New York-Based Northern Group Acquiring Lafayette Towers Apartments in Continuing...

New York-Based Northern Group Acquiring Lafayette Towers Apartments in
Continuing Investment Commitment to Detroit
Mies van der Rohe Internationally Acclaimed Towers In Lafayette Park;
Recognized As Definitive 'Urban Renewal' Success With Garden-like Living

DETROIT, Jan. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- New York-based The Northern Group is
acquiring the Lafayette Towers in the internationally acclaimed Lafayette Park
just east of downtown Detroit in their continuing investment commitment to
Detroit. The two Mies van der Rohe-designed 22-story apartment towers are a
central piece of the larger 78-acre Lafayette Park which includes the largest
collection of Mies van der Rohe buildings in the world.
The announcement was made by Northern Group principal and managing partner
Alex Dembitzer. Terms of the acquisition from Chicago-based The Habitat
Company were not released. Closing on the sale is scheduled for February 15,
2008.
Lafayette Towers joins The Northern Group's already substantial Detroit
portfolio with Alden Park Towers apartments on the Detroit River east of
downtown, and "The Downtown Collection" of legendary office buildings: First
National, Penobscot and Cadillac Tower.
"We have a strong belief in the future of Detroit and an excellent history
with our apartment rentals in Alden Park Towers," Dembitzer said. "We have
nearly completed refurbishing the historic 400-unit Alden Park Towers
residential apartments, which are currently 90 percent leased, on Detroit's
riverfront."
Northern Group announced only last week plans for a new era in downtown
Detroit living with an iconic $150 million Cadillac Centre mixed-use complex
of apartments, shopping, entertainment, dining and public park-like spaces on
the last open parcel around the new "town square" Campus Martius Park.
Cadillac Centre has been described by architectural critics as a global
architectural destination, similar to the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain, or
Chicago's Millennium Park.
Lafayette Towers includes 584 rental apartments featuring wall-to-wall and
ceiling-to-floor window walls in aluminum and glass skinned towers as part of
a complete community nationally recognized as a model of urban livability.
Each of the two towers has an abundance of amenities including:
unparalleled views of the city and river, 24-hour attended gatehouse with
concierge, fitness centers in each tower, heated outdoor swimming pool with
sundeck, laundry facilities, cable and high-speed internet outlets, covered
parking, air conditioning, and storage facilities. The beautiful two-story
lobbies of each tower are lined with terrazzo floors and marble walls
surrounded by floor to ceiling glass.
Lafayette Towers overlook a spacious 19-acre central park designed by
famed landscape architect Alfred Caldwell with a network of walking and
jogging paths connecting a mix of high rises, two-story townhouses, tennis and
basketball courts, playground, elementary school, and small shopping center
under a luxurious canopy of greenery with 50-year-old trees creating a quiet
scene of lush landscaping with the feel of New York's Central Park.
The National Park Service listed the 78-acre Lafayette Park including
Lafayette Towers on the National Register of Historic Places noting the
exceptional world's largest collection of Mies van der Rohe buildings.
Manhattan Institute senior fellow Julia Vitullo-Martin called Lafayette
Park "one of the nation's most beautiful residential developments" in a
recently published national newspaper article. University of Pennsylvania
professor of architecture Detlef Mertins called it "a little known jewel of
modern urbanism" in the same article.
Lafayette Towers is one of the largest and purest examples of van der
Rohe's style in the world. He also designed the Seagram Building in New York
City, IBM Plaza and Chicago Federal Center in Chicago, Westmount Square in
Montreal, and the Toronto-Dominion Centre in Toronto.
The Northern Group was established more then 20 years ago by principals
committed to creatively readapting architecturally significant commercial and
residential real estate in urban areas. Started in New York City, Northern
Group acquires and transforms obsolete buildings and neighborhoods through
sensitive rehabilitation, revamped infrastructure, and aesthetic improvements
to create vibrant homes and workplaces. The Northern Group has branched into
urban centers across the nation including Louisville, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh,
Philadelphia, Memphis and Detroit.
For more information on the Northern Group, please visit www.zul.com.
SOURCE Northern Group, Inc.

Tina Bassett or Leland K. Bassett, both of Bassett & Bassett, Incorporated,
+1-313-965-3010, for Northern Group, Inc.