Berkley : Development News

Oakland County is trying to make starting a business or taking it to the next level easier for entrepreneurs by offering free, walk-in business counseling.

The One Stop Shop Business Center at the Oakland County Executive Office building, 2100 Pontiac Lake Road, in Waterford will open May 9 and offer regular walk-in hours after that. The hours for May 9 are 9:30-noon and 1:30-4:30. The business center is on the first floor of Building 41W.

“We usually operate on an appointment-only basis but many entrepreneurs walk into our One Stop Shop with questions on how to get started with their business idea,” says Greg Doyle, supervisor of the One Stop Shop Business Center. “By designating special walk-in days, we hope to reach more entrepreneurs and help them understand their next steps as well as present the resources we can make available to them. Our aim is to get them started quickly in a way that makes the most sense to their unique situation.”

Counselors at the business center can answer specific questions, suggest planning tools and give direction on where to go to solve problems or achieve goals. All sessions are confidential. The counselors have expertise in business development, community planning, financing and market research.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Greg Doyle, supervisor, One Stop Shop Business Center

The fifth-generation recipe for Holy Cannoli's cream-filled pastries has caught on so much that the downtown Rochester business has opened a second location in Berkley.

The new store is at 2752 Coolidge Highway. The first, which opened about a year ago, is at 415 South Main St. in Rochester. The business has been in the making since at least 2010, when owners Nicole Franey, her mother Cathy Schulte and grandmother Sharon Beheler decided to sell to friends, to their friends' friends, and at festivals and farmers markets, and then make the jump from family service to anonymous consumers.

Franey calls the expansion "an anniversary gift to ouselves."

Holy Cannoli's cannolis come filled with traditional creams and specialties such as key lime, pistachio, Michigan cherry, cookies and cream, and revolving choices. The creams are piped in after customers order.

Holy Cannoli's is also known for baked goods like its cassata cake.

Although it's moved into retail spaces, Holy Cannoli's hasn't abandoned farmer's markets. Every Saturday, Eastern Market shoppers will find Holy Cannoli's at Shed #5 in Eastern Market.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Nicole Franey, co-owner, Holy Cannoli's

As regional transit authority legislation moves through Lansing, plans are going forward to bring rapid transit to the 27-mile stretch of the Woodward Avenue Corridor from Jefferson Avenue in Detroit to downtown Pontiac.

Several meetings will be hosted by the Woodward Avenue Action Association, the Michigan Suburbs Alliance and the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments and are part of an "alternative analysis, the first step in the process of developing a transit system," says Richard Murphy, programs director Michigan Suburbs Alliance.

The meetings, especially the comments from attendees, will be folded in with technical data, cost and other considerations, he says, as decisions about the exact route, the technology to be used, the station locations as well as connections to the M-1 Rail Streetcar project, high speed rail service and Complete Streets are wrapped into an overall plan.

"We’ll be talking about the purpose and need for the project…What is it that we need transit to do on Woodward and laying out the roadmap for the rest of the work. Over the course of 2013, we’ll have
additional meetings around major steps in the process," Murphy says.

Upcoming meetings are:

Thursday, December 6, 5-7 p.m., Baldwin Public Library, 300 West Merrill Street, Birmingham.
Tuesday, December 11, 4-6 p.m., Detroit Palmer Park Police Station, 12th Precinct, 1441 W. Seven Mile Road.
Wednesday, December 12, 6-8 p.m., Ferndale Public Library, 222 E. Nine Mile Road, Ferndale
Saturday, December 15, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Bowen Senior Center, 52 Bagley Street, Pontiac.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Richard Murphy, programs director, Michigan Suburbs Alliance

The goal of the Woodward Sustainability 5 partnership is to brainstorm and plan for development and economic prosperity while being mindful of how to achieve those things with limited resources and without detrimental impacts on the environment and future generations.

