Development News

Macomb County receives nearly $2 million in grants for wetland restoration

metromode Thursday, June 10, 2010

Macomb County's wetlands will get a boost this fall after the county receives nearly $2 million in grant funding to make environmental improvements.

The county's Planning and Economic Development Dept is in the final stages of approval for two grants. The federal Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act has made $1.5 million available for the restoration of nearly 500 acres of coastal marshland in Harrison Township in and near Metro Beach Metro Park. The EPA is awarding about $150,000 through its Restoring the Lake St. Clair Corridor through the Green Streets Program.

Gerry Santoro, Planning and Economic Development Department senior planner, explains that the coastal marshlands have changed over time because of increased hard surfaces in the watershed from development, which causes soil erosion to happen at a much faster rate, and an aggressive, invasive grassreed plant, phragmite, which is replacing much of the natural bullrush and cattail marshes.

"What the [Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration] grant is for is to restore or to return the natural waterflow in the coastal marshlands near Metro Beach," he explains. "What we're doing is sort of a dual effort, to try and remove the phragmite plants and also to restore the natural waterways closer to what was natural, and to restore those habitats for birds and for fish."

With 1.4 million residents, the Clinton River Watershed is the most populated in the entire Great Lakes region. It is also one of the fastest growing. Part of the restoration initiative is to work with developers to offset any harmful effects on the environment, he says. Also, the economic downturn has allowed local and county governments to take a second look at development patterns and try to make them smarter, which will help with the area's longevity and attractiveness to young people and visitors, he adds.

Santoro explained that the grant actually takes effect late this summer or fall, starting with monitoring, then engineering and investigating actual changes.

The county is also in pursuit of matching funds through other sources, which would bring funding to $1.7 million.

Source: Gerry Santoro, senior planner for the Planning and Economic Development Dept in Macomb County
Writer: Kristin Lukowski

Oakland County Executive Office Building receives Energy Star rating; $4M in savings

metromode Thursday, June 10, 2010

Saving money is nice, but being green and being a leader are also behind the decision of Oakland County's government to invest in energy efficient methods and technology.

Actions such as reducing lighting, adjusting thermostats, and even using moisture sensors to prevent over-watering have earned the Oakland County Executive Office Building, on Pontiac Lake Road in Waterford, an Energy Star rating from the Environmental Protection Agency. Those actions have also reduced energy consumption on the government campus by 10 percent, saving about $4 million.

Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson wants the energy consumption reduced by another 15 percent in the next five years, said Oakland County Director of Facilities Management Art Holdsworth; Patterson issued an OakGreen Challenge to all communities, businesses, and homes in the county to reduce consumption 10 percent by 2012.

"We've been doing things like this ... as a way of doing what we can to get our energy costs down and be more green," Holdsworth says. "All these things, in total, are a significant energy savings."

Years ago when the county bought the building from the Oakland County Intermediate School District, it installed double-paned windows and other energy-efficient technologies during the building renovation, to the tune of several million dollars. So the green efforts aren't really a matter of making back its investment, but doing the right, and smart, thing.

"Oakland County always prides itself on being a leader, and leading by example, especially among local government, and demonstrate to the private sector it can be done," Holdworth says.

The U.S. Dept of Energy's Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program awarded the county $4.8 million in November to use over the next three years for energy-efficient measures, he explains. "With $4.8 million, we're able to do an awful lot of things over the next couple of years," he adds. Planned projects range from replacing old light bulbs to geothermal heat and photovoltaic solar energy panels.

Meanwhile, Oakland County will open its first LEED certified building in 2011 as it begins to construct Michigan's first green airport terminal. The new terminal at Oakland County International Airport in Waterford will feature sustainable options such as wind power generating technology, geothermal heat, and landscaping that uses rain water irrigation. A number of recycled materials will be used in the construction. The terminal will be smaller than the former building but the space will be used more efficiently. It will include airport offices, a U.S. Customs Service office, and a high-tech telecommuting meeting room to reduce travel time and costs.

Source: Art Holdsworth, director of facilities management for Oakland County

Writer: Kristin Lukowski

Downtown Plymouth streetscape project wraps up

metromode Thursday, May 27, 2010

Work is wrapping up on this year's phase of the downtown Plymouth streetscape project late this week.

The Plymouth Downtown Development Authority is spending $2 million to revamp the Wayne County suburb's streetscape, making it more pedestrian friendly and improving its overall aesthetics. The first phase, worth $500,000, of the two-year project rehabbed the intersection of Main Street and Penniman Avenue.

"It's looking great," says Tony Burscato, director of operations for the Plymouth DDA. "We have this new decorative compass and concrete intersection that we think will be quite popular for some time."

Other improvements include a resurfacing of the streets, realignment of new brick crosswalks, LED traffic lights, and countdown crosswalk signals.

