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| Evan Cunningham |
(248) 644-6700 |
(248) 219-6325 |
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A little bit of Art Deco has returned to Dearborn's east downtown now that the façade of the Midway Theater has been restored.
Work crews are done with the project for the season and only have a finishing touch or two to put on the converted cinema at 4915 Schaefer Road.
"We're going to put some sealer on it later when it gets warmer," says Mustapha Hannawi, the designer and contractor on the restoration.
Local businessman Ahmed Chebbani owns the historic Midway Theater and is restoring its exterior to its original 1936 appearance. The $75,000 project repaired or replaced most of the original stonework.
The 2-story building's interior is completely different. The structure ceased to be a movie theater in the mid 1970s, becoming an office building. Today the 18,000-square-foot building has offices on the second floor and a family entertainment center is planned for the first floor.
Source: Mustapha Hannawi, the designer and contractor on the Midway Theater façade restoration
Writer: Jon Zemke
Construction is wrapping up on a couple of key projects in downtown Ypsilanti.
Excerpt:
The finishing touches are being put on two major projects in downtown Ypsilanti, both of which are set to open soon - almost in time to ring in the New Year.
Maurer Management & Properties, a local family owned firm, has done all of the heaving lifting for Ann Arbor SPARK's new East Incubator and the retail space in the old Kresge building. The workers are painting the walls and getting ready to roll down the carpeting for SPARK in the Mack & Mack building. They are also moving in the last pieces of the kitchen for the J Neil’s Mongolian Grille and Keystone Martini Bar in the Kresge.
"We're in the last two weeks of it," says Eric Maurer, co-owner of Maurer Management & Properties. "They should be in by January."
Read the rest of the story here.
The Lincoln Park Preservation Alliance is going beyond meetings, petitions and fliers to save buildings in its downriver downtown. The group has launched a video on YouTube to call attention to historic buildings in need of redevelopment. (video below)
Martin Roberts of Eye of Ra Productions created the video highlighting historic structures along downtown's Fort Street corridor in danger of being swept into history's dustbin.
Among the featured buildings is the Park Theatre, designed and built in 1925 by C. Howard Crane of Fox Theatre fame. Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency plans to raze it and replace it with a mixed-use development.
Other historic structures include the Mellus Newspapers Building, the northwest block of Fort Street from Southfield Road to Arlington and the National City Bank Building. The alliance is working to preserve all of these historic buildings but local officials or developers have other ideas for that land that mostly means bulldozing the historic structures.
For information on these preservation efforts, contact Leslie Lynch-Wilson at lalynch@wideopenwest.com or (313) 598-3137.
Source: Leslie Lynch-Wilson, president of the Lincoln Park Preservation Alliance
Writer: Jon Zemke
The District Lofts in Birmingham are filling up fast now that the development in the city's emerging Rail District has gone rental.
All of the project's available units, nearly one third of them, are currently
leased. The next third set of units will come online in January and the rest are expected to be finished in March.
"The leasing is going quite well," says J.C. Cataldo, developer of The District Lofts.
The development originally started out as for-sale units with a starting price of $400,000. The tough real-estate market and even worse credit market made it nearly impossible to complete the sale of some of the units.
That prompted Cataldo to make the switch to rentals, following other prominent luxury developments like The Fifth Royal Oak and New Street Lofts in Mt. Clemens. Urbane Apartment's redevelopment rentals in downtowns are going fast, too.
The District Lofts appear to be following suit. Rents in the 24-unit development start at $2,700 a month for a 1,550-square-foot loft. That includes all of the utilities and an underground parking space. They go as high as $3,400 a month for just under 2,000 square feet.
The development consists of a 4-story, mixed-use building where the homes are located above ground floor retail space and an underground heated parking garage. They are a few blocks east of downtown Birmingham on South Eaton Street.
The old industrial corridor is dotted with old factory buildings that are being converted to lofts and businesses as the city redevelops the neighborhood. A stop for a northern extension of the Detroit-Ann Arbor commuter rail line is also planed for the area.
For information, call (248) 593-6000.
Source: J.C. Cataldo, developer of The District Lofts
Writer: Jon Zemke
The first residents moved into the latest offering from Urbane Apartments – Urbane on Farnum.
Construction recently finished on the 16-unit building in Royal Oak. The 1960s-era apartment building is located on the corner of Farnum and Washington streets. It is across the street from Royal Oak's old Dondero High School and a few blocks north of downtown.
The building had fallen into disrepair before Urbane invested $400,000 into restoration. Now it features a mix of large studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments. They include a number of modern amenities, such as brand new bamboo floors, recycled carpet, efficient water fixtures, granite bar tops, black appliances, glass French doors, dual shower heads and high-speed wireless Internet.
Urbane owns 15 apartment buildings in southeast Oakland County. These buildings are near vibrant downtowns, such as Royal Oak, Ferndale, Clawson, Berkely and Birmingham.
For information on Urbane Apartments offerings, call (248) 988-7125.
Source: Eric Brown, co-founder of Urbane Apartments
Writer: Jon Zemke
What was once old is now new again in Troy. The city recently took possession of historic Stone School and plans to preserve the century and a half old building.