The "5" refers to Berkley, Ferndale, Pleasant Ridge, Royal Oak and Huntington Woods, all cities with Woodward as a common thoroughfare, and is an initiative of the Oakland County Planning & Economic Development department. The partnership is hosting public meetings, one tonight, Oct. 11, from 6-8 p.m. at the Pleasant Ridge Community Center.

It is one of several meetings that will culminate in a plan that will outline ways the communities can "work together and leverage resources for a sustainable future," Steve Huber, marketing and communications officer for the department of economic development and community affairs, says in a statement announcing the meeting.

A description of the initiative says, "the partnership seeks to engage a diverse cross-section of the community, including environmental, business, social services, health, and educational institutions. The goal of the group is to develop a plan which will help the communities work together and leverage shared resources for a sustainable future."

The final plan, which is being paid for with a $25,000 of in-kind services from the county and a $50,000 grand from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, should be completed by March 2013.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Steve Huber, marketing and communications officer for Oakland County's Department of Economic Development and Community Affairs.

A national educational architectural firm is expanding its space, its menu, and staff in response to growing demand for the metro Detroit office.

SHW Group broke ground Sept. 4 on a 13,480-square-foot addition to its Berkley office at 2338 Coolidge, nearly doubling the size of the building to 28,680 square feet.

The company, which has offices in Austin, Dallas, Baltimore, Charlottsville, Houston, San Antonio and Washington, D.C., opened in Berkley in 2003 and has doubled its personnel since then, including 16 more jobs in the last six months, says Maggie Turner, a spokesperson.

The job creation has come from high demand from educational institutions and also from new areas the company ventured into: mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering. As the business has grown, so has staff, including a laid-off automotive engineer who's found a new career.

“In a little less than 10 years, we have experienced great growth, making us the second-largest employer in Berkley,” SHW Group CEO Marjorie Simmons says. “This addition will allow us to continue to provide our clients with the same quality of service and specialized expertise they have come to expect from SHW Group.”

SHW's new office, which is expected to be completed in February, will be built with conservation and environmental protection in mind and according to a plan that meets the standards for silver LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Source: Maggie Turner, Sunwest Communications, spokesperson for SHW Group
Writer: Kim North Shine

Rebecca Bayes has brought together her two passions into one business in downtown Berkley.

It's an unlikely pairing, but Bayes, a longtime financial consultant and yoga practitioner, believes mixing the two fields and helping her financial consultants get in touch with their emotional, spiritual, and physical sides is the next frontier in finance.

She's exploring it through her newly opened Shanti Yoga on Coolidge between Catalpa and 12 Mile roads.

"It's my fantasy," she says. "It's amazing to see it come together."

Shanti, which means peace, opened July 2 in a 1,300-square-foot renovated building that now has offices, meeting rooms, and yoga studio in one.

Bayes, who was a longtime financial consultant for Comerica Bank before going out on her own two years ago, already plans to expand to physical therapy and reiki.

Source: Rebecca Bayes, owner, Shanti Yoga
Writer: Kim North Shine

It's the hottest - maybe most mouth-watering - restaurant news in metro Detroit at the moment: the rebirth and transformation of the iconic Vinsetta Garage on Woodward in Berkley.

The brown paper covering the windows of the old station is staying on for now, but the kitchen will start turning out its creatively souped-up comfort foods at 4 p.m. today, June 1, owner Curt Catallo says. It's good prep for expanding to lunch service in a couple of weeks, he says.

Vinsetta Garage, a gas and service station that closed in 2009 but remains an architectural treasure, will go by the same name but turn out award-winning, burgers, mac & cheese and other dishes that can be described as home cooking meets every man's gourmet.

"We'll leave the paper on the windows and the sign off for a few days, so we can get our sea legs (so to speak)," Catallo writes in an email to metromode.

It's the latest venture from the people who brought metro Detroit the restaurant of the year in 2011, the Clarkston Union Bar & Kitchen, and Union Woodshop, which it calls a big-time small-town barbecue joint, also in Clarkston.

