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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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The Flint Journal announced that Metro Housing lost the Smith Village contract to a new company. eason told the Journal that Charles Young of Operation Unification was one of the companies executives and the address on 2050 Warner is the headquaters fo Young's OU Group, the nonprofit Operation Unification and the two sister for profits OU VIllage (Beecher) and OU Homes. But the incorporation documents for the new entity Smith Village Construction names Bret Russell as the Registered Agent. There is no reference to Bret Russell in the article, but Detroit's Bret Russell is making the news.
There is also another newly formed corporation named Smith Village Development and the registered agent is Neal Strayhorn of Detroit. Wonder if he is related to jason Strayhorn of CIG who also has lucrative contracts with Flint.
Are there no Flint companies that can handle this project? OOPs I forgot tht Ridgeway White's wife is keeping her contract as architect for the project.
How low can homes go? Try $0
By Al Lewis
Dow Jones Newswires
Posted: 01/18/2009 12:30:00 AM MSTUpdated: 01/22/2009 09:49:40 AM MST
Three bedrooms, carport, great view of the recession: The exterior of a home in Detroit belies the destruction inside. (Al Lewis | Dow Jones Newswires)
Detroit real estate agent Ian Mason has sold homes for $1.
When I asked him to check the listings for other properties at that price, he found four more.
He then took me to a white, clapboard-sided house that his company, Bearing Group Real Estate Brokerage, has listed.
"If you want this house, you can have it," he said. "I'll just give it to you."
"I'm not allowed to accept anything of value from a source," I told him.
"Who said I was giving you anything of value?" he replied.
Earlier in the day, I'd previewed the North American International Auto Show, where the car of the year was a Hyundai. A Hyundai Genesis , to be precise, with an MSRP of $37,250. Here, even a Kia or a Pontiac listed for $16,000.
By contrast, the median price of a home sold in Detroit last month was $7,500, according to Realcomp, a Farmington Hills, Mich., multiple-listing service, down 50 percent from last year.
Mason counted 1,228 homes listed for under $10,000, 209 of which were under $1,000.
"Many of them are in pretty decent shape," he said, "and some can be lived in."
At the auto show, I had sat inside a 2009 Maybach with a list price of more than $526,000. I had no idea that for the price of this car, I could own entire blocks of the city outside.
In the neighborhood where Mason offered me a $0 house (not including closing costs, escrow, taxes, etc.), almost every dwelling was in shambles. Boarded windows. Abandoned cars. Collapsed porches. Ubiquitous graffiti.
The home across the street was charred, likely by arsonists.
We drove through snow nobody would ever plow.
"What's this place like in the summer?" I asked.
"You wouldn't be driving through here," Mason said. "There's a small chance you'd field a bullet."
Police stopped patrolling these neighborhoods years ago.
"So if I buy a $1 house, I'm going to need to hire some security?"
"Not necessarily," Mason said. "Some of these neighborhoods are so desolate,
In the kitchen of a $7,000 duplex, squatters left wall-to-wall garbage. But investors are buying up this sort of real estate cheap, hoping to rent it in the recovery. (Al Lewis | Dow Jones Newswires )crime isn't much of a concern."
"Really?"
"I could take you to 30 square blocks of urban prairie."
The Motor City had more residents in the 1930s than it does today. About a million people have left since the 1950s, leaving less than a million today.
Enormous buildings sit vacant downtown, their hulking shadows darkening city streets at night. Unemployment is tallied in double digits. And this is how it is before Chrysler, General Motors, Ford and associated companies possibly file for bankruptcy this year.
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Detroit is a microcosm for what's happening," said local real estate investor Bret Russell.
Real estate prices are collapsing nationwide — and in Detroit's affluent suburbs, too. Russell has purchased 50 homes in the past year and built a small company to fix them up and rent them out.
The former Navy pilot said he hopes to buy and hold 1,000 properties and manage 1,000 more for other investors.
He targets neighborhoods where homeowners have low loan balances and aren't likely to be foreclosed. He wants to buy entire blocks so he can control them and bring up their values.
