Corktown : Detroit Development News

Celebration is in order for Spaulding Court, a 20 unit Townhouse in Detroit, which turns 100 years old this year.

The organization stepped in to revive the property, stabilizing the neighborhood and developing high impact redevelopment models. They also hosted nearly 50 Soup at Spaulding events that raised cash for rehab at Spaulding Court and other local projects.
 
RSVP on Facebook. Contributions/donation are also welcome. Spaulding Court is at 2737 Rosa Parks.
 
Source: Jon Koller
Writer: Leah Johnson

The Brooklyn Street Local, a brunch-and-lunch restaurant, is set to open later this spring in the former Brooklyn Street Grill location in Corktown.

Thirty-somethings Deveri Gifford and Jason Yates recently moved from Toronto to Detroit to open the restaurant. The native Canadians were attracted to Detroit's music and urban gardening scenes and came down to the visit the Motor City for more than a year before making the move. Even though they liked living in Toronto, Gifford was a server and Yates an electrician, the two drew a distinction between Toronto's metropolis culture and Detroit's big city/small town feel.

"Toronto wasn't somewhere I wanted to spend the rest of my life," Gifford says. "It's very big and anonymous. The community here was one the of things we liked when we first started coming down here."

The couple recently bought the building at the corner of Brooklyn Street and Michigan Avenue in a deal brokered by Ryan Cooley of Corktown-based O'Connor Realty. "Once we got inside of it we knew it was what we wanted," Giffords says. "The inside was in pretty good condition. The location was great. Corktown has a lot going on and seems like it is on the upswing."

The Brooklyn Street Local will serve classic American-style breakfast and lunch dishes. Gifford and Yates plan to make sure the food is as organic and locally sourced as possible and see Detroit's emerging urban agriculture scene as great source for both. The couple plan to open Brooklyn Local by the end of May.

Source: Deveri Gifford, co-owner of The Brooklyn Street Local
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

A bevy of new small businesses have opened in Corktown, Downtown, Eastern Market and Midtown with a new yoga studio, Yoga Shelter, leading the way.

Naomi Ruth and her partner Donna Orbovich are opening the studio on 69 W. Forrest in the retail space that a small grocery store was once planned. The 2,700-square foot space is on the ground floor of a Wayne State University parking garage a half block from Woodward Avenue in Midtown. Ruth and Orbovich are building out the space now and plan to open in May.

"We looked at a bunch of different sites," Ruth says. "There was just a really great small business community in Midtown. It's a really great community."

Among the other businesses to open in the greater downtown area in recent weeks:

• Just Baked, a gourmet cupcake business has opened in the Dime Building in downtown Detroit.
• Germack Coffee Roasting Co. has opened a new coffee shop in Eastern Market, taking over the space that used to house the Rafal Spice Co.
• Mercury Burger Bar has opened its doors in Corktown, transforming the former Mercury Bar space across the street from Slows.

Source: Naomi Ruth, co-owner of Yoga Shelter
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Slows is in the final stages of planning an expansion of its main restaurant into an adjacent storefront space that once served as the home of O'Connor Realty.

"We're in the middle of doing drawings for the new space," says Ryan Cooley, co-owner of Slows. "We're trying to figure out how to make it an intimate space. We're pretty close to being done with the drawings."

Slows has served as the driving force behind the rebirth of the 2100 block of Michigan Avenue since it opened in 2005. It is now the anchor of a growing list of new, dynamic destinations on the west end of Corktown that includes the Astro Coffee house, the Honor & Folly bed & breakfast and the Sugar House cocktail lounge.

O'Connor Realty is still located on the same block, moving to a new space a few storefronts down from its location. It's previous space, about 1,200 square feet, will now become a overflow area for the Slows, featuring a bar. The original bar in the restaurant will remain in place.

The co-founders behind Slows are still figuring out exactly how the new space will work with the existing restaurant, but Cooley believes they will reach a consensus soon. Work will begin later this spring or early this summer. It should open by the end of the year.

Source: Ryan Cooley, co-owner of Slows
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

The Detroit Institute of Bagels plans to take a longtime vacant building in Corktown and turn it into its home this year.