With Vinsetta Garage's opening and plans to turn a fire hall in Fenton into another restaurant - it's awaiting the OK of city officials there - the owners are on the verge of creating a mini-restaurant empire that, according to food critics, is taking metro Detroit - and Michigan's - restaurant options up more than a notch.

It's not only good food news, to many, but a sign of economic promise as a team of "70 or so very passionate individuals" will staff Vinsetta, including at least four full-time jobs.  More hirings are happening now to cover the lunch service, he says.

While Vinsetta is eating up the attention at the moment, the Clarkston Union and Union Woodshop, Food Network favorites, are used to being under the heat lamp. A recent episode was filmed with Kid Rock and host Food Network host Guy Fieri.

According to Facebook and a June 1 story in Crain's Detroit Business, the restaurant opening has been much anticipated and private events leading up to opening day are creating suspense.

"Been waiting for so long. Happy to hear it's almost time," says one post. "I'm only in town until Monday morning. Hook me up!" pleads another.

The food, the work of chef Aaron Cozadd, may be the highlight, but the interior design and decor, both the work of Catallo's wife Ann Stevenson, and renovation decisions such as converting the old gas pumps out front into electric car chargers is sure to lead to table talk.

"As groovy as it was to work through the preservation," Catallo writes. "We're ready to start running the joint and bringing people back to the garage once again."

Source: Curt Catallo, owner Vinsetta Garage and Facebook pages of Vinsetta Garage and Clarkston Union Bar & Kitchen
Writer: Kim North Shine

An effort to further study and coordinate mass transit options for the Woodward Avenue corridor from Detroit to Birmingham has expanded to include all of Woodward from the Detroit River to Pontiac.

Originally, the four-month-old group effort that includes the Oakland County Woodward-area suburbs of Ferndale, Pleasant Ridge, Huntington Woods, Royal Oak, Berkley and Birmingham focused on extending a mass transit line that would end at Woodward and 8 Mile to Birmingham. But a $2 million federal transportation grant, a change in design of the Woodward light rail line in Detroit, as well as a push by state and federal officials to create a truly regional rapid mass transit system for southeast Michigan broadened the focus area to include the entire 27-mile stretch of Woodward.

The Michigan Suburbs Alliance, the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments and the Woodward Avenue Action Association are working with the original steering committee and inviting all other communities along the route to join in. There will also be opportunity for public input as the planning process moves along.

The grant comes from the Federal Transportation Administration and pays for what's known as an Alternative Analysis, a required part of any mass transit development. It comes after the state legislature passed a bill to create an RTA, a Regional Transportation Authority that would cover Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, and Washtenaw counties and coordinate local bus systems and oversee creation of a rapid transit network. SEMCOG will manage the grant and work to ensure that any plans to come out of the broader effort coordinate with all other work underway in the region.

The larger focus comes as mass transit planners and proponents in Detroit have changed plans for a Woodward light rail line to a downtown circulator system.

Heather Carmona, executive director of the Woodward Avenue Action Association, says the effort goes beyond transit. “We’re working with the cities to make Woodward work for everyone who travels along it, and at connecting all transportation modes to economic development opportunities.”

Richard Murphy, transportation director at the Michigan Suburbs Alliance, says in a statement announcing the new, broader approach: “Detroit and the Oakland County suburbs recognize that better transit on Woodward will spur economic development both north and south of Eight Mile—but they need a regional transit authority to build and run the system. Governor (Rick) Snyder has proposed that the RTA work towards a rapid transit network including Woodward Avenue, and this alternatives analysis will let them move quickly towards that goal."

Source: Carmine Palombo, director of transportation planning, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments and Lori Elia Miller, marketing and communications manager, Woodward Avenue Action Association
Writer: Kim North Shine

Five southern Oakland County communities that share Woodward Avenue as their connector are partnering on a project to research how they might work together as one to save money, share services and care for the environment, among other goals.