Mason helps Russell find homes for usually between $1,500 and $17,000.
"I've got an MBA and an engineering degree," Russell said. "I use Ian because he doesn't have a college degree. He's got common sense. . . . All of the MBAs are the ones who created this financial mess."
We went inside a duplex that Russell had just purchased for $7,000,
Detroit real estate agent Ian Mason. (Al Lewis | Dow Jones Newswires)wary of potential intruders.
The kitchen was strewn with garbage. Squatters had soiled the living- room carpet. A basement floor, flooded possibly because someone stole the pipes, had frozen into ice. But I could see that with about $8,000 worth of repairs, it might generate about $500 a month in rent from each side.
Landlords, like Russell of SE Metro Properties, are the new subprime lenders. People who've lost their credit to foreclosure or bankruptcy come to him.
"We're not selling (Cadillac) Escalades. We're selling them a place to live," he said. "They'll come up with $1,000 (a month) for that."
He finances his acquisitions through private investors, offering a 5 to 7 percent return from the rental income. If the properties ever appreciate, the total return could be whopping. For now, though, it's not easy building a rental-house empire with just a few thousand dollars at a time.
"I've got $2 million," Russell said, "and I'm having a hard time spending it."
Russell may be too big a player for the cottage industry that vacant houses have spawned.
On the lower end of the business, people strip empty abodes of just about everything and sell the parts to mom-and-pop entrepreneurs who are buying up and repairing houses that have been stripped as well.
"They take the hinges, the knobs, the sinks, the faucets, the vanities, the toilets; some of them go for the tiles," Mason said. "They even steal the brick off the sides of some of these houses."
Street dealers traffic in furnaces, water heaters and appliances.
One person's dilapidated hovel is another's economic-development opportunity. Mason predicts a bright future:
"The cost of living has gotten so low here that I think that we'll eventually see a manufacturing resurgence."
Al Lewis: 201-938-5266 or al.lewis@dowjones.com
Last edited by untanglingwebs on Sat Mar 31, 2018 6:36 am; edited 4 times in total |
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Sun Jul 03, 2011 9:30 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Related VideoAll Live Video : All Video » Construction at Flint's Smith Village due to start in the spring
Smith Village construction in Flint due to start by spring
Tags:housing, building and development, flint, local, joel feick
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FLINT (WJRT) -- (03/07/11) -- The only new subdivision expected to be built in Genesee County this year will be in the heart of Flint, near downtown.
Ground is expected to be broken in a couple of months on Smith Village, just north of downtown off of Saginaw Street, across from University Park.
Actually, construction on Smith Village started more than a decade ago, when about a half-dozen homes were built.
Flint Mayor Dayne Walling says the neighborhood is being brought back to life with federal funds.
The new homes will be heavily subsidized. They'll cost more than $175,000 to build, but will end up costing home buyers much less than that - perhaps just $50,000-$70,000.
Unlike its neighbor, University Park, that sits across the street, Smith Village won't get big property tax breaks. Buyers will instead get the break up front in the form of purchase price.
"We're looking to start this spring," Walling said. "We're working with the Land Bank, over 80 units, at a cost of $16 million. So it's a very substantial impact on our downtown area housing.
Not everybody thinks this is a good idea. An official with the Builders Association of Metro Flint calls it "idiocy," saying there is no market for these homes. Barry Simon says there are upwards of 27,000 homes for sale in Genesee County, and that federal money should be used to reduce current inventory.
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Sun Jul 03, 2011 9:34 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Only 10 days after the story hit, a new Smith Village Development Company was formed by organizer Elizabeth A Carrie and Neal Strayhorn as Registered Agent.
