David Coates / The Detroit News Dan MacLeish predicts "little fill-in pockets of affordable housing" will spring up in the suburbs.

Builder says local laws price homes out of reach

Permit red tape, big lots render suburbs exclusive

By John Bebow / The Detroit News

    TROY — Dan MacLeish’s grandfather first made a mark by building huge hay barns near Marlette, 75 miles north of Detroit, in the late 19th century.

    The mansions MacLeish builds today in northern Oakland County rival some barns in size. And many of the tradesmen who build them live way up in Marlette and surrounding rural towns, where land is still cheap enough for a working man’s homestead.

    “Our subcontractors can’t afford to live where they build,” MacLeish said. “Our kids can’t afford to live in the same communities they grew up in.”

    That’s not the fault of builders, MacLeish contends. He blames controlling local government leaders in outer suburbs for driving up the costs of homes. Big-lot zoning ensures huge homes many can’t afford. Preservation of the smallest wetlands, tough building codes and lot setback rules, and months-long permitting processes all drive up housing costs.

    On bad days, when he wakes up at 5 a.m. worrying about 20 different details, it’s easy for the 60-year-old MacLeish to think about simpler times. He built his first house on Detroit’s northwest side in 1964. He remembers sailing through Detroit’s permit process in less than an hour, and profiting 10 percent on the $14,000 sale.

    “I wish we could get those margins today,” he said. “I really enjoy building for young people. I feel so bad when they can’t afford our houses.”

    The majority of buyers want big houses on big lots, surveys show. For now, many families can only approach that dream far out in the country, past strict building and zoning rules in the hottest burbs.

    “Little in-fill pockets of affordable housing and condos — that’s what’s coming” in established suburbs, he said. But, in many cases, such projects will require new zoning to accommodate higher-density developments. “They have to adapt and change just like builders do all the time. In this business, if you don’t adapt, you die.”