There is an apartment development void that Liberty Flats in Ann Arbor wants to fill, and it's not small. The 68-unit apartment complex aims at the center of the rental housing market. In a building era where it seems everybody is either building luxury skyscraper apartments or affordable housing, Liberty Flats wants to provide a home for middle-class families.
"We're filling in the middle," says Albert M. Berriz, CEO & co-owner of
McKinley Inc. "It's for people who make 50 to 100 percent of the median income in Ann Arbor or anywhere else we operate."
Filling the middle of the rental housing market is the Ann Arbor-based company's modus operandi. McKinley Inc operates in 39 states, overseeing 20 million square feet of office space and 25,000 apartments, including 6,000 units in Ann Arbor. Every one of those rentals is geared toward providing housing for America’s middle class. They are condo-grade units in great locations with good school districts.
"We are really putting our money into the kitchens and baths and locations and school districts," Berriz says. "And we try to make them affordable to middle class people."
Liberty Flats promises to be that sort of apartment community. The development will go on 4.7 acres of vacant land at 2658 W. Liberty St on the city’s west side. It will feature six 3-story buildings with 136 parking spaces between garages, carports and surface lots. Half of the units will have garages. The units will include two bedroom, three-bedroom, and four-bedroom apartments to accommodate both single people, empty nesters, and families.
McKinley Inc is currently obtaining approvals from various levels of city government. It hopes to have the green light by this summer. Construction is expected to take about one year to complete.
"Hopefully by the end of summer we will be able to break ground," Berriz says.
Source: Albert M. Berriz, CEO & co-owner of McKinley Inc
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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