The 1-year-old company was founded by brothers Ben and Dan Newman out of their house in Corktown. The business was inspired by Ben's urban planning studies at the University of Michigan and his love of quality bagels. He thought good businesses like a bagel shop, he couldn't think of a good local one in the city, would help fill up the city again.

"I thought it would be a great way to put some of the vacant properties to use and employ people," Ben says.

The brothers have built the business up with catering events and selling their bagels in Eastern Market. Now they have purchased a single-story commercial building at 1236 Michigan Ave. The 1,700-square-foot building has been vacant for decades and needs a complete gut rehab. The brothers hope to complete the rehab this year and open the space up as their retail location.

"We have to update everything, the electrical, the plumbing and the roof," Ben says. "And we have to open a bagel shop."

Source: Ben Newman, co-founder of the Detroit Institute of Bagels
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

For Scott Griffin and Angel Gambino, the co-owners of Corktown's newest business and retail incubation space, redeveloping the old foundry at 2051 Rosa Parks Blvd. "provides a greater context for the neighborhood, increasing and enhancing the visibility" of Detroit's oldest neighborhood.

The Lincoln Brass Works foundry made bullets during World War II -- Griffin calls the 100,000 sq. ft space "an extraordinary example of classic Detroit industrial architecture." The building's eccentric layout, with options ranging from small offices to large, dramatic spaces, makes it perfect for the mixed-use environment envisioned by the owners, who hail from New York. In the six weeks since Gambino and Griffin purchased the building, they've spent their time erasing the improvements the previous owner made to the building. While the previous owner had normalized the spaces into typical office cubicles with carpeting and dropped ceilings, Griffin says they're focused on "undressing the building so the classic architecture shines."

That eye to design has paid off. Griffin says Loveland Technologies, Curbed Detroit and the new Huffington Post have all rented offices inside the foundry. Corktown Cinema is launching its re-imagination (courtesy of Big F Deal) of the art house theater in the building, which Griffin says, "is a tremendous boost to the nightlife in the neighborhood and the greater community." And while he's mum on the details, he says they're negotiating almost 20 office and retail leases in the next week.

Source: Scott Griffin, co-owner
Writer: Ashley C. Woods

By the end of September, Detroit cyclists will have 16 miles of new bike lanes to traverse; part of a growing network that will connect the three neighborhoods of Southwest Detroit, Corktown and Mexicantown.

"Linking Corktown, Mexicantown and Southwest Detroit will provide Detroiters and visitors with convenient, safe access to three of the city's most historic and vibrant neighborhoods," said Scott Clein, executive vice president at Giffels-Webster Engineers, which designed the bike lane system.

Giffels-Webster, with the support of the Greater Corktown Development Corporation and the Southwest Detroit Business Association, designed the Corktown-Mexicantown-Southwest Detroit Greenlink and secured funding for the initiative. 80 percent of the $500,000 cost to complete the project was provided by the Michigan Department of Transportation through the agency's Transportation Enhancement Activity Program.

The expansive network of bike lanes uses West Vernor as a main artery. Says Clein, "West Vernor will connect Patton Park on the City's west edge, to West Grand Boulevard and continue to 20th Street.  These connections will then feed a series of on-street bike lanes throughout Corktown and Mexicantown."

Giffels-Webster's engineers are also the designers behind the City of Detroit's Non-Motorized Transportation Master Plan. The Corktown-Mexicantown-Southwest Detroit Greenlink is the first major project of the master plan to be created, which will eventually integrate more than 400 miles of bike lanes throughout the city.

"The next areas that we would like to target are the Woodbridge neighborhood and the remainder of Midtown," Clein says. "In doing so we would connect the Corktown-Mexicantown Greenlink to the whole of Midtown and New Center and, by extension, to Eastern Market and the Dequindre Cut." Look for portions of Third Avenue and Second Avenue to be converted from one-way to two-way streets, with on-site bike lanes added on the perimeters.

Source: Scott Clein, executive vice president, Giffels-Webster Engineers
Writer: Ashley C. Woods

Bike-sharing companies, which offer 24-hour access to bicycles for short trips around cities, have popped up in Europe, and along the East Coast; DC, Boston and New York City. If three CCS grads have their way, Detroit will be the next city to offer visitors and residents a network of two-wheeled transportation stations throughout the greater downtown district.