Next year, the DDA plans to do the same for the intersection of Penniman and Ann Arbor Trail.

Source: Tony Burscato, director of operations for the Plymouth Downtown Development Authority
Writer: Jon Zemke

Downtown Clawson begins streetscape project

metromode Thursday, May 27, 2010

The new downtown Clawson streetscape will pave the way for a new and improved infrastructure for businesses, pedestrians, and stakeholders in the Oakland County suburb.

Workers are removing old tree stumps and taking down the old cobrahead streetlights at the intersection of Main Street and 14 Mile Road. The $1.2 million project, funded partly with $760,000 in federal cash, will revamp Main between Wolper and Phillips Street and 14 Mile between Washington and Bellevue Street. Work should wrap up by the time the weather starts to turn cold.

"We hope to be planting trees this fall," says Joan Horton, director of the Clawson Downtown Development Authority. "That will be one of the last parts of the project."

Other to-dos include decorative lighting, replacing worn out sidewalks and laying brick pavers, and new landscaping, planters, trees, and bike racks.

This is the first time downtown Clawson's leaders have made improvements to the city's center. A few years ago they put Main on a diet by shrinking the five-lane byway to three lanes. The idea was to create more on-street parking for businesses and to slow traffic to protect pedestrians. Similar plans to put the downtown section of 14 Mile on a diet are also in the works.

Source: Joan Horton, director of the Clawson Downtown Development Authority
Writer: Jon Zemke

Ford Foundation pledges millions for Woodward light rail

metromode Thursday, May 20, 2010

M-1 Rail in Detroit was at the top of the investment list when the Ford Foundation announced it would be injecting $200 million into projects that will promote economic growth across the U.S.

The New York City-based organization plans to invest this money into projects that help both major cities and their suburbs plan for future land-use, enhance transportation, and interweave housing, transportation, and land-use policy. The idea is to help these communities push forward innovative projects that could be used as both economic engines and models for other communities.

The M-1 Rail definitely fits into this category. The three-mile long light rail track on Woodward Avenue between Jefferson Avenue and Grand Boulevard is being privately funded with $125 million from local business interests, foundations, and government agencies. Officials hope to use it as a local match for federal funds to extend the light rail north up Woodward to 8 Mile or even Royal Oak.

The initiative is aiming at communities hardest hit by the fallout of the auto industry crisis. The hope is this money will help local, state, and federal leaders cooperate on and create solutions to revitalize these communities and create jobs as a region.

Other projects mentioned in the Ford Foundation's announcement include redevelopment of the Claiborne corridor in New Orleans and the construction of 25 transit villages along BART in San Francisco's Bay Area. It's also aiming to create regional land banks in the Detroit and Flint areas.

Source: Ford Foundation
Writer: Jon Zemke

Grandpapa's renovates Detroit site, plans to make 125 hires

metromode Thursday, May 20, 2010

Pork rinds aren't normally associated with economic development in Michigan, but they're taking center stage in the latest round of tax abatement deals brokered by the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

Grandpapa's, a manufacturer and distributor of snack products, plans to invest $4.18 million in renovating and expanding his operation on the 5800 block of East 8 Mile Road. That includes purchasing and renovating a 130,000-square-foot facility next to its current operations.

"There is some work than needs to be done, but nothing major," says Michael Robin, president of Grandpapa's. "The building is in great shape."

The 40-year-old business will continue to make pork rinds and popcorn snacks at its current facility. It will transfer its other production work to the new location. The privately held Grandpapa's is also exploring an opportunity to produce fish and poultry food for export to Africa and Asia.

The company currently employs 23 people but plans to hire 73 more in its first year, and up to 125 over the next five years. In return it will receive a five-year $368,000 state tax credit. The city of Detroit is considering a tax abatement of $347,000.

Robin, a lifelong Detroiter, says it was his great working relationship with the city and Wayne County officials that made it attractive to him to expand in Detroit. He also sees it as a way of helping to improve his community.

Source: Michael Robin, president of Grandpapa's
Writer: Jon Zemke

Brownstown Middle School plans green projects

metromode Thursday, May 20, 2010

Brownstown Middle School is going for the green building trifecta by installing a wind turbine, solar panels, and a green roof.

The Woodhaven-Brownstown School District received $670,000 in federal grants to install the three sustainability projects this summer that will help generate clean energy for the school and teach its students about science, biology, and environmental issues. The green roof promises to be the biggest teaching tool.

"They are putting a football field-sized green roof on top of the building," says Andrew Clark, the assistant principal at Brownstown Middle School who is helping organize the project with Ann Arbor-based Energy Works Michigan. "There will be five different types of grass."

Those types will range from resilient vegetation that grows year-round to plants that flourish during the warm months of the year. Next to that will be six solar panels that will generate electricity for the school. Students will monitor and study the power generation.

A 60-foot tall wind turbine will be installed in front of the school. The school's staff will also use it as a teaching tool for students who want to learn about wind energy. Clark says the turbine will create minimal noise that won't impact the surrounding neighborhood.

"They assured us that the noise it would generate would be less than the ambient noise that the wind makes," Clark says.

The projects are expected to begin construction after school lets out this summer and be ready to go in time for classes this fall.

Source: Andrew Clark, the assistant principal at Brownstown Middle School
Writer: Jon Zemke

Lincoln Park writes final chapter for Mellus building

metromode Thursday, May 20, 2010

Leslie Lynch-Wilson can't do much but shake her head as the Lincoln Park resident watches her downtown change, providing a playbook on how not to be sustainable.

The Lincoln Park Downtown Development Authority followed through on its promise to demolish the historic Mellus Newspaper building last week, despite a strong recommendation from state officials to preserve it and offers from business owners to renovate it and create jobs. Most of the former home to the Downriver community's local newspaper has now been trucked off to a landfill.

"It's sad," says Lynch-Wilson, president of the Lincoln Park Preservation Alliance and an advocate of saving the building that was on the National Register of Historic Places. "There was so much talk of recycling items in the old building. What I observed was just tearing it down and sending it to a landfill."

She adds that the only parts she saw recycled or reused were a brick she took home and a piece of galvanized pipe she saw the demolition contractor load into his pick-up truck. The rest went off to a local landfill in a handful of semi-trucks. She points out that a number of the historic interior fixtures, its metal panels, windows, and an Arts & Crafts-style interior door could have easily been saved to help restore other similar buildings, but local officials did nothing.

"The city is 30 years behind the times," Lynch-Wilson says. "They don't think about these things."

City officials originally talked about turning the Fort Street property into a parking lot, but then promised to build a pocket park or green space there when the controversy over tearing down the structure hit its peak. Lynch-Wilson says no architectural plans for a park have been produced, no money has been set aside, no one has stepped up publicly to spearhead the pocket park project, and local officials are starting to talk about a parking lot again even though there is a sea of parking in front of and behind the buildings left on that block.

"They're talking about laying off 18 police officers this year," Lynch-Wilson says. "No one has money at the city and everybody knows it."

The city is now looking at tearing down what Lynch-Wilson calls one of the few brick Victorian buildings in the city, even though it is still privately owned. She says the vacant house at 1132 Lafayette Street is listed as built in 1922 but she believes it dates from between 1890 and 1905 and was moved to its current location when the neighborhood was subdivided from farmland in the early 1920s. A public hearing on its proposed demolition is set for June 21.

"It's one of the two brick Victorian homes of that period that we have left," Lynch-Wilson says.

Source: Leslie Lynch-Wilson, president of the Lincoln Park Preservation Alliance
Writer: Jon Zemke

Downtown Ferndale welcomes new biz, national award

metromode Thursday, May 20, 2010

Downtown Ferndale is running out of room for all of the feathers it's collecting in its cap. The inner-ring suburb is welcoming a number of new small businesses to its city center and has just scored a national award for its vibrant downtown.

Ferndale received the 2010 Great American Main Street Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, one of five cities from across the U.S. It's the first member of the Main Street Oakland County group to win the award and the first in the state since Bay City took it home in 1999.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, which oversees the national Main Street program, praised the Ferndale Downtown Development Authority for its "stellar" record of reinvestment and new employment. Commercial vacancies have dropped from 30 percent to six percent over the past decade as the city has spurred the redevelopment of even the toughest blights into shining examples of what is possible in the suburb.

Downtown Ferndale has also seen a number of new independent, small establishments pop up to lower the vacancy rate, with a dozen more thus far this year. That's not unusual for a city known for its small, meaning 500 employees or less, businesses.

Source: Oakland County
Writer: Jon Zemke

EMU begins work on Pray Harrold renovation project

Concentrate Thursday, May 20, 2010

One of Eastern Michigan University's major construction projects is getting underway now that work crews are beginning a renovation of the inside of the Pray Harrold building.

Excerpt:

Construction crews are starting to warm up for work on Eastern Michigan University's Pray Harrold building, but they probably won't be immediately visible.

The home to the university's College of Arts & Sciences is showing all of the signs of construction, such as being fenced off, along with the obvious absence of students and faculty. However, a majority of the work for the $42 million project will take place in the interior. The exterior work isn't set to begin until the end of the construction timeline in mid-2011.

"It's an internal bones-oriented project to turn the second floor into prime student space," says Geoff Larcom, a spokesman for Eastern Michigan University.

Read the rest of the story here.

Ann Arbor aims to switch 75% of streetlights to LEDs by 2011

Concentrate Thursday, May 20, 2010

Some cities aim to one day have LED street lights. Ann Arbor aims to convert 75 percent of its street lights to LED. By next year. The city is also planning to install them in a number of its buildings this summer, so it can serve as a municipal showcase of their virtues.

Excerpt:

LED lights are already a staple in downtown Ann Arbor's streetlights, but the next generation of energy efficient lighting is about to become the go-to municipal light bulb in Tree Town.

The City Council has approved a $218,000 contract to install 88 LEDs in the ornamental streetlights along West Stadium Boulevard. The city is also inline to take advantage of a state grant that will allow it to replace many of the high-powered lights at its buildings throughout the city, such as the garage lights in fire stations and the lights at the Mack Pool.

"It's going beyond streetlights," says Andrew Brix, energy programs manager for the city of Ann Arbor. "This is the new frontier."

Read the rest of the story here.

Detroit says bye to City Fest, hello to New Center Park

Model D Thursday, May 20, 2010

Detroit's New Center neighborhood isn't aiming to be a one-shot-and-out place. Instead it's canceling its big event, Cityfest, so it can focus on holding a number of smaller events at its new park in front of the world-famous Fisher Building.

Excerpt:

Let's get the bad news out of the way: New Center's Cityfest has been canceled, at least for 2010. While the economy and accompanying reduced sponsorship levels have something to do with the cessation of a Detroit tradition, the reality is much more complex.

Now for the good news: Improvements to New Center Park have created a neighborhood venue that will be programmed four days a week. New Center Council president Michael Solaka says that is more conducive to realizing the organization's goal of community and economic development than is a festival that happens but once a year. "Our mission is to develop New Center into a thriving 24-hour neighborhood," he says. "(The park) is an economic development thing as opposed to an image-building event."

Read the rest of the story here.

Ferndale wraps up library renovation project

metromode Thursday, May 13, 2010

Construction workers will wrap up the renovation of the Ferndale Public Library on the eastern edge of downtown by the end of May.

The library will close its temporary location on May 21 so it can start moving books and other materials to the newly refurbished building on 9 Mile Road, just east of Woodward Avenue. An opening is set for June 28.

"Our hope is it will serve as a focal point for attracting attention to the east of Woodward area," says Doug Raber, director of the Ferndale Public Library.

The library is going for silver LEED certification, thanks to a plethora of environmentally friendly features. Among the big-ticket features are a geothermal heating system, a gray water recycling system, and a partial green roof. The most environmentally friendly factor is the reuse of a circa-1954 structure.

The renovation adds another 10,000 square feet, rounding out the structure to 21,000 square feet. That means more meeting room space fronting 9 Mile, a new area for teens, and a new children's room facing Troy Street.

"It's almost a library within a library," Raber says.

The addition, paid for by a one-mill millage increase last year, will give the library space to bump up its staff from four to 10. It will also provide the funds to double the library's purchasing budget for books and other media, such as audio books and CDs.

Source: Doug Raber, director of the Ferndale Public Library
Writer: Jon Zemke

Allen Park Middle School turns on new solar panels

metromode Thursday, May 13, 2010

The energy dials are starting to spin backwards at Allen Park Middle School now that it has installed nine solar panels.

The two-kilowatt photovoltaic solar awning was turned on earlier this spring. It now produces energy for the building and serves as an education tool for students.

"klsdj," says Mark Lowe, an assistant principal at Allen Park Middle School.

A $50,000 Energy Works Michigan Grant made the project possible. Allen Park is the first school district in the state to utilize these grants and install a solar system. It now supplies clean energy for the school (and makes its money when school is out) but also monitors weather conditions and teaches students about alternative energy and the weather.

The system was installed in the Middle School Pride Club Courtyard between the lunchroom and the art room and is visible to the public.

Source: Allen Park Public Schools
Writer: Jon Zemke

Dearborn explores waste-to-energy plant feasibility

metromode Thursday, May 13, 2010

The city of Dearborn is soliciting proposals to explore the feasibility of a waste-to-energy plant.

The project is part of the city's efforts to become more environmentally friendly. Other recent initiatives are moving toward single-stream recycling and considering LED streetlights. Local officials see the waste-to-energy plant as another feather in the city's tree-hugging hat.

"Do we have enough waste to create enough energy to support the industrial facilities in the city?" says David Norwood, sustainability coordinator for the city of Dearborn.

The waste-to-energy plant isn't your normal dirty Detroit-style incinerator. Dearborn is looking at gasification plans that don't actually burn the refuse. The city is also looking at an anerobic digestor for its sludge waste.

The proposals are due by May 24 (more information here) and a decision on the feasibility of this idea is expected to be made before the end of the year.

Source: David Norwood, sustainability coordinator for the city of Dearborn
Writer: Jon Zemke

government : Development News