Berkley, Ferndale, Pleasant Ridge, Royal Oak and Huntington Woods are participating in the collaboration with Oakland County called the South Oakland Multi-Community Sustainability Partnership.

"I applaud these Woodward 5 communities for undertaking this partnership," Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson says in a statement. "With limited economic resources at our disposal, it is more important than ever that communities find innovative ways to collaborate."

Community groups, environmental groups, businesses, social service providers, health and educational institutions will be involved in the partnership as members work to identify meaningful changes to be made by the cities as a whole.

The goal is to devise a plan to work together and leverage shared resources for a sustainable future. Sustainability refers to the ability of communities to thrive without diminishing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Oakland County Planning & Economic Development Services will provide $25,000 of in-kind services to match a $50,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

This is the second collaboration of its kind for the county, says Bret Rasegan, planning supervisor for Oakland County.

The cities of Rochester Hills, Auburn Hills, and Rochester make up the Tri-City Sustainability Partnership, which formed in January 2011 and may influence the latest partnership.

It has already identified potential changes, Rasegan says, and is working on designing ways to measure success. He says the five-city partnership became a part of the program because of its history of collaboration.

Source: Bret Rasegan, planning supervisor, Oakland County
Writer: Kim North Shine

The word downtown was tossed around a lot in 2011. Everybody has one or is working on creating one as they pursue the newfound love of things urban. Downtown Development Authorities, Chambers of Commerce, Main Street programs had Main Streets - and their equivalents - throughout metro Detroit putting money into makeovers and facelifts in 2011 as city leaders saw promise in creating places that preserve history, have varied businesses and invite walking, biking, strolling.

The changes were big and small. Together should convey: You want to come here. Decorative, energy-efficient street lights, attractive, theme-appropriate benches, trash-receptacles, pedestrian-safe sidewalks and crosswalks, art installations, benches, historic preservation projects, special events, facade grants, kiosks to direct visitors, even phone apps to get them around town - all wrapped in business recruitment and PR.

Cities with the most real downtowns: Rochester, Ferndale, Royal Oak, Mount Clemens, Dearborn, Plymouth, Northville. The up-and-comers: Auburn Hills, Clarkston, Berkley, Novi, Wyandotte.

Downtown Rochester $1 million streetscape re-do is on
http://www.metromodemedia.com/devnews/0818rochesterredo0221.aspx

Downtown Lake Orion gets $2 million streetscape, new microbrewery
http://www.metromodemedia.com/devnews/0922lakeorion0225.aspx

Mount Clemens invests more than $250K in way-finding signs
http://www.metromodemedia.com/devnews/0915wayfinders0224.aspx

Wyandotte DDA's business improvement grants paying off
http://www.metromodemedia.com/devnews/0526plymouthnightlife0211.aspx

Nightlife builds in downtown Plymouth
http://www.metromodemedia.com/devnews/0526plymouthnightlife0211.aspx

Ice rink cometh to Auburn Hills heating up plans for downtown
http://www.metromodemedia.com/devnews/icerink0192.aspx

Graduate housing, downtown parking and retail complex coming to Auburn Hills
http://www.metromodemedia.com/devnews/1201ahhousing0234.aspx

Main Street Oakland recognizes top downtown projects
http://www.metromodemedia.com/devnews/0310mainstreetoakawards0200.aspx


By Kim North Shine

Streets for everyone. The Michigan Complete Streets initiative gained momentum in 2011 in metro Detroit and around the state as cities enacted changes or made plans to design roads and sidewalks that take pedestrians, cyclists and drivers into account. The Michigan's Complete Streets movement got props for being a role model nationwide. Separately from Complete Streets, cities and various nonprofits worked on the same goal: streets that accommodate all. It's been a process playing out for a few years now so expect to see more bike lanes, new style crosswalks and other changes coming to a town near you.