The Detroit Bike Project is the brainchild of Victor Quattrin, Stephanie Lucido and Jenna Przybycien. The three college friends have spent the past year working on the first phase of their plan, which they will submit to Hatch Detroit by the Sept. 1 contest deadline. No matter what happens with Hatch, the three say they're committed to launching the company within the next year.

Their plan involves building park-and-ride bike stations in the Renaissance Center, Wayne State's campus, the Detroit Institute of Arts, Woodbridge, New Center, Grand Circus Park, Corktown and Eastern Market, as a public transportation alternative "Sometimes, there's a little distance between the main veins of Detroit," says Quattrin. "Nothing is really that walkable," says Przybycien, comparing Detroit's layout to that of more densely-populated cities like New York. "If someone parks downtown and wants to head up to Wayne State, it takes a lot of time to get there. Bike sharing allows you to see a lot more of the city, and to get places quicker, because it's so spread out."

With a swipe of a credit card, customers will be able to rent a bike from any station and take a spin through the city -- then drop it off at the closest bike rental facility upon completion.

The Detroit Bike Project will operate as a nonprofit, and they hope the promise of increased mobility from residents and visitors throughout the greater downtown will inspire local companies to lend their support, through advertising or sponsoring a bike station on their properties. They're also committed to purchasing bikes made from recycled materials. The team estimates they'll need $137,000 in investment dollars to launch the first phase of the program.

Lucido says the team is encouraged by the immediate feedback, all of it positive, from the first 48 hours of their viral campaign, which launched last week. "In the first 48 hours, we had 500 page views on our website and 150 likes on Facebook," she says. "We know this can work."

"Our goal is to not let them down, and make things happen," Przybycien says.

Become a fan of the Detroit Bike Project on Facebook, and read more about the team's proposal here.

Sources: Jenna Przybycien, Victor Quattrin and Stephanie Lucido, co-founders, Detroit Bike Project
Writer: Ashley C. Woods

A new owner plans to bring the equestrian-themed Green Dot Stables bar, which closed its doors last year, back to the races.

Jacques Driscoll, who recently moved back to Detroit from San Diego with his wife, says he recently closed on the building, located at 2200 W. Lafayette between downtown Detroit and South Corktown.

Owning an eatery is a dream Driscoll says he's harbored since high school. Though he says the kitchen needs work, Green Dot Stables will open as a restaurant, hoping to capitalize on businesspeople at lunch and Detroit residents in the evenings. Driscoll and his chef are plotting an inexpensive menu that pays homage to Detroit's culinary and ethnic history.

"We're going to try to keep everything on the menu between $2 and $4 and make it all finger food," he says. "We are theming it with Detroit neighborhoods -- Polish, Irish, tacos, sliders; food that embodies Detroit. Coney dogs… things you can eat with your hands."

Driscoll also plans to open with a full bar and to book entertainment at night. He says regulars to the old Green Dot Stables will still feel at home with the new concept.

'We're keeping the name and staying true to how it looked before. I know there's a lot of history and a lot of people that really appreciate the place," he says.

Though Driscoll was wary to name a date, he says he hopes to re-open the stables by the end of 2011.

Become a fan of Green Dot Stables on Facebook.

Source: Jacques Driscoll, owner, Green Dot Stables
Writer: Ashley C. Woods

After receiving approval for a liquor license from the State of Michigan, the owners of the former Baile Corcaigh bar and restaurant at 1426 Bagley in Corktown say they plan to open the pub's doors soon -- possibly by the end of August.

Celeste Belanger, who co-owns the bar with siblings Jerry Belanger of Park Bar and sister Colette, are still undecided on the building's moniker -- Kavanaugh's, an early favorite (and the family name of the Belanger's grandmother), is still under consideration.

"Opening this bar, it's really like coming full circle for me," Belanger says. Displayed on the wall is a remnant from Baile Corcaigh -- an autographed memento of the establishment's opening staff, including Celeste herself, one of the establishment's first bartenders.

"I've worked in the restaurant industry for 25 years, and I never wanted to own my own business," Celeste says. She had her heart set on a waterfront home within the city, when the opportunity to purchase the Baile Corcaigh building proved too much to resist.

