A Birmingham-based residential real estate brokerage has been retained to sell 98 condominiums planned for downtown Detroit.

Max Broock Realtors is marketing The Ashton condos, expected to be complete in early 2019, at 659 Howard St., according to a news release.

The company hasn't been active in large Detroit listings the last several decades because of the decline in Detroit real estate, but now is a good time to re-enter the market, said Christian Grothe, real estate salesman for Max Broock listing the condos for sale.

"Now there are so many new developments coming up, and we have a brand history of being a boutique, luxury firm selling high-end properties, and there is much more of that going on now than there has been over the last two to three decades," he said.

Ranging from 700 to 2,500 square feet, The Ashton units are expected to sell for $400 per square foot and higher, Grothe said. For example, the lowest price unit available is 601 square feet listing for $267,000 ($444.26 per square foot) while the most expensive is $849,000 for 1,917 square feet ($442.88 per square foot).

The 12-story planned building is being developed by a joint venture between Eric Means, who is one of the developers behind a planned hotel with Detroit-based Roxbury Group LLC; Brian Holdwick, a former Detroit Economic Growth Corp. executive; and Francis Resendes, whose Detroit-based Resendes Design Group is the architect on the project, according to Grothe.

It is expected to cost $35 million, according to media reports last year.

Grothe said two private equity firms have signed letters of intent to commit financing on the project, which has also received brownfield tax incentives.