Searched for: SMITH VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT GROUP, LLC
ID Num: D5729A
Name:SMITH VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT GROUP, LLC
Type: Domestic Limited Liability Company
Resident Agent: NEAL STRAYHORN
Registered Office Address: FORD BUILDING 615 GRISWOLD ST STE 1600 DETROIT MI 48226
Mailing/Office Address:
Formation/Qualification Date:3-17-2011
Jurisdiction of Origin:MICHIGAN
Managed by: Managers
Status: ACTIVE Date: Present |
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Sun Jul 03, 2011 9:40 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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The newly formed Limited Liability Corporation was organized by the Schwartz Law firm in Farmington Hills.
Searched for: SMITH VILLAGE CONSTRUCTION SERVICES, LLC
ID Num: D61591
Name:SMITH VILLAGE CONSTRUCTION SERVICES, LLC
Type: Domestic Limited Liability Company
Resident Agent:
BRET RUSSELL
Registered Office Address:
2050 WARNER AVE
FLINT MI 48503
Mailing/Office Address:
Formation/Qualification Date:6-8-2011
Jurisdiction of Origin:MICHIGAN
Managed by: Managers
Status: ACTIVE Date: Present |
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Sun Jul 03, 2011 9:46 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Someone is not telling the truth!
City of Flint hires new Smith Village developer under deadline
Published: Sunday, July 03, 2011, 10:00 AM
By Kristin Longley | Flint Journal The Flint Journal
Ryan Garza | The Flint JournalThe Smith Village project is changing developers, but city officials say it won't delay the project. The city has a Dec. 31 deadline to get at least 25 houses built.
FLINT, Michigan — The once-troubled Smith Village housing project is at the center of another city conflict, all while a federal deadline and potential $1.3-million penalty is looming.
After nearly a year of what seemed like forward progress, the city has switched developers — and the former developer and city are pointing fingers as to who’s to blame.
The dispute comes as Flint is already two months behind schedule on its plan to meet a Dec. 31 federal deadline to get 25 houses built at the site, city Administrator Gregory Eason said.
If the city doesn’t meet its deadline, it risks having to pay back $1.3 million in federal grant funding, Eason said.
Still, Eason said the $16-million project is moving forward and is scheduled to break ground within two weeks.
“This will be the first time in 15 years this project is actually going to happen,” Eason said. “The city is actually going to make Smith Village a reality.”
But a few Flint City Council members are questioning the change in developers this late in the game.
“I question whether they’ll be able to make that commitment (of 25 houses),” Councilman Joshua Freeman said. “We don’t have 25 buildable lots right now.”
Councilman Bernard Lawler, on the other hand, said he has confidence the project will move forward. Lawler represents the 5th Ward, where the development is located.
The Smith Village project started in 1998 with a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, but only six homes were completed in the area off Saginaw Street north of 5th Avenue.
Under pressure from the feds to get it done, the city restarted the project last year with federal stimulus funds. The ultimate goal is to build 83 homes, with at least half intended for low-income buyers.
Until last week, the nonprofit Metro Community Development was the project developer, but the city council approved hiring Smith Village Construction Services as the new developer last week on the administration’s recommendation.
Both Eason and the former developer said the recent change won’t stymie the project, but they have very different stories on why the switch was made.
Eason said Metro Community Development walked away from the project.
But Ravi Yalamanchi, the nonprofit’s chief executive officer, said it was the city that dropped Metro Community Development.
Neither side said they have anything in writing to prove their respective cases.
The city brought Metro on as developer in August 2010, approved by Metro’s board of directors and the Flint City Council, but a developer agreement was never executed. The city also recently asked Metro to speak at a May 24 community meeting about Smith Village.
Over the past 11 months, the nonprofit developed design specifications for the homes with an engineer and architect, created a website and branded the project as the “New Smith Village” as part of its marketing efforts, Yalamanchi said.
The nonprofit spent more than $110,000 and made “substantial progress in a period of 10 months, which the city has failed to do over 14 years,” he said.
“We spent the money, we got the work done,” he said. “It was completely on good faith and mutual trust.”
But Eason said Metro decided not to continue with the project, which came as a surprise in the face of the looming deadline. He said Yalamanchi was “pretty adamant” about it.
“Why would we pull out when we need him the most?” Eason said. “I was deeply disappointed.”
