New Center Visiting Guide

Here's Model D's guide to visiting New Center. Also check out our guides to moving to and investing in New Center.

There is one obvious reason to visit New Center: its stunning architecture. Walking among its gleaming towers can be as peaceful and uplifting as a walk through a quiet forest. The Fisher Building alone exudes enough beauty to make the neighborhood a special place, but New Center is also home to Cadillac Place, the St. Regis Hotel, the Albert Kahn Building, historic houses and apartment buildings, and notable industrial complexes. What may not be so obvious is that New Center is a neighborhood that delivers the entire package: shopping options, historical and cultural amenities, and happening nightlife. Explore its streets and find yourself dazzled.

Uptown shopping

Detroiters — especially the ladies — bemoaning their lack of shopping options need to head directly to New Center. The neighborhood is home to the largest independent women’s clothing store in Detroit as well as a myriad of independent boutiques.

Any local fashionista worth her salt will be delighted by the pieces to be discovered at the Biz-R Collection, a 15,000 square foot specialty store located in the New Center One building. From shoes to hats to coats to dresses to stockings to separates, owner Jeff Axt says Biz-R offers “fashionable clothes at every price point.” Here, shoppers can satisfy their urges with either an impulse buy of a trendy purse or a calculated purchase of a classic business suit. Or maybe both.

If you’re not already loaded down with shopping bags, it’s time to head across the Skywalk to the fabulous Fisher Building, where the ground floor has numerous inviting and unique boutiques. If Biz-R handles the task of completing a lady’s outerwear, Vera Jane ensures that her under-layer is similarly stylish. The shop offers up a selection of fine undergarments so delicate and beautiful that Victoria’s real secret is her jealousy. Purses, coats, hats, gloves, umbrellas and CDs featuring female recording artists round out the Vera Jane mix.

The Fisher Building also has a shop that will make the guys happy. Pure Detroit stocks locally-inspired and locally-designed clothing for each gender as well as Detroit-themed books, artwork, cards and journals, specialty foods and lots of other fun stuff great for gift-giving — and even better to keep for yourself. Pure Detroit’s mezzanine is also home to Pure D Vinyl, which stocks locally-produced 12-inch singles, LPs and CDs of all genres.

Other shops inside the Fisher Building worth a visit include The Fashion Place for women’s clothing and accessories, Facets of Todd Michael for jewelry, City Knits for yarn and buttons, The Poster Gallery for posters, other artwork, and framing services, and the Detroit Gallery of Contemporary Arts for well-crafted one-of-a-kind decorative objects, clothing, jewelry and furniture. Just a block west at Third Avenue is Dittrich Furs, which has been in business since 1893. The shop, owned by the same family for five generations, specializes in high fashion furs, shearlings and fur-trimmed leathers for women and men.

Culture and history

Just looking at its architecture tells you that New Center has some kind of major back-story. Envisioned by the Fisher brothers as Detroit’s “new center,” many of Detroit’s most influential citizens, such as W. C. Durant, Albert Kahn, and Henry Ford had their hands in building New Center into a neighborhood of un-matched standing. As is befitting this legacy, to this day New Center visitors can find a rich variety of cultural and historical amenities.

Stop in the name of love and make Hitsville USA, the Motown Historical Museum, your first stop. The most jaded Detroiter will melt as he or she stands in the same Studio A where some of the world’s best-loved songs were recorded. Remember "My Girl," "You Can't Hurry Love," "The Tracks of My Tears" and "Dancing in the Streets?" All had their origin in the wood-frame house at 2648 W. Grand Boulevard.

You know you’ve found the Detroit Children’s Museum when you see the big giraffe on the front lawn. Located on Second Avenue, the museum’s nine galleries explore the sciences, history, world cultures and the arts. The museum always has some type of workshop, program, or special event planned that will delight children of all ages.

Interested in automotive history? Immerse yourself in the industry’s beginnings by visiting The Model T Automotive Heritage Complex, or T-Plex, located on Piquette Street. The factory was the original production home of the Model T and, perhaps even more importantly, where Henry Ford began to experiment with the concept of an assembly line.

The Tangent Gallery over on E. Milwaukee Street hosts regular art openings and shows work from both well-established and newly-emerging artists. Tangent’s building is shared with the Hastings Street Ballroom, a performance space that has staged everything from burlesque shows to a minimalist production of the Wizard of Oz. Mosaic Youth Theatre’s home base inside the University Preparatory Academy High School on Antoinette Street is a great place to catch a performance from Detroit’s most praised youth ensemble.

Perhaps the crown jewel of New Center’s rich cultural offerings is the grande dame herself, the Fisher Theatre. One of Detroit’s premier performance venues, the Fisher is the stage-of-choice for touring national acts such as Rent, Les Miserables, Fiddler on the Roof, and, more recently, Proof and Copenhagen.

