University Commons’ first $1 million sale: Praxis Properties CEO Bill Kinley sold his 3,500-square-foot, three-bed, three-bath unit for $1,040,000, a record for the complex of ninety-two condos built in 2000. On Huron Pkwy. near Huron High, the community for people fifty-five and older was conceived “by university faculty members who envisioned an intellectually satisfying living style and life-long learning, combined with the convenience of condominium living,” according to its website; early buyers included former U-M president Robben Fleming and University Musical Society executive director Gail Rector. In 2003, it was spotlighted by the New York Times as an example of a trend of retirement communities with close ties and proximity to college campuses. Two years later, Kinley told the Washington Post that he’d just “spent an hour and a half with a Shakespeare (discussion) group last night.”
Yes, that condo really sold for $120,800: That 723-square-foot, 2-bedroom, 1-bath Arbor Oaks end unit at 2154 Stone School Cir. in the Bryant neighborhood built in 2005 is inexpensive by design. To purchase in this complex, buyers must first be approved by the county’s Office of Community and Economic Development and, per current federal guidelines, have an individual income less than $52,900. Appreciation is limited to preserve affordability, but even in this segment of the market, prices are rising—the previous owner bought the condo in 2017 for $84,840, so this sale is a 42 percent increase.
This Old House of the Month: The dramatic cerulean-hued 3-bedroom, 2.1-bath Tudor at 1308 Linwood that sold in August for $734,800 is a gem with immaculate hardwood floors, an arched fireplace, and a cozy screened-in patio. But it’s the history that’s most fascinating; this was the first time since it was built in 1932 that the house transferred ownership without a deed covenant requiring the owner be Caucasian. Such language has been unenforceable since a 1948 U.S. Supreme Court decision, but Wildwood Park owners were among the first in the state to eradicate them from their deeds in 2022. It’s unlikely the first family to live at the address would have approved; in 1937, despite the covenant allowing for residents of color if they worked as servants, the owners placed a classified ad in the Ann Arbor News seeking a live-in “white maid.”
Total value of sales on this month’s map: $92,231,881
Median sale price: $508,215