Reclaim Detroit is starting to make multiple visible impacts across the Motor City.
The deconstruction/recycling program run by the
WARM Training Center finds a new use for just about all of the materials from buildings that would normally be razed and sent to a landfill. It used century-old wood recycled from a deconstructed home in Hamtramck to build out the interior of
Great Lakes Coffee Roasting House in Midtown. Reclaim Detroit has been hired to renovate the Stella International Cafe in the
Fisher Building in a similar way.
"It will use reclaimed materials but if will have our own unique style," says Kevin Borsay, co-owner of
Stella International Cafe. "Wood can have many different looks."
Work has begun on the small coffee house in New Center and is expected to be wrapped up by October. Reclaim Detroit will use a wide variety of recycled building materials and unearth the space's original terrazzo flooring.
"It's going to look more modern, more design-centric," Borsay says.
Stella International Cafe employs five people and plans to hire two more when it reopens in October. It is also looking at making some upgrades with Reclaim Detroit to its
Guardian Building location in downtown.
Source: Kevin Borsay, co-owner of Stella International Cafe
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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