Dykema Aids in Pontiac Lafayette Place Lofts Development

DETROIT—Dykema, a leading national law firm, served as developer’s counsel for West Construction Services on its $20 million redevelopment of  a historic building in downtown Pontiac, former home of the Sears, Roebuck & Co. department store.  

The Lafayette Place Lofts project, when complete in December 2012, will have 46 residential units with approximately 20,000 square feet of retail space. The retail space will contain a fitness center and fresh food market. The project marks the largest construction development in downtown Pontiac in 30 years.

“This project is a major coup for the city of Pontiac and for our client, West Construction Services,” said Rochelle Lento, lead counsel for West Construction Services and Senior Counsel in Dykema’s Real Estate Department. “We were pleased to work closely with Kyle Westberg and his team to guide them through this complicated financing project and are excited to see it through to its completion. The project combined multiple layers of financing and is an adaptive reuse of a commercial building, creating many challenges.”

The multi-layered financing plan included Neighborhood Stabilization Funds, New Market Tax Credits, State and Federal Historic Tax and State Brownfield Tax credits.  

In addition to Lento, the Dykema team representing West Construction Services included Anthony Ilardi, Jr. and William Lentine, who assisted on complex tax issues; Chase Cantrell who handled corporate issues; and Anthen Perry and Maureen Bracey, who assisted with real estate and other due diligence.

Dykema attorneys regularly advise both development and investment clients on an array of projects, both residential and commercial involving low income housing tax credits, historic tax credits, new markets tax credits and a variety of state credits and tax abatements. Recent notable projects that Dykema has provided legal counsel on include: Book Cadillac Hotel, Fort Shelby Hotel, NSO Bell Building, Renaissance Villages, and currently the East Jefferson Neighborhood/Detroit Assisted Living development.