While the name will change, fans of the Baile Corcaigh's stone fireplace, wood-paneled walls and custom-made bar should be happy to know the Belangers have kept nearly all of the building's Irish decor intact. Only deep cleaning and a few wall clearances for aesthetic purposes were necessary to bring the 1956 building, which offers about 2,000 sq. ft. of space, back to serving shape.

Belanger says the pub will be open Thursday thru Saturday from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. during the fall, with plans to extend hours as the business grows. There are also tentative plans to open the kitchen for dinner service within the next year.

Follow Model D on Facebook and Twitter -- we'll have the first scoop on the pub's opening date (and name).

Source: Celeste Belanger, co-owner, Baile Corcaigh building
Writer: Ashley C. Woods

"It's what's best for the environment and the community. We are trying to be part of a viable food system in Detroit and maybe help create a few jobs along the way."

So says Pashon Murray; who, with Brother Nature's Greg Willerer, has co-founded a new company, Detroit Dirt, to create one more link in Detroit's self-sustaining food ecosystem.

Detroit Dirt is processing their herbivore-sourced waste into compost, which will be resold to urban gardening collectives, green thumbs, and at nurseries and Eastern Market.

"Everybody that is a client can help us by giving us their waste or scraps," Murray says, "and we can help them by turning around their contribution and growing something with it." Murray adds that they've created different revenue streams by selling some of the compost, and using other portions to grow food at Brother Nature.

Big things are in the works for these compost-crreators. Murray says they are working with Canadian Rail and General Motors to set up  locations for two composting facilities -- hopefully, they will have locations in Hamtramck and Corktown within the next 60 days. She says they're also backed up with future orders for compost from growers around the city. The company's also receiving a helping hand from Team Detroit, which is assisting with design and marketing efforts.

Detroit Dirt co-owner Greg Willerer says, "we're doing something that I don't think any other composting company in Michigan is doing. We're going to close a loop on a lot of things." An agreement in the works with General Motors' Hamtramck plant and the company's headquarters in the GM Renaissance Center is one more symbiotic relationship they hope to build.

Sources: Pashon Murray and Greg Willerer, co-owners, Detroit Dirt
Writer: Ashley C. Woods

Big things are happening over on Michigan Avenue in Corktown, as at least five new businesses plan to open their doors by the end of 2011.

Ryan Cooley, owner of O'Connor Realty and a force behind Corktown's commercial redevelopment, says he will move his office to make way for an expansion of the hugely popular Slows BarBQ. Crain's Detroit Business reports the Cooley brothers plan to add 1,500 sq. ft. of additional space to the restaurant, though Cooley called the expansion "preliminary" at this point.

There's much to do in the meantime, like helping Astro Coffee finish its build-out a few doors down at 4124 Michigan Ave. "It should be a month to a month-and-a-half away," Cooley says of the java shop's opening (check out their progress here.) The Cooleys also recently renovated two apartments above Astro Coffee and his realty office. "We put those up on Craigslist and rented them out within three days," he says.

Cooley also confirmed that the Mercury Burger Bar will open in the space which once housed Mercury Coffee. "He got his zoning approved," Cooley says of the owner, "so he should be opening by the end of this year." Other eateries coming to Corktown include a Coney Island at Michigan and Trumbull, a brick-oven pizza and Italian restaurant across Michigan Avenue from Nemo's; as well as the much-buzzed about Sugar House bar at 2130 Michigan Ave. While Cooley couldn't confirm a date for the classic cocktail lounge to begin pouring, word on the street says its doors will be open within two months.

The Cooley brothers are also excited about their next venture -- renovating the pawnshop west of Slows, also on Michigan Ave. "We're starting to kick around restaurant ideas for the first floor," he says. Six apartments will be built above the restaurant. "We put in a new roof and new windows," he says, "and Phil's putting in the flooring right now." While they wait on financing, they plan to build out the apartments to lease to artists in the area.

Source: Ryan Cooley, owner, O'Connor Realty
Writer: Ashley C. Woods

The greenhouse and garden at the corner of MLK and Trumbull in North Corktown known as the Spirit Farm will soon become ground zero for a series of intensive workshops dedicated to increasing knowledge and awareness about urban sustainability, food justice, community art and grassroots community building.