An evening spent at the Fisher would not be complete without a New Center fine dining experience. Many theatergoers choose Cuisine, located just across the street on Lothrup Street within a restored 1920’s home. This highly regarded restaurant — the Detroit Free Press picked Cuisine as its top restaurant in 2002 and it earned a spot in Zagat's prestigious international dining guide two years later — serves up classic French cooking with a twist. Or, make your reservations early for Grand City Grille, one of Detroit’s newest spots for fine dining. Located within the Fisher Building itself, the imaginative American menu and classic décor is already earning the Grille rave reviews.

Raising the bar

Culture, schmulture. Sometimes nothing’s better than just heading out for a few drinks with some friends. New Center is definitely a neighborhood that can keep even the most serious partier busy for at least one evening.

Perhaps the best spot to get a full taste of the New Center evening flavor is Northern Lights Lounge, located on W. Baltimore Street. The Lights is consistently packed with such a range of young urban professionals and artists, rockers and rappers, Levis and suits, it’s a wonder it doesn’t cause the planets to realign. Great music fills the bar every night, the drinks are stiff, and the bathrooms are so nice as to elicit conversation. The Lights has a vibe that's rare: it's both a place people go to be seen and a place they go to sink into a cozy chair and be comfortable. And the food is way beyond standard bar fare.

The Apex Bar on Oakland Street just north of E. Grand Boulevard is one of Detroit’s best-kept secrets. The meticulous interior belies its gritty past full of soul, jazz and blues. In the ‘50s and 60s, the likes of John Lee Hooker and other gritty blues players played here to packed crowds. These days you’re more likely to hear R&B.

The Woodward Bar and Grill is Detroit’s oldest gay bar, opening its doors in 1951. To this day, its reasonable drink prices, good burgers, lively music and friendly barstaff and clientele make the Woodward a lovely place to go tip back a cocktail or two.

Other New Center bars worth checking out include The Ramp Room on the Lodge Freeway service drive south of W. Grand Blvd., Z’s Villa on Piquette Street and the Clubhouse Tavern in the basement of the Fisher Building. If you have a bit too much fun bar-hopping, you can always grab a room at the St. Regis Hotel.

Annual events

The ultimate New Center experience can be had each Fourth of July Weekend at the Comerica TasteFest, a sprawling summer street festival produced by the New Center Council. Food from dozens of Detroit-area restaurants is the foundation of the TasteFest, but the five-day event has evolved into much more. National and local musical performances on several outdoor stages, local vendors, art exhibits, historical tours, skateboarding exhibitions are all part of the festival atmosphere. Past performers have included bands like Wilco, Electric Six and the New York Dolls; and Detroit Techno legends Carl Craig, Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson and Richie Hawtin. TasteFest, held this year from June 30 to July 4, is one of those things that makes summer Detroit’s favorite season.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is the annual Fourth Street Fair, which takes place the third Saturday of July in the teeny-tiny residential neighborhood at the southwestern tip of New Center. A homespun assortment of art, music, food, and unusual goodies, the Fourth Street Fair is always sure to exceed expectations and defy definition.

Directions to New Center

From the East:
Take I-94 West to Exit 215C toward M-1/Woodward Ave/Brush St. Stay straight to go onto Edsel Ford Fwy East. Turn right onto Woodward and arrive in New Center.

From the North:
Take I-75 South to Exit 54 toward Clay Ave/E Grand Blvd. Stay straight to go onto Chrysler Dr., and then turn right onto Grand Blvd East. Arrive in New Center.

From the West:
Take I-96 East and merge onto I-94 via Exit 190A toward Port Huron. Continue to M-1/Woodward Exit 215C toward John R St. Stay straight to go onto Edsel Ford Fwy East and turn right onto John R St. and right again onto Hendrie St. Turn right onto Woodward and arrive in New Center.

From the South:
Take I-94 East toward Detroit. Continue to M-1/Woodward Exit 215C toward John R St. Stay straight to go onto Edsel Ford Fwy East and turn right onto John R St. and right again onto Hendrie St. Turn right onto Woodward and arrive in New Center.

Take I-75 North toward Detroit and merge onto I-96 West/Jefferies Fwy via Exit 48 on the left toward Lansing. Merge onto I-94 East toward Port Huron. Continue to M-1/Woodward Exit 215C toward John R St. Stay straight to go onto Edsel Ford Fwy East and turn right onto John R St. and right again onto Hendrie St. Turn right onto Woodward and arrive in New Center.

Photos:

Children's Museum

Fisher Building

Pure Detroit at the Fisher Building

Motown Museum

Model T Factory

Fisher Theatre

Cuisine

Apex Bar

Tastefest