Rainer Court Apartments Shine Bright after $6 Million Makeover

By Veronica Grecu, Associate Editor

A formerly neglected apartment community that’s part of the redevelopment boom in Midtown Detroit is just months away from reopening as market-rate housing for students and young professionals.

Rainer Court Apartments Detroit

Located at 711 W. Alexandrine St. and within walking distance from Wayne University, Rainer Court is a four-story building that originally opened in 1923, according to information found on real estate website PropertyShark.

In spring 2014 the 36,555-square-foot property was purchased for $535,000 by PK Housing & Management, a family-owned development company based in Okemos, MI. O’Connor Real Estate represented both the seller and the buyer in the transaction. At the time of closing, the property consisted of 56 units ranging in size from 250 to 500 square feet and was 40 percent occupied, Detroit Free Press reported.

Immediately after taking over the asset, PK Housing & Management embarked on a $6 million renovation of the Rainer Court apartments with financial help coming from a $100 million commitment to Detroit backed by JP Morgan Chase in 2014. According to the news source, the Chase commitment included $40 million to two community development financial institutions (CDFIs), which lend capital to developers at a much better interest rate in order to help revitalization projects in distressed cities and communities. As such, Rainier Court was the first renovation project to use money provided by Chase.

Expected to reopen in mid-2015, the new Rainer Court Apartments will include 36 market-rate units with rents varying from $750 to $1,300 per month. The building will also have around 1,800 square feet of ground floor retail space.

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Rendering via Rainer Court website