokerage March 7, 2016

From Insurmountable to Ideal

Most nonprofits are passionate about spending every dollar possible on promoting their cause rather than on covering overhead costs. National Energy Foundati…

Brokerage February 15, 2016

Opportunity Knocks for Office Property Owners

What an unusual year 2015 was for office properties in Brighton: Zero sales! Not because of a shortage of buyers. And given the strength of the economy, not …

Brokerage November 3, 2015

Easy As Pie

It was a deal as easy as pie. Pizza pie, that is. After thirty years in business, the owners of Bell’s Pizza in Ann Arbor were ready to sell their property a…