Michigan is national leaders in street design that serves cars, bikes and pedestrians
http://www.metromodemedia.com/devnews/0317micompletestreets0201.aspx

Streetscape grants from Royal Oak's WA3 help unify Woodward Corridor
http://www.metromodemedia.com/devnews/woodwardcorrgrants0194.aspx

Royal Oak's non-motorized transportation plan is out for public feedback
http://www.metromodemedia.com/devnews/1110royaloakwalkride0232.aspx

Walkers, cyclists may like changes coming to Grosse Pointe, Dearborn
http://www.metromodemedia.com/devnews/0901fedtransgrants0223.aspx

By Kim North Shine

Another book-loving entrepreneur has opened a bookstore to fill the void left by Borders' bankruptcy.

Vic Wooddell brought The Berkley Book Corner to downtown Berkley about three weeks ago and says he gets thanks on a regular basis from former Borders customers.

"Everybody comes in and says how sad they are that Borders closed and they're happy to see I'm here," he says. Berkley residents had two Borders within three miles of downtown. Wooddell likes to let them know that he picked up his bookshelves from Border's liquidation.

Opening a bookstore "was an idea we had been tossing around for awhile."

When he was laid off from over the summer his job as a business professor at Wayne State University due to state budget cuts, the idea heated up. And once Borders closed, "it was the perfect time," he says.

The Berkley Book Corner sells new and gently used books, and offers a children's area and lounge for adults.

"It's going very well. We've had a good couple of week. Of course it's the Christmas purchasing season, but we're getting a lot of positive feedback that people are happy we're here," he says.

Other entrepreneurs in Mount Clemens, Royal Oak and other metro Detroit cities felt the same and have opened their own independent bookstores.

The Berkley Book Corner fills in a vacant spot previously occupied by a PO Box store, bringing the sort of traffic that makes downtown a place to stroll and lounge.

"A lot of my customers are walk-in because they go to the bakery nearby…or they get a coffee," he says. "We fit in with that."

Source: Vic Wooddell, owner, The Berkley Book Corner
Writer: Kim North Shine

If the numbers paint an accurate picture, development of mass transportation in Michigan is picking up steam.

A series of announcements this week look promising for light rail and other transportation options for Southeast Michigan. Earlier this week, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced $46.7 million in funding for 16 projects across the state, several in Detroit and surrounding suburbs.

Besides about $7 million for the city of Detroit to replace buses and make other improvements, metro Detroit will see $2 million in funding for the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, which will study transportation alternatives between 8 Mile and 15 Mile Roads.

Part of that research will focus on connecting to a light rail line to run along Woodward Avenue in Detroit, starting in downtown and ending at 8 Mile. That project got $25 million in federal funding last year and a promise of continued support from LaHood this week, who is also encouraging local officials in southeast Michigan to look at a regional approach to the light rail line.

The latest funding comes as a regional transportation task force headed by Detroit Mayor Dave Bing has formed so that counties in Southeast Michigan will look at transportation advancements and opportunities as a united entity, rather than completing projects piecemeal.

And if there is question as to the interest from the public in mass transportation such as trains, record ridership numbers on Amtrak show there is. According to the Michigan Department of Transportation, which released the ridership numbers this week, there has been an increase on its three lines for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.

Ridership of the the Wolverine line, which runs between Pontiac and Chicago, increased by 4.9 percent from last year for a total of 503,290 riders. The increase might have been larger but for track work and freight slowdowns, according to the Michigan Department of Transportation.

The Blue Water line from Port Huron to Chicago increased 18.6 percent, up to 187,065 passengers, and the Pere Marquette route between Grand Rapids and Chicago saw a a gain of 4.7 percent, with 106,662 passengers.

In addition, SMART, the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation, will receive nearly $5 million to replace unusable buses with hybrid biodiesel/electric models.

Tie in the decision in recent weeks by the state of Michigan to take on the Amtrak corridor between Dearborn and Kalamazoo and upgrade to 100-mph-plus high speed rail, and Michigan's mass transit improvements appear to be picking up steam.

There are two important lessons in all of this," says Megan Owens, director of Transportation Riders United, an advocacy group for mass transit.

