Downtown Detroit : Buzz

A segment of Monday's KCRW's To The Point newsmagazine used the current negotiations between the Big Three and the UAW to begin a larger discussion on Detroit's architecture and urbanism. Andrew Zago is the owner of Zago Architecture, which has offices in Detroit and Los Angeles (notable works include MOCAD.) He says the auto industry and union's struggles play out in the city's physical condition (no surprise) and architectural history. The future, he says, lies in attracting projects that command a larger scale of urbanism than a single storefront could produce; while avoiding the massive RenCen types of projects that corrupt the city's character.

Excerpt:

"There is this incredible sort of grassroots creativity. But somehow, it never kind of brings about ... it never can cohere into significant urbanism, and the top-down models tend to be too sterile. I think what Detroit really needs and where its future is, is to find a kind of middle ground. Projects that are real and true to Detroit, warts and all; but at the same time, can rise above the most minute scale of grassroots efforts -- and I think we're starting to see some of that."

Listen to the program here (Zago speaks at minute 42).

Who better to design a clue-laden scavenger hunt through the streets of downtown than the CBD's foremost tour guides at Inside Detroit?

A new fundraiser for the city's welcoming team asks Detroiters to park their cars and hit the pavement for an Amazing Race-style contest testing denizens on their knowledge of local history, businesses, culture. Teams of 4 have two hours to master a 50-clue scavenger hunt -- and possibly win a $500 bundle of gift certificates and prizes. The $120 team registration benefits the nonprofit Inside Detroit and downtown's Welcome Center. It all begins at 3 p.m. Oct. 1, with an afterparty at Hard Rock Cafe at 5 p.m.

Register your crew at Inside Detroit's website.

Winged horses, Athenian temples, and color, color everywhere -- those were the trademarks of muralist Nick Kastrantas, whose paintings graced dozens of Detroit's Coney Islands and Greek restaurants. He died Aug. 31 at age 91, a World War II paratrooper who landed at D-Day, a multi-linguist equally adept creating fine art or commercial logos. To the metro area's Greek-American community, he was a celebrated figure, says Leo Stassinopoulos, founder of the Leo's Coney Island chain.

Excerpt:

"He was my hero. He told me all these stories in World War II, with the Germans and all. ... I asked him what he was doing now, and he said 'I'm painting,' and that's when I started doing the murals." The first one was in 1983 or '84; it was followed by about 22 others for Leo's alone.

Learn more about Kastrantas here.

10 buildings in greater downtown will receive energy-saving improvement grants from the Economic Development Corporation (EDC) of the City of Detroit, totalling $447,000.

The grants, capped at $100,000, are expected to leverage $5.2 million in additional building investments from property owners and other sources. In the CBD, Broderick Tower, Chase Tower, the Dime Building and the Madison Theatre Building received sizeable grants to help fund energy-efficient HVAC equipment, among other uses.

Detroit's EDC is implementing the SmartBuildings Detroit program by way of a $10 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to encourage energy-saving improvements to optimize real estate values in the greater downtown district.

Find out more here.

Shimmer on the River, the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy's largest fundraising celebration of the year, will celebrate the waterfront promenade's continued development with an elegant dinner and dancing event along the Detroit River.

The fundraiser, which takes place on Thursday, Sept. 8 from 6 to 10 p.m. at the GM Plaza, will honor U.S. Senator Carl Levin for his continued support of the Detroit Riverfront. Guests will enjoy a strolling dinner of Michigan-made products and local favorites, and jazz artists the Les Williams band and One World Island will grace the stage.

"This is an evening for every Detroit Riverfront supporter to come together and not only celebrate what's been accomplished, but to also play a role in its continued transformation and growth," says Detroit Riverfront Conservancy CEO Faye Nelson.

A range of ticket levels, including Young Professional and VIP prices, are available. Visit detroitriverfront.org to purchase tickets and learn more.

A transformation of Capitol Park, a historic neighborhood located on the near west side of Woodward in downtown, could begin by 2011's end.

The City of Detroit is asking for "high-quality, transformative" proposals to renovate three vacant commercial buildings along Griswold. RFP information is available on the DEGC website; proposals are due Oct. 14.

Excerpt:

The city has already remade the streetscape of the small wedge-shaped public park at the center of Capitol Park, so named because it was the site of Michigan's first state capitol building. That work included the relocation of the burial site and monument to Michigan's first governor, Stevens T. Mason, from one portion of the park to another.

More available here.

There's plenty good going on in Detroit right now, summarized in a recent article from the Washington Times. Whole Foods, the Live Midtown housing incentives and recent population growth in young professionals, well-covered, all receive their due. What's new is an interview with Nate Forbes, managing partner of Troy's Somerset Collection, which has opened the CityLoft retail venture in the downtown Woodward corridor. Forbes touts both the city's public-private partnerships and current leaders for creating an atmosphere that supports new businesses and entrepreneurs.

Excerpt:

"Of course Detroit has a lot of geography — it's a large city. There's no telling how long it will take, but you have to start off in small chunks. You have a lot of businesses moving to the area that will spawn other investments — hotels, retail, restaurants. It's one block at a time, but when you go down there now, you feel a renewed energy."

More to read here.

The fifth Detroit Restaurant Week will return from Friday, Sept. 23 to Sunday, Oct. 2, for the fall edition of the city's popular dining promotion, which offers restaurant-goers a prix fixe three-course meal for only $28. 

