Beal plans to renovate 5 more historic homes in Ypsilanti

Wednesday, December 10, 2008 | Source: Concentrate

One can tell how much the residents of Ypsilanti care about their historic architecture by how hard they work to preserve it. Just walk through the downtown, Depot Town or the city’s historic district, the second largest in Michigan.

A lot of that preservation is thanks to businessmen like Stewart Beal. The budding entrepreneur has saved a number of historic buildings, renovating them into student housing. And now he plans to add five more to his portfolio of rental properties.

The buildings -- 605 Emmet, 421 Emmet, 417 Emmet, 414 Washtenaw and 417 North Adams -- were previously owned by Romain Realty. They are within easy walking distance of downtown and Eastern Michigan University. They had fallen into foreclosure and disrepair when Beal bought them.

The multi-family buildings currently suffer from a number of maladies, ranging from mold to burst pipes. Beal says they will need more than cosmetic work, but will be renovated according to recommendations by the Ypsilanti Historic District Commission.

"Essentially what we are trying to do is protect the value of what we already own in the neighborhood, while at the same time expanding what we have to offer the EMU student population," Beal says. "The properties are all in absolutely terrible shape but we have the expertise on staff to get these properties quickly back into rentable condition."

The twenty-something developer and president of Beal Properties has made a name for himself in recent years turning old buildings in Ypsilanti's downtown and Depot Town into lofts and retail space. He plans to hold onto them for the long-term and keep them as rentals.

Beal is also the developer behind the Thompson Block project in Depot Town, which is turning an abandoned Civil War-era building into lofts and retail space, and the 200 W Michigan Lofts development, an old Victorian-era storefront in downtown that is now lofts and restaurant space.

Beal Properties is a part of Ann Arbor-based JC Beal Construction. Beal Properties controls 125 apartments in 20 properties in the Ypsilanti area, several office buildings in downtown Ann Arbor and real estate investments in Detroit.

Source: Stewart Beal, president of Beal Properties
Writer: Jon Zemke