Developer Doug Loose says he is "living in a cloud" after recently securing financing through Frankenmuth Credit Union for a portion of his $4.2 million purchase of a damaged condominium complex in Midland, Mich.
"It still is surreal to understand that we have all the pieces in place now to execute what we (first) thought about doing two months ago," said Loose, who is financing part of the purchase with his own money and hopes to close the sale by Aug. 15.
The 46 Village West Condominium units were significantly damaged in the Tittabawassee River flooding in May, and the board of directors initially voted not to restore them. But Loose made an offer to purchase, restore and repair the units, and to rent them to current owners at a discount from the market rate on a lifetime lease.
Loose, whose mother and stepfather live in one of the 46 Village West units and who plans to live in one of the other units himself, came to a purchase agreement with the homeowners on July 3.
Loose said between 20% and 25% of the homeowners have indicated they plan to continue living in the units once they are repaired.
Since the agreement was reached, Loose said, he has put contractors to work cleaning and drying the damaged condos, replacing the street lights, and cleaning up debris in the yards and streets, among other tasks.
But clearing the hurdle of financing the project put a particularly big smile on his face.
"We're on target to close by Aug. 15, and we'll start construction immediately afterwards," Loose said. "I told Larry (Ehrlinger at Frankenmuth Credit Union) I never had more fun in my entire career than the day they agreed to finance me. I had to call six other banks and say we were already financed.
"(The credit union's) comments to me were, 'We are character lenders and you're the guy for the job. This is a community effort and we want to support the community,'" Loose continued.
His goal is to have all the units occupied by Christmas.
"As long as my contractors can keep on track, we should be occupied before Christmas. We're still well on our way to that goal," Loose said.
Modern Realty owner Logan Richetti, broker and spokesperson for Village West, is also pleased with the progress of the purchase.
"The Village West sale is on schedule and proceeding exactly as planned. Mr. Loose is in the final stages of securing loan financing, and we are working closely with residents to coordinate mortgage payoffs and schedule individual closing appointments. All parties have been working diligently to conclude this transaction, and we are on track to do so," Richetti said in a text message to the Daily News.
"Logan and his team have a done a phenomenal job," Loose said.
Loose said the general contractor for repairing the homes will be Great Lakes Bay Construction of Midland, with support from Kanthe Construction of Pinconning. Secondary contractors include Trevillian Construction of Midland, Blasy Electric of Midland, J&L Restoration of Lansing, and Stanford LP Gas of Midland.
Needing to replace many appliances at Village West due to the flooding, Loose took advantage of the special appliance sale offered last weekend at the Midland Mall by the United Way and the Whirlpool Corp.
"I have a pile of appliances stacked up and ready to go. I bought enough to outfit eight units (on Saturday)," Loose said.
He also praised the municipal government for being a supportive partner in the project.
"The City of Midland has by far been my best partner. Mayor (Maurren) Donker has been 100% supportive," Loose said. "The city waste disposal has been phenomenal in helping us getting everything cleaned up. ... I do very much appreciate (the city's) support."