The one piece that the city and Metro agree on is that the project needs to move forward.
Despite the disagreement, Yalamanchi said he wants the project to be successful. He said the nonprofit has agreed to hand over all the project materials after the city reimburses it for the expenses.
“In no way are we going to obstruct or hinder the development,” he said. “If that corridor is revitalized, it will be a jump start of revitalization for the northern part of the city, which really needs a lot of revitalization.”
The new developer, Smith Village Construction Services, LLC, was just formed on June 8, according to records on the state’s website.
Eason said one of the company’s executives is Charles Young, who runs Operation Unification, a nonprofit that received a $1.3 million contract to rehabilitate Flint homes through the stimulus-funded Neighborhood Stabilization program
.
Attempts to reach Young were unsuccessful.
Metro Community Development was already going to hire Young’s company as the general contractor for the project, said Eason and Yalamanchi.
Yalamanchi declined to comment on the city’s choice for its new developer.
Eason said it just made sense to hire the company, since it was familiar with federally funded projects. The city is also continuing on with the architect, FUNchitecture, and project manager Alan Ogle, he said.
Last week, an attorney spoke to the city council about the switch.
“My understanding is the new developer is ready to hit the ground running,” attorney Pat Parker said.
Flint City Councilman Scott Kincaid questioned whether the switch would delay the project, which has hung over the city’s head for more than a decade.
“This is a time sensitive project,” Kincaid said.
Eason said there would be “no delay whatsoever.
In addition to the commitment to build 25 homes by the end of the year, the city has a goal of selling those 25 homes by year’s end, too, he said.
“I’m excited about this,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity in a long time for the city to have high quality affordable housing right in the core of the city.” |
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Sun Jul 03, 2011 9:51 am |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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| Another financial hit for the city in the making. I'm sure someone will walk away with a nice pile of cash, though. |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Sun Jul 03, 2011 10:05 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Village Shore Properties 1 is housed at 2050 Warner . The property is owned by Joann Burks of 734 Natalia in Davison, a member of the Board of Directors of the OU Group as the non profit and the for profit appear to have an interlocking Directorate.
2050 WARNER AVE MAIL TO: BURKS, JOANN
Tax Unit: CITY OF FLINT 734 NATALIA DR
School District: FLINT SCHOOLS DAVISON, MI 48423
Charges
Status
Original Taxes
Penalties
Interest
Statutory Fees
Total
2009 Forfeiture $787.69 $31.51 $189.05 $265.69 $1,273.94
2010 Delinquent $821.27 $32.85 $32.85 $0.00 $886.97
If property status is Forfeiture only certified funds are accepted
Perhaps this new arrangement will help her pay the taxes on this property and stop it from going to the Land bank next March.
Last edited by untanglingwebs on Mon Jul 04, 2011 10:17 am; edited 2 times in total |
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Sun Jul 03, 2011 10:07 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Searched for: VILLAGE SHORES PROPERTIES, INC.
ID Num: 02344P
Entity Name:
VILLAGE SHORES PROPERTIES, INC.
Type of Entity: Domestic Profit Corporation
Resident Agent: JOANN BURKS
Registered Office Address: 2050 WARNER ST FLINT MI 48503
Mailing Address: MI
Formed Under Act Number(s): 284-1972
Incorporation/Qualification Date: 4-22-2009
Jurisdiction of Origin: MICHIGAN
Number of Shares: 60,000
Year of Most Recent Annual Report:
Year of Most Recent Annual Report With Officers & Directors:
Status: ACTIVE Date: Present |
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Sun Jul 03, 2011 10:19 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Sun Jul 03, 2011 10:34 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Village Shores Meat Market
Says Good News Friends.. The Meat Market Is Going Under New Management.. An That Person Is DONALD BURKS! LETS WELCOME HIM!!
April 21, 2010 at 12:41pm |
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Sun Jul 03, 2011 10:37 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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.
OU Homes Inc.
