Maurer family takes on 3 more rehabs in downtown Ypsilanti

Wednesday, April 28, 2010 | Source: Concentrate

The Maurer family empire is now three more addresses strong after buying 120, 122 and 124 W Michigan Avenue in downtown Ypsilanti.

Eric and Karen Maurer are two of Ypsilanti's biggest landlords, buying and rehabbing a number of historic structures into apartments and retail space. This latest purchase of three foreclosed commercial buildings expands the couple's holdings to seven downtown storefronts, including the Mack & Mack and Kresge buildings that now house the Ann Arbor SPARK East incubator and J Neil's Mongolian Grille, respectively.

The Maurers plan to rehab their latest acquisitions into loft apartments on the second and third floors, ground floor retail space and some basement office space. That will mean a dozen new loft apartments and space for three separate storefronts.

That is going to take some doing because the buildings need a full gut rehab, according to Eric Maurer, including a new roof, windows and interior. The mid 20th Century metal facades will also be removed in favor of what the buildings originally looked like. Work is expected to begin this fall and wrap up within one year.

"We're working with our architect and getting the paperwork in order," Eric Maurer says.

The buildings were built in the 1850s and served as the home to Mellencamp's, a retail store, for their first 124 years.

"We found checks up there that dated from 1871," Eric Maurer says.

The buildings fell into disrepair in recent decades and the ground floor recently served as the home to an accounting, retail and tax firms. The structures are now entirely vacant, short-timers of what is becoming a dying breed in downtown Ypsilanti – blighted buildings.

Source: Eric Maurer, co-owner of Maurer Management & Properties
Writer: Jon Zemke