Quite simply, Detroit is a city of extremes, and its music reflects that. Detroit's importance in the global electronic music scenes is often referred to in the past tense. With the recent emergence of Kyle Hall and other young Detroit producers, however, it's clear that a spark remains. When we visited, we found a number of artists with their eyes (and ears) firmly set towards the future.

The Discovery Channel's new miniseries, Detroit in Overdrive, appearing on Planet Green, digs in deep. While familiar faces like Motor City Denim's Joe Faris and Kid Rock get their due, this vid searches out the "tangible faces behind those big buildings" for the three-part special, which originally aired Aug. 4. That means Maria's Comida, the Sphinx Organization and CCS student and designer Veronika Scott are among the long list of the city's community members and do-gooders sharing the spotlight with Detroit's superstars. We like it.

Excerpt:

The Russell Industrial center functions as a community space for artists, craftspeople, and small businesses. Edith Floyd stands up for what she believes in by building an urban garden where abandoned houses once stood. Last, Kristyn Koth and Malik Muqaribu feed Detroiters in their 1956 Airstream, the Pink Flamingo, bringing fresh organic food to Detroiters in a unique mobile food truck, spearheading a local food movement.

Find out more about Detroit in Overdrive here.

Long before "ruin porn" became a fashionable hobby, artists like our own Scott Hocking risked life and limb (not to mention, arrest) to explore broken-down and abandoned buildings, which became the subjects for his documentary photography and site-specific installations.

Hocking, a 2011 Kresge Award Winner, reveals much in this interview with Sarah Margolis-Pineo, herself a curator at the Cranbrook Art Museum. It's a look within the eye of the artist -- touching on everything from Hocking's passion for abandoned buildings, to his place in Detroit's rich history of D.I.Y creators.

Excerpt:

Everybody, myself included, who has been making artwork in the city hasn't had resources to do anything but making with what you have. Sometimes you're living in squalor and trying to scrape by… The Cass Corridor people got a lot of notoriety, but shit, there were artists in the 1980s living inside the Broderick Tower and Fort Wayne, and had studios in random skyscrapers that were virtually vacant because no one could afford to do anything in there. These artists may have not gotten the same attention, but that lineage is all the same--trying to use the spaces that have been neglected because creative people see potential there.

Read the interview here.

A new initiative by a Detroit Jewish federation hopes to raise $100,000 across the nation -- and use that money to bring 25 young leaders to the city.

The "Live Detroit" fund, administered by CommunityNEXT, will provide $3,000 annual subsidies to 25 young people who agree, in turn, to host monthly events to inspire more area suburbanites to re-explore the D. CommunityNEXT leaders hope the subsidies will be the first step to rebuilding an active Jewish population in the city.

Excerpt:

Like other hyphenated Americans, Jews have left for the suburbs from the inner cities where they first settled when they came to the United States. The city of Detroit has a rich Jewish heritage and was once dotted with a few dozen synagogues. But today, it has only one free-standing congregation left, the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue.

Mazel Tov. Find out more here.

"Young, Broke & Beautiful" -- there's no way a TV show aiming for that demographic could pass up a night in our fair city. This intrepid series from the Independent Film Channel spotlights indie culture and creators across the nation. Their hour-long travelogue on the D makes friends with plenty of our favorite people and places, from the Imagination Station and DJ Kyle Hall to late-night parties and Coneys (natch).

Excerpt:

Stuart will pull the Scion into the most beautiful, broken down parking lot in the world. There's no doubt that all these YBB's will know where the dopest, most off the chain, unsanctioned warehouse party is happening, and Stuart will find himself closing down the night, partying with his people.

IFC will rerun the Detroit episode all week, beginning Tuesday at 6 p.m. Find out more about the channel's tour Detroit here.

The Christian Science Monitor made Detroit the subject of an exhaustive cover story on the struggle between the city's power players -- union heads, city officials, neighborhood leaders, and more -- to create a plan for right-sizing both the city's landscape and services it provides to citizens. This article digs beyond the cliches to provide a balanced look at the varied interests and stakeholders involved in Detroit's immediate plans for renewal, from the Mayor's office to the one-acre urban farm.

Excerpt:

Evidence of that small-town environment is the escalation of urban farms in Detroit that are repurposing empty lots. There are 875 urban farms and community gardens operating throughout the city, a network of which is providing affordable, pesticide-free food at neighborhood farmers' markets, restaurants and retail outlets, according to Detroit Works Project data. Green growth is everywhere – from small tomato plantings in a patch of a corner lot on a residential street to large orchard tracts planned by John Hantz, a local businessman who plans to build "the world's largest urban farm" in Detroit.Read the rest of the story here.

Only in 2008 were the Brewster Homes, located near the junction of I-75 and I-375, formally abandoned. Four of the six towers constructed in 1993 remain, along with several rowhouses and low-rise buildings. The 15-acre site, which straddles Brush Park, Eastern Market and downtown Detroit, are a tough sell -- consider the cost of demolishing the towers, a $3 million price tag and the clearance needed from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to make the sale. Yet Midtown's strong development clip has some local real estate experts speculating about the possible investment potential of the Brewster site.

Excerpt:

But Bieri thinks the site has potential -- good visibility, and proximity to Midtown. "One of the issues in Detroit is trying to acquire sites of size without strings attached, because there are so many issues with regard to quiet title, or redevelopment districts with strings attached," he said. "If the site were actually available with no strings attached, it could be a viable opportunity for developers."

Find out more here.