The school, still gracing the same corner of Adams Road and South Boulevard in northwest Troy, just celebrated its 150th anniversary last year. City leaders believe the historic structure will serve as a gateway to the communities that border Troy – Auburn Hills, Rochester Hills and Bloomfield Township.
Originally dubbed Fractional School District 10, it educated kids from what is now Troy, Rochester Hilles, Bloomfield, Auburn Hills and Pontiac. Things changed when school districts were consolidated in 1933. The building then served as a private and rental home. An addition doubling of the building's square footage to 1,600 was built in 1950.
Charles and Greta DeGrioia lived in the house until this year when they willed it to the city. There is now a carriage house and garage there, but also an original wishing well and stone outhouse. The city plans to keep it where it is because its 20-inch thick stone walls make a move cost prohibitive. For now the Troy Museum is managing the school, figuring out what needs to be fixed, restored and improved.
"There are all kinds of questions we need to answer," says Loraine Campbell, manager for the Troy Museum.
She points out that despite the tough economy, Troy is committed to preserving its historical sites. Although it’s not the oldest building in the city, it's a unique part of its past that plays a significant role in what makes Troy, Troy.
"I think our country and the Detroit area is realizing we shouldn't be bulldozing our past," Campbell says.
Source: Loraine Campbell, manager for the Troy Museum
Writer: Jon Zemke
Downtown Ferndale is about to become a little more dense now that Lofts on the 9 will be welcoming its first new residents this month.
Construction is set to wrap up within the next few days and the residents are set to move in shortly after that. Lofts on the 9 is on East 9 Mile Road just east of Como's Restaurant and across the street from the Ferndale Public Library.
Most of the ground floor retail space is spoken for by a couple of businesses, including a Yoga studio. The businesses are expected to move in early next year.
The 4-story structure features units that are priced from $149,000 to the mid $400,000s. They range in size between 500 and 2,100 square feet, however, the 2,100-square-foot loft can be expanded up to 2,700 square feet by adding a rooftop deck. Each unit comes with a parking spot underneath the building.
The group of developers behind the Lofts on the 9 project also built the Troy, Main and Center street lofts developments in downtown Royal Oak.
For information, call Crystal Marsh at (248) 535-4908.
Source: Crystal Marsh, spokesman for Lofts on the 9.
Writer: Jon Zemke
DTE Energy's has completed $52 million in campus improvements, spurred, in large part, by the construction of the MGM Casino complex.
Excerpt:
It all got started in 2005, when the construction of the casino parking garage on Third Street took care of employee parking needs -- which then created an opportunity for green space. Acres of unsightly surface parking lots were traded for nine acres of pathways, parks and water features. A striking new main entrance and lobby was also added, as well as conference space and a central main-floor dining area.
The southwest quadrant of the campus at the corner of Bagley and Third is open to the public and will serve as the main visitors' entrance. Here, water flows from three arches that frame the main driveway into an intricate 26,000-square-foot reflecting pond. The water feature will be retired in cold months, but the striped rock bed will continue to add visual interest.
Read the entire article here.
It seems like there is always some sort of major construction project on the University of Michigan's Ann Arbor campus. A quick look at the college town's skyline reveals the ever-present view of sky cranes.
Construction may just see a boom as tonight the University's Board of Regents consider approving seven new projects worth $45 million.
The projects under consideration are: - $4.8 million for a 10,000-square-foot expansion of the Engineering School's Engineering Program Building on North Campus.
- $20 million for an expansion of the Museum of Zoology and relocation of most of its "wet" collection to the University Stores building.
- $4 million to renovate and retrofit the guest rooms the Business Administration Executive Dormitory.
- $5.3 million to create a ultra-low vibration research laboratory in the basement level of the Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Building.
- $2 million to $2.8 million to create soccer fields on 12.5 acres next to the Varsity Tennis Center.
- $4.2 million to renovate 6,400 square feet of General Clinical Research Center at the U-M Hospital into the Cardiovascular Center.
- $4.5 million to renovate another 1,700 square feet of U-M Hospital to make room for new positron emission tomography/computed tomography scanners.
Most of these projects are set to begin early next year and finish toward the later end of 2009.
Source: University of Michigan
Writer: Jon Zemke
Tiger Stadium isn't just hanging on anymore. A major part of the historic structure is well on its way to becoming something quite special.
Excerpt:
Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy progress report: The $4 million federal earmark, key to preserving what's left of Tiger Stadium, is in the U.S. Senate's Budget Committee. Thom Linn, president of the Conservancy, puts the earmark's chances of passage at "extremely likely" and expects that to happen early next year.
The Conservancy just finished making a presentation to the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation Monday that covered its design and feasibility plans. A financial feasibility presentation to the DEGC is scheduled for March. Linn expects the Conservancy to close on the field in the summer, start construction shortly thereafter and finish the project about 18 months later sometime in 2011.
"This is a historic opportunity for Detroit and the region," Linn says. "If we're successful this will be the only pre-World War II baseball stadium that has been preserved."
Read the rest of the story here.
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