"One is there is a huge interest and demand for better transit in our community. Whether you're talking city, suburb, business communities, individuals, politicians, there's a huge interest in having better public transportation," Owens says. "While it's great the feds are supportive, the other side of the story is we are dramatically under-investing in a system."

"We are so lucky to have incredible federal support. They've highlighted Michigan and Detroit as a special focus, but they can only do so much. We have to step up ourselves."

Owens shares her thoughts while attending a conference in Washington, D.C. this week on transit-oriented development. In other states, she says, tens of thousands of jobs have been created and billions of dollars invested in light rail, public transportation and in communities along the routes, with success achieved only after committing sales tax or other funding sources to their projects.

She also points out that for all the talk of high speed trains and light rail, buses, the backbone of a transportation system, can't be forgotten. The latest federal dollars do go toward improving DDOT and SMART buses, but again, she says, the commitment locally needs to be greater.

"It's absolutely fabulous we're seeing big investment in this area, but we have to not only maintain but improve the core services."

Source: Michigan Department of Transportation and Megan Owens, director of Transportation Riders United.
Writer: Kim North Shine

Southern Oakland County communities are contributing to a study that will look into what it will take to embark on transit-oriented development along Woodward Avenue.

The major thoroughfare ties the communities together and would be an obvious extension of a light rail line that is expected to be constructed along Woodward from downtown Detroit to 8 Mile Road.

The study was commissioned by the Transform Woodward group convened by the nonprofit Woodward Avenue Action Association, or WA3, and will identify land use and zoning and master plan changes needed to support transit oriented development along the South Oakland County portion of Woodward.
 
Royal Oak based LSL Planning Inc. will complete the study.

The Transform Woodward Task Force is made up of elected officials, employers and institutional partners from Berkley, Birmingham, Ferndale, Huntington Woods and Royal Oak.

In announcing the plans to initiate a "transit-oriented development framework," WA3 says the creation of "improved public transit that includes a rapid transit service along the Woodward corridor, including governance, and funding through a regional transit authority, is a significant step toward a larger system that will support the development of jobs and business investments throughout the region, linking Oakland County."

Jana Ecker, chair of the task force and city of Birmingham planning director, says in a statement announcing the consultant's hiring, "We look forward to working with them as we complete the initial data gathering phases and begin to broaden our engagement with the communities along this historic All-American Road."

The task force and LSL Planning will outline existing conditions, transportation patterns, and needs and goals of each community as well as the Southern Oakland County region while building broad support and attempting to ensure that each city's unique character is preserved.

Source: Lori Ella Miller, spokesperson, Woodward Avenue Action Association
Writer: Kim North Shine

Woodward Avenue in Berkley and Royal Oak is in the process of changes that should make one heavy pedestrian spot a less challenging one to walk safely.

The Michigan Department of Transportation is spending $400,000 to improve Woodward Avenue and 12 Mile Road. While safety is MDOT's main concern, the changes could also make the intersection even more inviting to pedestrians who frequent the dozens of businesses along the stretch.

The construction, which will primarily affect the median and Michigan left turn lanes, started this week and could finish in time for the Woodward Dream Cruise, which runs Aug. 17-22, and attracts thousands of collector car owners and spectators to this part of Woodward. If incomplete by then, it should be done by Labor Day, says MDOT spokesman Rob Morosi.

Some of the conditions at the pedestrian-heavy area along this wide swath of road traveled by speeding cars, "raised red flags," Morosi says.

The existing median will be widened so there's a safe place to wait while crossing the wide road. Left turn lanes will be shortened so cars can't go so fast next to the median. Stamped concrete at the crossings will make crossing locations clearer to pedestrians and drivers, and new crossing signals will have the added feature of a countdown clock to make it clear if there's enough time to make it across the road. Additionally, sidewalk ramps will be improved.

Source: Rob Morosi, spokesman Michigan Department of Transportation
Writer: Kim North Shine