Call it the “river effect,” a subtle climate change that occurs for those living in or near the narrow strand of land between two transportation arteries – the Detroit River and Jefferson Avenue. It’s a sense of calm and fresh air bordered by the flow of urban and natural motion.
The East Riverfront is really two residential areas. The “near east” area – marked by Stroh River Place and the old Rivertown area, Harbortown, Chene Park, and soon thousands of new condominiums and Tri-Centennial State Park – extends from the Renaissance Center to the Belle Isle Bridge, and north to include Lafayette Park and other neighborhoods immediately north of Jefferson.
The other “far east” area includes the stately high-rise apartments and condos that represent Detroit’s “Gold Coast” from another era, as well as the Joseph Berry subdivision, home to Mayor Kilpatrick, as well as new residential development, bounded by St. Jean on the west. Indian Village, West Village, and Island View, north of Jefferson, are also part of the “far” East Riverfront.
Linked by Belle Isle and Gabriel Richard Park, and the evolving Detroit RiverWalk, the East Riverfront has the potential of realizing a dream that goes back more than a quarter century; a dream marked by fits and starts. In recent years, however, optimism has grown among new residents to the area, many of them younger people.
River value
Matt Clayson and Gideon Pfeffer live in Harbortown, work downtown, and belong to the Detroit Yacht Club on Belle Isle. Clayson considered other residential options in Detroit, but says he “can’t be far from the river. The only other place would be Indian Village or West Village.” The river, he says, “draws you in. It’s calming, relaxing. It’s a really nice way to get your mind off your worries. It’s the river breeze, the mist, the humidity – you have a different climate close to the river than you have when you go back a few blocks. It makes your skin feel better.”
Pfeffer, a mortgage broker, looks at it from an investment perspective as well. “In what other city in the country can you buy real estate on the water at $200-$250 a square foot?” he asks. “I didn’t buy this place to live in for a couple years and sell. Even if I’m not living here three years from now, I’m not selling this place. I’m going to hold on to it as a long-term investment,” Pfeffer says. “I think people are drawn to water and mountains. Even if it takes 15 to 20 years for Detroit’s business district and East Riverfront to turn into what I think it’s going to turn into, I have that time on my side.”
Detroit has one of the most affordable river properties of any city, says Betty Womack, a Real Estate One realtor specializing in the high-rise condos on the East Riverfront, as well as other historic homes in the city. “It’s a buyer’s market,” she says.
With more development planned along the river, including about 700 condo, loft and single-family homes, as well as office and retail space, planned on the old cement silo sites, the East Riverfront is poised to boom.
Even now, for condos, apartments or lofts, there are a wide variety of options, styles and price ranges. Some include:
- The Garden Court Condominiums in an Albert Kahn-designed building on Jefferson at Jos. Campau range from 900 to 3,000 square feet, and sell for about $130,000 to more than $300,000.
- The Lofts at Rivertown on Jefferson near Bellevue rent for about $800 to $1,500 a month, or sell for $120,000 to $700,000 a month, ranging from studios to penthouse suites.
Womack, who lives in Indian Village, with its gorgeous mansions and gardens, also has represented some homes in the exclusive Grayhaven and Shorepointe developments further east, with values ranging from $565,000 to $1.3 million.
River beauty
The aesthetics are undeniable. Whether you live right on the river or nearby, the East Riverfront area affords many of its dwellers views of gorgeous mansions, bucolic river scenes, or Detroit’s skyline.
“There’s something about waking up and seeing the river,” Pfeffer says. “I don’t know if I can say what it is, but I can say what it’s not – and that’s waking up and looking out your window and seeing 10 feet from where your house ends another house that looks exactly the same, again, and again, and again.”
Marilyn Wheaton wakes up to a view of Belle Isle in the mist, perhaps a freighter motoring in from Lake St. Clair – and perhaps ice flows. “Right now, I see the Detroit River with beautiful ice caps, like glaciers, actually. I see Belle Isle in the distance. I see high-rise condominiums in Windsor. I’m actually looking into another country through my front window,” says Wheaton. “I’m looking at a man out walking with his three dogs. It’s just lovely. In the summer, I can walk down to the river and drink coffee, or when we have guests we always go down to the river with a bottle of wine, cheese, crackers and fruit – they think they died and went to heaven.”
