Business News in Brighton

The old Brighton Donuts has undergone extensive remodeling and is likely to host a Potbelly Sandwich Shop and perhaps a T-Mobile cellular store, too.  Potbelly began in Chicago in 1977 and there are some stores in the west Detroit suburbs, as well as Ann Arbor.  The new building looks fantastic.

If you remember the florist shop in the newer building with Tim Horton’s and the BP Gas Station at Grand River and St. Paul Street, look for a Domino’s Pizza outlet there soon.

In case you missed it, the Leaf, Barley & Vine building on Grand River and North St (next to Stout Pub) has been taken over by a new mortgage lender, Treadstone Funding.  I got to see the building while work was in process and it is going to be a great addition to downtown. It's wonderful that the building is no longer sitting vacant.

The Grand River Crossing mall (near VG’s, across from the Brighton Bowl) will soon have an old Brighton favorite returning – Big Apple Bagels.

Davis Office Site – at Grand River and Best Buy Drive, the old buildings that held many small medical offices is almost done.  One of the tenants is going to be Panda Express, a “fast, casual Chinese restaurant”.  Current locations include Okemos, Jackson, Ann Arbor, Great Lakes Crossing, Allen Park and the Rochester area.

And if you’ve seen the construction on Challis Rd just west of the newly remodeled and reopened Big Boy, that’s going to be a Hampton Inn.

The City of Brighton continues to try to add more parking to meet demand. The Dairy Mart on Grand River and North Street has been demolished and will be another ‘Transitional Parking Lot’. Walking distance to downtown shops and restaurants, it will be another option for you, but it will be right turn only when exiting because it is so close to the traffic signal at North and Grand River and because of traffic volumes on Grand River.

Information above is believed to be correct, but things can happen! Negotiations fail, problems arise, that’s development.

Realtors' Annual Food Drive for Gleaners

For the last 13 years, the Livingston County Association of Realtors (LCAR) have been collecting food and money for Gleaners Community Food Bank (GCFB).  It started out with just a downtown Brighton location at the millpond and was/is still called 'Fill The Gazebo'. But a number of years ago, we branched out to locations in Howell.  Some large markets gave permission for us to collect, too, and if you hit the main intersections of Brighton or Howell you'll see volunteers with containers to collect that pesky loose change that accumulates in your vehicle console.

Gleaners can amazingly provide 3 meals for 1 dollar. And by donating money instead of non-perishable food, there's less handling and loss.  But the food items are greatly appreciated, too. Livingston County is viewed by some as not needing this type of event, but the need is actually so great that we don't collect enough food within the County to serve our residents.  That's right, food has to come in from other Gleaners locations to meet the need.

So please plan to donate something.  A few bucks in loose change, a generous check made payable to "GCFB", or drop off food at these locations from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm on Saturday, May 2nd.

• Downtown Brighton's Millpond Gazebo on Main Street
• Howell Gazebo near the Livingston County Courthouse on Grand River
• GFS Marketplace in Brighton
• Kroger in Brighton, Howell, Hamburg and Hartland
• Wal-Mart in Howell and Hartland

Suggested items to donate: tuna, Spaghetti O's, canned meat, and chunky soup.   

You can also drop off food and checks at my office, Preview Properties, 130 W. Grand River, Brighton 48116 if you can't make the food drive.  Or you can make a monetary donation online that will get credited to our food drive and is tax deductible at:  www.gcfb.org/FilltheGazebo

Last year, we collected 5,300 pounds of food in addition to $11,431 in cash donations. This provided a grand total of 38,692 nutritious meals.

image courtesy LCAR

Brighton Trail Race, 3/23/13-No Frills All Thrills

On Saturday, March 23rd, the Brighton Area Road Striders (BARS) will host their annual race, the No Frills All Thrills Trail Run at the Huron Meadows Metropark in Brighton.

This year, the race changes from a 5 mile distance to an 8K (4.97 miles).  New this year is the 'Half Thrills' 4K event (2.48 miles) if you're not in shape to go the full distance - or if you just want to finish earlier and get back to the refreshment table before the 8K'ers come in.

The race is professionally timed, offers unique awards and has been a staple on the early season trail running circuit for many years.  The park offers gently rolling hills with heated rest rooms.  A metropark pass is required to get into the park and you can buy either a daily or season pass on the day of the event.  Season passes are good for all Huron Clinton Metroparks in SE Michigan through 12/31/13.

Starting in 2010, BARS began donating most of the race proceeds to Girls on the Run of SE Michigan, and plan to continue that effort again in 2013.  Girls on the Run is a program for 8-12 year olds that uses running to teach girls about their personal power and the importance of being active and healthy.

For more info on this event, see the race web site at http://nofrillsallthrillsrace.com.  You can find out more about Girls on the Run at http://girlsontherunsemi.org, and visit the BARS running club web site at http://www.BrightonAreaRoadStriders.org.  BARS also has a weekly run, Wednesdays at 6:30 pm, beginning at the Brighton HS Fieldhouse.  Check their website for updates as they run from downtown Brighton once a month, too.

So let's get out there and run!

Livingston County Rental Market Is ‘Robust’

At Preview Properties, we get a lot of calls about rental properties in Livingston County. Many apartments in the Brighton and Howell areas are running at a higher capacity now, presumably due to the number of people who have lost their homes to foreclosure. But some are also potential first-time buyers who are not convinced this is the right economic time to enter the housing market as a homeowner.


In Livingston County right now, our MLS has 17 properties for lease at or under $1500/mo. Twelve are detached homes, the other five are condos. If you look at the $1000 and under market, we only see three homes and two condos. Of course, not every rental property is placed into the MLS.

Apartments are an option for some people, and you can expect to spend around $800 or more to live in a newer community with some amenities. Things like a washer and dryer in your unit, perhaps a pool and clubhouse, with or without a fitness center. There is also a higher end apartment that has a few three bedroom units, two car attached garage, private entrances, and pool/clubhouse, but they start at $1350/mo, with two bed units starting around $1200/mo. Some communities have waiting lists, too, and it’s not unheard of to leave a deposit if you want to be placed on the waiting list.

Some apartment complexes will let you enter into a six month lease rather than the usual twelve month lease, but expect to pay at least an additional $100/mo to do that. Do you have pets? Expect to pay an extra security deposit (damage) fee as well as a few extra bucks per month. I know that many people I talk to absolutely won’t consider a condo or an apartment. For those folks, if they can’t find what they want through a property listed in the MLS, there is always rent dot com, or good old craigslist.

If you want the amenities like a pool and clubhouse/fitness center, an apartment community is not a bad choice. Of course you won’t have covered parking (unless there are carports-for which you’ll pay extra), but you can forget that $30/month you’re paying to the gym. Also the convenience of a washer/dryer that come with the apartment is good, and repairs are normally handled pretty quickly in a well run community, too. Not terribly important for some things, but it makes a difference if your refrigerator, water heater, furnace or air conditioning goes out.

The tried and true method of looking at the Sunday newspaper ads may work, too, but a lot of landlords are going the electronic advertising route these days. No matter what your housing choice is, be sure to call quickly because the feedback I’m hearing is that affordable units ($1200 and under) are going very fast. If I can be of service with your home search, feel free to contact me.