We Also offer a Club House for rent. The Clubhouse Includes a Full Kitchen A 60inch 1080 FlatScreen an a Great Sound System..
February 18, 2010 at 4:32pm
.OU Homes Inc.
Operation of property as a business, including rental, rent collection, maintenance, and so on. For example, the following tasks are often required in the ownership of property: accounting and reporting, leasing, maintenance and repair, paying taxes, provision of utilities and insurance, remodeling, and rent rate setting and collection.
February 18, 2010 at 2:12pm
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OU Homes Inc.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Flint-MI/Village-Shores-Apartments/313649012833?ref=nf
Village Shores Apartments
Page: 38 people like this...
February 18, 2010 at 2:07pm · Share.
.
RECENT ACTIVITY
OU Homes Inc. edited their Phone, Location and Hours..
OU Homes Inc. joined Facebook.. |
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Sun Jul 03, 2011 10:40 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Searched for: OU HOME INC.
ID Num: 39592A
Entity Name: OU HOME INC.
Type of Entity: Domestic Profit Corporation
Resident Agent: CHARLES YOUNG JR
Registered Office Address: 734 NATALIA DAVISON MI 48423
Mailing Address: MI
Formed Under Act Number(s): 284-1972
Incorporation/Qualification Date: 8-8-2006
Jurisdiction of Origin: MICHIGAN
Number of Shares: 60,000
Year of Most Recent Annual Report: 10
Year of Most Recent Annual Report With Officers & Directors: 07
Status: ACTIVE Date: Present |
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Sun Jul 03, 2011 10:46 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Searched for: OU VILLAGE INC.
ID Num: 41312A
Assumed Names
Entity Name: OU VILLAGE INC.
Type of Entity: Domestic Profit Corporation
Resident Agent: CHARLES YOUNG JR
Registered Office Address: 734 NATALIA DAVISON MI 48423
Mailing Address: MI
Formed Under Act Number(s): 284-1972
Incorporation/Qualification Date: 8-8-2006
Jurisdiction of Origin: MICHIGAN
Number of Shares: 60,000
Year of Most Recent Annual Report: 10
Year of Most Recent Annual Report With Officers & Directors: 07
Status: ACTIVE Date: Present
Assumed Names: Id Num Creation Date Renew Date Expiration Date
VILLAGE BEANS & CORNBREAD 41312A 11-19-2009 12-31-2014
VILLAGE BEAUTY SALON 41312A 8-24-2006 12-31-2011
VILLAGE FOOD COURT 41312A 8-24-2006 12-31-2011
OU VILLAGE CAFE 41312A 8-24-2006 12-31-2011
Return to Record |
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Sun Jul 03, 2011 10:49 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Searched for: OPERATION UNIFICATION INC.
ID Num: 790345
Entity Name: OPERATION UNIFICATION INC.
Type of Entity: Domestic Nonprofit Corporation
Resident Agent: CHARLES YOUNG JR
Registered Office Address: 2050 WARNER FLINT MI 48503
Mailing Address: MI
Formed Under Act Number(s): 162-1982
Incorporation/Qualification Date: 11-29-2004
Jurisdiction of Origin: MICHIGAN
Number of Shares: 0
Year of Most Recent Annual Report: 08
Year of Most Recent Annual Report With Officers & Directors: 08
Status: ACTIVE Date: Present |
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Sun Jul 03, 2011 10:52 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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2007 ANNUAL REPORT 2 2/26/2009
2006 ANNUAL REPORT 2 2/26/2009
2008 ANNUAL REPORT 2 2/26/2009
2005 ANNUAL REPORT 1 9/23/2005
CERTIFICATE OF AMENDMENT - CORPORATION 3 6/21/2005
ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION - NONPROFIT 3 11/29/2004
Officers are shown as :
Charles Young Jr; Mary Thomas; Nicole Brown (employee); and Lela (mcGhee) Johnson all at 2050 Warner .
Last edited by untanglingwebs on Sat Feb 09, 2019 7:50 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Sun Jul 03, 2011 10:54 am |
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