On Saturday mornings in the summer, she watches the Detroit Rowing Club in action. “If you’ve ever been to Boston watching the rowing teams on the Charles River, you can do the same right here.”
Walkability, great location
The river is great, but it’s also nice to be a comfortable distance from the central business district and view downtown from several floors up, says Terese Ireland, a new resident on the riverfront. “I’ve always wanted to live in Detroit, but a variety of life circumstances prevented me from doing it.” A life change offered her a chance to realize her dream. Moving from suburban Birmingham to the riverfront may seem like a dramatic change, but she takes it in stride, happy with the urban lifestyle. She walks in the 32-acre complex and shops at Harbortown Market, which reminds her of the small markets in Birmingham – “high end wines, expensive bread…”
Above all, it is the view. “I like the cityscape at night,” she says. “I get a great view of the vibrancy of the city, without some of the challenges.” With floor-to-ceiling windows in her Harbortown apartment, “downtown is always a presence in the room. I like that.”
“It’s the best of two worlds,” she says. “I can look and see the cityscape and I can have access to this wonderful, natural presence of the river. … I’m looking forward to the shipping season starting again. I like to see those big boats – they’re some of the biggest things on earth.”
Water is not the only attraction. It’s also a fine place to walk and jog. In warm weather, Pfeffer will jog from Harbortown to Belle Isle and back.
Wheaton walks everywhere within a mile of her condo. “I have to walk in order to live,” says Wheaton. “If I go east on Jefferson Avenue, I walk a mile and a half to Farmer Jack. That, for me, is an easy walk. If I turn left and go west, I walk one mile to Harbortown. Or, I can walk two blocks to the Indian Village Market. I would never have to get into my car to do grocery shopping. I can always get fresh flowers at Harbortown or Farmer Jack; I can walk across the street to Ashley’s Flowers. I walk to my cleaners on Van Dyke at Kercheval.”
For those on the north side of Jefferson, there still is the call of the river. Steven Wasko, president of the River East Alliance, lives less than five minutes from the water’s edge. “I don’t think you necessarily have to have six foot vertical bay windows hanging out over the water to feel a part of the river community. My home is in the south end of Indian Village, three homes from Jefferson, allowing me to walk my German short-hair pointer down to the river in about four minutes. So much of what we do attracts us to being close to that waterway, as waterways attract people across the globe.
“Í would have a hard time being any further from the edge of that water than I am right now,” Wasko says. “There’s something about the magnetism of the waterway … it kind of becomes the center of your compass.”
Directions to East Riverfront
From the East:
Take I-94 West to Exit 220B for Conner Ave toward the City Airport. Turn slight left onto Conner St and turn right onto Hern St. to St. Jean St. where you’ll turn left. Continue to Jefferson Ave E and turn right to arrive in East Riverfront.
From the North:
Take I-75 South and merge onto I-375 S/Chrysler Fwy via Exit 51C on the left toward the Civic Center. Take the exit toward Jefferson Ave East and stay straight to go onto Chrysler Dr. Turn slight left onto Jefferson Ave E and arrive in East Riverfront.
From the West:
Take I-96 East and merge onto I-75 North via the exit on the left toward Flint. Merge onto I-375 South/Chrysler Fwy toward Downtown. Take the exit toward Jefferson Ave East and stay straight to go onto Chrysler Dr. Turn slight left onto Jefferson Ave E and arrive in East Riverfront.
From the South:
Take I-94 East toward Detroit and merge onto I-96 E/Jefferies Fwy via Exit 213B toward Canada. Merge onto I-75 North via the exit on the left toward Flint and then merge onto I-375 South/Chrysler Fwy toward Downtown. Take the exit toward Jefferson Ave East and stay straight to go onto Chrysler Dr. Turn slight left onto Jefferson Ave E and arrive in East Riverfront.
Take I-75 North toward Detroit and merge onto I-375 South/Chrysler Fwy toward Downtown. Take the exit toward Jefferson Ave East and stay straight to go onto Chrysler Dr. Turn slight left onto Jefferson Ave E and arrive in East Riverfront.
Photos:
Indian Village Home
Harbortown Entrance
Detroit Yacht Club
Garden Court Apartments
Carillon Tower on Belle Isle
Harbortown Market
Chene Park
All Photographs Copyright Dave Krieger