Construction is moving forward in earnest to complete the rest of the Woodward Garden Block between West Alexandrine and Selden streets in Midtown.
Workers are working on rehabbing the long-shuttered Woodward Garden Theater in the middle of the block and building the Woodward Garden Apartments at the corner of Woodward and Selden. The theater is set to open in May 2013 and the apartment building the following September.
"It is basically on schedule," says George Stewart, managing member of the development team for
Woodward Garden Block. "We hope to have it all enclosed before the bad weather comes."
The Woodward Garden Block project has been a long time coming. A large section of office space in the middle of the block was renovated two years ago, along with the construction of a parking garage behind it. The old Blue Moon building at the corner of Woodward and West Alexandrine was gutted and opened as the new home for the Great Lakes Coffee Roasting Co's signature cafe.
The Woodward Garden Theater will reopen as a 32,000-square-foot entertainment venue that can seat as many as 1,300 people. It was originally designed by
C. Howard Crane (architect that designed the Fox Theatre) and has been derelict for many years.
A small one-story commercial building at the corner of Selden and Woodward was recently razed to make room for the 5-story Woodward Garden Apartments. The mixed-use building will feature room for ground floor commercial space and 61 apartments on the upper floors. The apartments will be a combination of market-rate one- and two-bedroom spaces. Workers have poured the concrete for the basement of the new building and are currently working on erecting its steel skeleton.
Source: George Stewart, managing member of the development team for Woodward Garden Block
Writer: Jon Zemke
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