"The DUST workshops have grown out of what I've been doing the past few years with teenagers," says organizer Kate Devlin. "And I thought, wouldn't it be cool if adults came and camped out and learn about sustainability?"

The DUST: Detroit Urban Sustainability Training bills itself as "10 Days in Detroit learning urban sustainability from Detroiters living it." The activity list is an urbanist's dream. Spend a week and a half visiting Brother Nature Produce and the Heidelberg Project, checking out urban farms keeping everything from baby ducks and chickens to bees. Community art and the Green Garage. The curriculum will dip into deeper processes, depending on community wants, on subjects as broad and diverse as bioremediation, grey water systems and natural building techniques.

"It's really geared to bringing people from the outside of Detroit in to see what we're doing. As it grows, we pick what subjects we want to tackle, and pick a project we want to work on together," Devlin says.

The workshops begin June 1, June 20, July 10, Aug. 1 and Aug. 20. The cost is $1,000, and includes lodging at the Spirit Farm, food and the workshop series. There's a sliding scale for low-income people and a few scholarships are available, with preference to Detroiters and Michiganders.

"I don't think there's any city in America doing the stuff we're doing on this scale. And we're also learning at a really incredibly fast rate," Devlin says. "And Detroit's a cool place to be. We've got some of the coolest things and I think we're an under-appreciated city. We've got great music, we've got great art, and we've got the green thing going on."

Sign up for DUST or find out more here.

Source: Kate Devlin, Spirit Farm
Writer: Ashley C. Woods

Two years ago, the stone walls of the Spaulding Court townhouse complex housed nothing but blight and trouble for the North Corktown neighborhood. As the first completely-renovated townhouse unit comes available for rent in the 99-year-old structure, it represents a victory for neighborhood resident Jon Koller and the work of 9 other residents, most of whom live within 150 yards of Spaulding Court, who worked together to redevelop the building.

Koller worked to establish the Friends of Spaulding Court, a nonprofit corporation who purchased the blighted property in February 2010 through a nuisance abatement judgement. Koller and the Friends of Spaulding Court raised $50,000 through private loans and events like Soup at Spaulding to begin the long process of renovating the townhouse piece by piece.

Now, the townhome, located at 1915 Spruce, offers "a little bit of luxury in North Corktown," Koller says. Renting for $1500 a month, the refurbished unit has hardwood floors and Italian tile throughout. The kitchen features marble countertops and stainless steel trim, while the upstairs offers three modest bedrooms with original wood doorways. The full bath upstairs features a Italian tile shower, custom limestone trim work, and a porcelain sink.

The unit also offers free wireless internet, a partially finished basement and wireless thermostats with internet-enabled zone control. "And the unit is specifically well-insulated," Koller says. "The heating bill should run $50 during a cold Michigan winter."

Koller calls North Corktown an undiscovered haven of "rural Detroit." A second townhouse will be available for rent or sale by the end of the summer. For more information, visit spauldingcourt.com

Source: Jon Koller, President, Friends of Spaulding Court
Writer: Ashley C. Woods

Over the last 20 years, the Greening of Detroit has planted 62,000 trees. This spring, the organization plans to add another 4,000, and needs 7,000 volunteers to make it happen. Two plantings are scheduled for every Saturday from March 26 through June 11 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. with 350 people needed at each site. "We'll have all the tools needed, and the trees placed out -- all we're looking for is the manpower to put them in," says Monica Tabares, Greening's development manager.

The planting locations are confirmed through April as follows:

• March 26: Deacon/Ethel Street
• March 26: 7 Mile
• April 2: Stoepel
• April 2: Stahelin
• April 9: San Juan-Pennington
• April 16: Springwells
• April 16: E. State Fair
• April 30: US-23/Plymouth Rd.
• April 30: I-94/Rawsonville Rd.

Plantings are designed to address storm water run-off, soil contamination, air quality issues and deforestation due to the Emerald Ash Borer. DTE Energy Foundation, the Erb Family Foundation, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the U.S. Forest Service contributed funds to Greening's spring planting season.

To volunteer for any of the plantings, call 313-273-8733 or send an email here.

Source: Monica Tabares, Greening of Detroit
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh