Oakland County : Development News

Thomas M. Cooley Law School's main purpose is teaching the law to students, but it's the school's efforts to build an energy-efficient, sustainable and eco-conscious campus in Auburn Hills that's become the latest learning experience.

The school has achieved Silver LEED status, a certification that comes from the U.S. Green Building Council after a review of projects seeking the LEED - Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design - designation.

The certification was awarded to Cooley's renovation of of an existing 68,227-square-foot building previously owned Daimler Chrysler. The renovation began in 2007 and was ready for students in January 2008. The project also added a 64,518-square-foot structure to the building. The addition was completed in early 2009.

Cooley’s Auburn Hills campus, 2630 Featherstone Road, was designed and constructed in collaboration with Rockford Construction and SHW Group, both LEED-accredited firms charged with incorporating sustainable design practices into the project.

“Cooley Law School takes into account the best possible practices being used in construction, including sustainability, in all of its construction,” says William Schoettle, Cooley COO and vice president of operations, in a statement announcing the silver LEED award. “Ultimately, LEED building practices made sense financially. It saves money for the school over the long term and preserves natural resources in the process.

Cooley's conservation focused features include:

-The use of no or low toxicity paints, sealants, carpets and wood materials
-A reflective roof that cuts reflects light, insulates the building and keeps it cooler in warm months
-A roof with soil and plants that will soak up water and keep it out of storm and sewer systems. It also reduces energy consumption year round
-Low flow toilets and plumbing fixtures will conserve water
-The use of water efficient landscaping
-Interior lighting will be controlled by room usage and also use lower wattage lights. The building design uses natural light to provide lighting.
-A heating and cooling system that uses outdoor fresh air for power and cooling
-Maintenance practices such as lowering window shades during the warm months were added to staff duties

Cooley Law School’s Auburn Hills campus is the only law school facility in Michigan to achieve LEED certification. The school is only the fourth law school in the nation to be LEED-certified.

“Cooley Law School has answered my call for Oakland County businesses and residents to find ways to reduce their energy consumption,” L. Brooks Patterson, Oakland County executive, says in the statement. “Last year, we opened the nation’s first LEED Gold certified airport terminal at Oakland County International Airport. The terminal’s utility costs have dropped from 70 cents-per-square- foot to 39 cents-per-square-foot, a real savings to taxpayers. I’m sure we’ll see some of those savings at Cooley.”

Source: Tyler Lecceadone, spokesman, Thomas M. Cooley Law School
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

As Eftikhar Ahmed has gotten to know Birmingham - and Oakland County - he has learned that European transplants miss the Indian food so common to where they came from.

After enough times of hearing about their longing, "especially the English," he says, he decided to do something about it.

He and four partners are opening Touch of India at 297 East Maple Road in downtown Birmingham. The restaurant, which is taking the place of Le Feast, has been in a soft opening phase since April 18.

"When I would walk through the streets and talk to people, I would say this would be a good business here."

The owners are waiting for permanent signage and got an OK from the city last week t  put a temporary one in the window. Even as the owners work toward an official opening day, which will come in the next two weeks to 10 days, customers are finding them.

"People are finding us," he says. "So far, so good."

Within weeks the restaurant, which is employing four full-time chefs, manager and owner operators, will hire more wait staff, he says.

Source: Eftikhar Amhed, owner/operator, Touch of India
Writer: Kim North Shine

A group of investors and developers are floating plans to turn the closed Fresard car dealership at 400 N. Main St. in Royal Oak into a boutique hotel, apartment building, and restaurant complex.

A preliminary proposal to redevelop the prominent downtown spot went before the Royal Oak Downtown Development Authority last week.

The property owners, who closed on the building and plot of land surrounding it about two weeks ago, are asking if the DDA would commit to some level of financial support at some point.

Dennis Griffin, who represents the investors on behalf of commercial real estate company CBRE, and Jason Krieger, a DDA board member and architect who drew up renderings of the plan, told DDA members that it needed to gauge the board's interest in order to approach the Michigan Economic Development Corporation about financing opportunities and development incentives.

"Obviously there's a whole bunch of details that have to be worked out," Tim Thwing, the city's director of planning, says. The tentative plans call for a 100-room, eight- to nine-floor boutique hotel with restaurant, bar and meeting rooms on the first two floors along with a 5-6 floor apartment building and a parking structure. Investors are interested in an operator such as Hotel Indigo, Krieger says.

The former Buick-Pontiac-GMC showroom would be renovated into a restaurant, bar and banquet facility, Krieger told the DDA board May 16. The investors, and Hotel Indigo - if it signs on -  would want local business owners to operate them.

"They really want to get entrenched in the community," Krieger said at the DDA meeting. "They want it to be a Royal Oak place with their branding."

At the request of the DDA board, which did express interest in supporting the project financially, the owners and operators will eventually return to the DDA with a timeline and more details, possibly within weeks.

The Fresard dealership closed six years ago, and it is also the site of a failed Kroger grocery store proposal that was rejected by residents.

Source: Royal Oak Downtown Development Authority
Writer: Kim North Shine

Ferndale is making it easier for bicyclists, whether commuters or recreational riders, to ride and park downtown.

Last week, through a project of the Ferndale Downtown Development Authority, on-street bike parking was opened and several other bike-related events held.

A new bike rack that holds 14 bikes and is also a sculpted piece of art created by sculptor Richard Gage in his TANK 425 Studio in Hazel Park was also unveiled.

The bike rack that doubles as art will be the first of six such bike racks and add to the 33 racks located around town. The first rack fills a parking space in a lot near Western Market on 9 Mile between Woodward and Livernois. The space that could hold one car now fits 14 bikes in one artsy rack.

"A good number of consumers are dedicated bicycling commuters. The rack really affirms that bicycles are a viable mode of transportation and very much welcomed here," says Cristina Sheppard-Decius, the Ferndale DDA's executive director.

The bike racks come in conduction with efforts by the city, state and cycling advocated to make Ferndale's streets safer and welcoming to riders.

Source: Chris Hughes, Ferndale Downtown Development Authority
Writer: Kim North Shine

It's hard to know if it's the rooftop and the good weather or the soccer games aired from around the world, but the customers are flocking to the month-old Red Fox English Pub in downtown Royal Oak.

The pub, which was mostly in soft open mode since April 17, is located above at 11 Mile and Main, where the once popular Memphis Smoke used to serve up barbecue and music. It's probably the best seat on downtown Royal Oak, and the rooftop bar and patio offers a view onto what's happening below.

Red Fox, which is owned by Ryan Kramer and Kevin Downey, serves mostly British fare. Bangers & Mash, Fish & Chips, Shepherd's Pie and a British classic side dish, Mushy Peas. Kramer is also an proprietor of Rosie O'Grady's and Cantina Diablo.

"Once word got out about the awesome patio and with the weather and everybody wanting to get out," people were flocking to us," says general manager Jennette Breault.

Before that - and no doubt in the future - it was and will be the soccer fans who come for the big screens tuned to their version of football.

"We have a soccer package with all the MLS teams and all the European and other teams," she says. "We get not only American soccer fans, but the Brits are flocking to us as well."

The pub's opening led to the hiring of 40 employees, about half of them full-time, Breault says.

Source: Jennette Breault, general manager, Red Fox English Pub
Writer: Kim North Shine

A $15.8 million project will add a new track between Detroit and Dearborn, giving Amtrak passengers and freight cars their own dedicated lines.

The changes to the West Detroit Connection Track, which is the key link between the new Dearborn multi-modal transportation station and Detroit's station downtown, were OK'd by the federal Department of Transportation last week. Feds will pay for half the project and the Michigan Department of Transportation will pay the other half as they look for ways to alleviate a bottleneck on portions of the track.

The West Detroit Connection Track is also a key part of the Detroit to Chicago line, known as Amtrak's Wolverine line.

The project, which will break ground later this year, will alleviate a bottleneck that is increasing waiting times for trains, costing companies money and slowing down travelers.

Carmine Palombo, director of transportation programs for the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, says the changes make sense economically because they allow goods and people to move more quickly and efficiently.

"When you have 10 minute and more delays that are caused by the bottleneck that is there now, that is huge," Palombo says.

But metro Detroit and Michigan are still a long way off from trains carrying coffee-drinking, newspaper reading commuters. Improvements such as new stations, including in Dearborn, Detroit, Troy and Pontiac, as well as changes to increase train speeds up to 110 mph, are lining up to make Michigan a train-riding state.

"It's all part of the overall series of events to improve passenger service," he says.

As of now, the line is mostly for travelers and freight. He says a commuter train between Detroit and Ann Arbor is inching along but still far from a done deal.

"Part of what happens now is existing Amtrak trains start in Pontiac and go to Chicago…The problem is the times are not conducive for a lot of commuters .. The times are geared for getting you to Chicago, not points in between. And the costs are not necessarily in step with what commuters want to pay."

He says legislation that will have the state of Michigan financially supporting the train service could change that.
"When that happens we can have a little more say in the schedules and how that service is run," Palombo says.

In the meantime, the feds, who are executing President Barak Obama's High Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Program, see the project as a way to address congestion of the Midwest Regional Rail Network and promote alternative forms of transportation and to create jobs and spur economic development.

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation and Carmine Palombo director of transportation programs, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments
Writer: Kim North Shine

The Eight Mile Boulevard Association's work to polish the appearance of the  8 Mile road corridor between I-94 and I-275 goes on with the latest facade improvement grant leading to a new look for 3M Abrasives.

The $5,000 grant from 8MBA to 3M helped the company pay for an overhaul of its building front.  It is the latest in a series of companies to participate in a program that aims to bring cohesiveness, some freshening up, to a hodgepodge of largely unregulated storefronts and signs along the dividing line between Detroit and its inner ring suburbs.

3M's facility at 11900 E. 8 Mile now has a cleaner, more modern look and is the latest accomplishment for the nonprofit 8 Mile Boulevard Association, whose mission is to revitalize the corridor in the areas of transportation, business and residential.

Source: Tami Salisbury, executive director, Eight Mile Boulevard Association
Writer: Kim North Shine

The managers of downtown Birmingham's Luxe Bar & Grill, which has forged itself as a comfy but high-end go-to spot for outstanding burgers, are moving on to another culinary endeavor in town.

Market, a Mediterranean-style bistro with a wood-fired oven and outdoor seating, could open by August, says John Heiney, executive director of the city's Principal Shopping District. Market will be located at 474 N. Old Woodward, across from Booth Park, at the former Root & Sprout.

Joe and Kristin Bongiovanniwill own and operate the establishment, which is one of several to receive a liquor license under a loosened state law that doles out more licenses to cities trying to promote business start-ups and expansions.

The owners of Market and Luxe are also behind the restaurant chain, Salvatore Scallopini.

Heiney says visitors to downtown Birmingham will find several new restaurants this spring and summer, including many with outdoor seating and new concepts.

Source: John Heiney, executive director, Birmingham Principal Shopping Distrcit
Writer: Kim North Shine

Future plans for city streets, sidewalks and passageways in Royal Oak will be fine-tuned to both promote walking and biking and pedestrian and cyclist safety.

As the city revisits its master plan, a guiding document for growth and development, it is incorporating a non-motorized transportation plan.

It will take into a account how to build roads that are safer for pedestrians and cyclists, what amenities to add, such as bike racks, so that biking around town is easier. It will also further educate the public about alternative forms of transportation and how the interests of auto users, cyclists, and pedestrians can co-exit.

The city has hired Chicago consultant Active Transportation Alliance to come up with recommendations to be included in the master plan.

Cities are more often making accommodations for other forms of transportation part of their road construction planning process. The road to getting more consideration for cyclists and pedestrians in the planning has been long. 

One nonprofit promoting the new way of planning is Michigan Complete Streets Coalition, and it is urging cities - and residents - to prepare for changes that will have Baby Boomers walking more often, more employees wanting to live where they work and therefore walking or biking to work, and also to take into consideration a growing interest in public transportation that could mean more walking and biking stops and stations.

Source: City of Royal Oak
Writer: Kim North Shine

Rochester Musician's Academy in downtown Rochester is expanding to keep up with local desire to strum guitar, beat a drum, play a piano, sing a song.

Some in the music education industry say TV shows like Glee, American Idol and the numerous, melodious Disney creations, are spurring the interest.

Rochester Musician's Academy, formerly J.C.'s Drum Store, moved to its 119 S. Main Street address about five years ago, and since then has added staff and students, up four instructors from one and adding more classes, lesson space and a studio. The remodel is expected to be completed in May.

The Academy calls itself the fastest growing music school in Oakland County and credits the growth to the fun classes it offers: Rock Band, Pee Wee Percussion, Steel Band Camp among them.

"We strive to be the most complete musical education in the greater Detroit area,"  onwer Joe Chila says on his website. "Our students come from as far away as Grosse Pointe on the east and Southfield on the west."

Source: Rochester Musician's Academy
Writer: Kim North Shine

A former casket-making company in Ferndale has been reincarnated into a urban-loft style office space for entrepreneurs.

The development, 360 Hilton, on Hilton near 8 1/2 Mile just off Ferndale's downtown, has been renovated into eight units, four upstairs and four downstairs. The spaces are relatively small, between 1,200 and 2,400 square feet, and ideal for small businesses, one-person operations, says Michael Ziecik, principal of the Forum Group, a Bloomfield Hills firm that is the broker and manager of 360 Hilton.

The spaces are intentionally small, ideal for small businesses, entrepreneurs working in a variety of fields. The city has been progressive in changing its zoning to allow for mixed uses such as retail, light industrial and office in the same building, Ziecik says.

"Ferndale's a destination today. That wasn't always the case. A big part of that is the city and the chamber working to make Ferndale a friendly place to do business ... They've taken traditional zoning and changed it to allow for creative uses, and we're seeing a lot more traffic," he says.

Originally the plan was to attract artists to small studios, but with Russell Industrial Center in Detroit and more recently the opening of Rust Belt Market on Woodward near 9 Mile in Ferndale, the developers marketed to small businesses, says Ziecik.

"It's great that Detroit's become a place people want to go, where things are happening," he says.

Tenants at 360 Hilton include a t-shirt designer, a fitness trainer, a spa, an internet sales company. Renovations on three of the units are ongoing and the leasing price is meant to offer amenities of a Royal Oak without the pricing of Royal Oak, Ziecik says.

The redesign has included new heating and cooling system and open-air windows that open up as well as epoxy floors, exposed ductwork "that give it a edgy urban feel," Ziecik says.

Source: Michael Ziecik, principal, Forum Group Commercial Real Estate
Writer: Kim North Shine

Downtown Ferndale is known as for a happening restaurant and bar scene, for some quirky, edgy shops... and more and more as a place for artists.

The Ferndale Downtown Development Authority wants to capitalize on that artistic spirit with a project called Artwn that will put 10 sculptures, the work of local and national artists, on display throughout downtown. ARTWN will also highlight local art already in existence throughout downtown and promote the downtown through several events, including a fundraising Progressive Party June 28 at the Rust Belt Market, a massive workplace and sell space for independent artists.

“The creative culture not only thrives in Downtown Ferndale, in many ways, it is what distinguishes us. ARTWN is a way to share that fact with the world by inviting everyone to visit the district and see art in action,” says Cristina Sheppard-Decius, executive director of the Ferndale DDA. “We are very excited to showcase our existing art assets and to add to them with some very significant work.”

Throughout the summer Third Thursday, a late night shopping program, will focus on the visual arts with special events.

There's Bicycle Night on May 17, when the DDA's first on-street bike parking rack, created by local sculptor Richard Gage will go unveiled.

On June 21, Pimp Your Pot has lcoal merchants getting creative with their outdoor planters.

On July 17, Hangin' in Ferndale will focus on art that's already hanging in Ferndale businesses.

And an Aug. 16 event, The Art of the Automobile, will be tied to the Woodward Dream Cruise.

Local businesses and organizations are sponsoring projects.

Source: Cristina Sheppard-Decius, executive director, Ferndale Downtown Development Authority
Writer: Kim North Shine

An Ohio-based steakhouse with restaurants in four states is opening its first location in Michigan, taking over the former Forte in Birmingham.

Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse could be open by the end of June, says John Heiney, executive director, Birmingham Principal Shopping District. Company representatives could not be reached to confirm an opening date, but Heiney says extensive renovations are happening in the space at 201 South Old Woodward, in the heart of downtown Birmingham.

Hyde Park Prime Steakhouses are each designed to fit their location - boutique style. There are currently 12 steakhouses, most in Columbus and Cleveland and others in downtown Pittsburgh, New York and Florida.

The restaurant does steak in a variety of way and also serves fish and seafood, including a raw bar. When the Birmingham location opens, several jobs will be created. The exact number will be known closer to opening day.

Source: John Heiney, executive director, Birmingham Principal Shopping District
Writer: Kim North Shine

The Ferndale City Council has approved a liquor license for a cigar and tapas bar in downtown Ferndale.

Secret Bar & Bistro could open sometime this summer at 319 W. 9 Mile, according to city records.

It's early in the process for the 3,500-square-foot renovation that will include a special ventilation system and feature a menu of top cigars and a variety of shareable edibles called tapas. There will also be live entertainment.

Secret is one of several restaurants expected to open this spring or summer in Ferndale. Renovations on the former Le Soups spot have yet to begin.

Source: Ferndale City Hall and Ferndale Downtown Development Authority
Writer: Kim North Shine