New Apartments Coming to Lafayette Park

A new apartment complex will break ground in Lafayette Park.

Developers will break ground on a new apartment complex in Detroit’s Lafayette Park in June.  Plans for DuCharmes Place have been in the works since 2002, but the development was put on hold when the recession hit in 2007.

Developer Walter Cohen says he always planned to restart the project.

“When the recession hit, all the financing, the plans — everything was approved,” Cohen says. “And I think it was kind of lucky we decided not to go forward then, even though the bulldozers were on the site. I don’t think that it would have been successful through the recession.”

Cohen says the original plan included townhomes, but that was changed to apartments in 2011. He says the home mortgage market was not stable enough then and it made more sense to build rental properties.  

Author

  • Bre'Anna Tinsley
    Bre'Anna Tinsley is a reporter for Detroit Public Radio, 101.9 WDET. She covers city government and housing, as well as co-hosting the "Detroit Evening Report" podcast.