Dearborn :
Development News
A 1970s-era office complex in Dearborn is under new ownership and management as plans to transform the Parklane Towers into a full-service, amenity filled-office and retail center unfold.
The 490,000 square-foot buildings that are perhaps the city's tallest, most prominent structures, are now owned by Dubai-based Fairlane Ventures and will be managed by the Farbman Group from Southfield.
"Fairlane Ventures has ties to Dearborn and has been looking to invest in a quality asset in the state of Michigan for sometime," says Michael Kalil, COO of the Farbman Group.
The plan is to make changes to the building that make it more attractive to current and prospective tenants looking for amenities such as a new fitness center, a new, larger conference center, a redesigned lobby and tenant services such as on-site dry cleaning and child care that comes with special rates and accelerated placement at the nearby Rainbow Childcare.
“We are thrilled to leverage our best-in-class services to increase occupancy and further improve overall operations for these dynamic, recognized buildings. It’s the perfect opportunity for us to partner with savvy investors from overseas who believe in the strength of southeast Michigan and the ongoing revitalization of Detroit,” Kalil says. “To advance our strategic growth, we will continue forging new international relationships as more investors and developers from around the world recognize the opportunities offered right here in Detroit.”
In addition to managing the Parklane Towers for Fairlane Ventures' investors, Farbman will also manage 15 buildings totaling 500,000 square feet at the Fairlane Commerce Park in Dearborn.
Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Andrea Trapani, IdentityPR, and Michael Kalil, COO Farbman Group
Plans to build a working and living community for artists in Dearborn are progressing now that the city has set a sales price for the city hall building that will be renovated by the nonprofit ArtSpace.
Artspace has built 32 communities around the country, all of them in cities that have seen economic potential in the creative culture and provided artists places to live, work and sell their works as well as perform.
Dearborn Mayor Jack O'Reilly made the announcement that Artspace is likely to pay $1.65 million for the 1922 Georgian revival style city hall that has become too costly and wasteful for the city to keep.
City hall employees will move into a smaller, more energy-efficient city building that's more centrally located while
ArtspaceDearborn, in cooperation with the East Dearborn Downtown Development Authority, renovates the old city hall into the City Hall Artists Lofts at 13615 Michigan Ave. Plans call for 40-plus affordable, live/work spaces for artists, art studios and spaces for arts organizations and creative businesses to operate on the east side of the city. East Dearborn, unlike West Dearborn with its influence of Ford Motor Company and the Henry Ford museum, is a more eclectic mix of businesses and has a deep rooted Middle Eastern community. The Arab American National Museum, believed to be the first and only museum devoted to Arab art and culture, is in East Dearborn.
The renovation could cost about $13.5 million, according to Artspace, and it acts as an arts and culture magnet that could attract new residents and visitors to the city.
Artspace’s Mission is to create, foster, and preserve affordable space for artists and arts organizations. Its motto: Bulding Better Communities Through the Arts.
The next step in the process is to apply for low-income housing credits from the state of Michigan, Artspace's Wendy Holmes says. Without those credits a nonprofit Artspace project can't happen. Tax credits typically cover 60-65 percent of the construction cost, the credits being based on the project's ability to provide affordable housing and to act as an economic stimulant. An architect is engaged and drawing up renderings of how an Artspace Dearborn would be laid out and function, she says.
A decision on whether to grant the tax credits is due in August. If approved, construction would start in 2014, Holmes says. If denied, Artspace applies again, and if approved then, construction would begin in 2015, she says.
One thing for certain is that the development would fill a whole city block on Michigan Avenue, where there are two matching City Hall buildings and another building in between. Housing will go into the City Hall building facing Michigan Avenue and in the one just like it around the corner. A third building between them will most likely have studio space,
"It would be a whole campus of arts activity, says Holmes, who has seen the economic spark that comes from providing a gathering spot for the creative community. In Seattle, for example, ArtSpace is about to start construction on its fourth space, this one connected to transit-oriented development, she says.
Along with lofts for living, places for creating or promoting all genres of arts, there would be space for art-related businesses.
"The concept is that space is used by to gather organizations with art interests. It could be a theater company," Holmes says. "There could be a fabrication area for, say, a company that fabricates different forms of art. This is
where creative people can come together in one place."
Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Teri Deaver and Wendy Holmes, Artspace
Thursday, February 14, 2013
After five years in the making as a favorite gift shop and little girls' party spot in west Dearborn,
Sophia's Giftique has opened a second location, this one in Detroit.
The New Center store inside the office building on West Grand Boulevard and Woodward will offer a similar mix of personal and home accessories, gifts and holiday items as well as its speciality products, Simply Victoria, a handmade greeting card line designed by the mother of one owner, and B3 (Bath, Body, Beauty) which was created by the sister of that store owner.
The store offers free gift wrapping and host private princess parties, tea parties and is frequently the site of charity events.
Sophia's owners see the shop becoming a stop in a series of retail and eating establishments that line the walkways through the New Center that's connected to The Fisher, Cadillac Place and St. Regis Hotel.
Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Sophia's Giftique and West Dearborn Downtown Development Authority
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Walls are up and other major progress is happening at the Union at Dearborn, attracting
University of Michigan Dearborn students to sign leases at the the near-campus community housing complex.
The
Union at Dearborn will open in the fall with 504 luxury apartments directly across the street from campus on Evergreen Raod. While not on campus, it offers traditional dorm amenities such as laundry rooms, mailboxes, lounges and meeting rooms and will also have fitness facilities and a theater. U-M Dearborn, long considered a commuter school, does not offer on-campus housing.
U-M Dearborn will lease part of the complex for student activities, including an eating area, study areas and spaces for campus organizations and student life activities.
Regular shuttles will take students between campus and The Union and will give the university the next best thing to a residential campus community.
The apartments are fully furnished and come in one- and two-bedroom units with private bathrooms, appliances, granite countertops and flat screen TVs.
The $30-million Union at Dearborn was developed by Urban Campus Communities, also the developer of Union at Midtown for Wayne State University students. The complex will be managed by
Asset Campus Housing, which manages more than 60 campus communities in more than 20 states offering housing to students at major universities and small institutions.
Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: The Union at Dearborn
Thursday, January 31, 2013
State transportation officials see record Amtrak ridership in Michigan as a sign that the public is more aware of train service and seeing the future of commuter train travel in a more positive light.
In 2012, 792,769 passengers boarded Michigan's three
Amtrak routes -- the Wolverine between Pontiac and Detroit/Chicago), the Blue Water between Port Huron and East Lansing/Chicago), and the Pere Marquette between Grand Rapids and Chicago. In 2011, that number was 780,655.
The record ridership also led to record revenue of $27.8 million in 2012, a year that had Amtrak adding extra trains to supplement the regular service.
It comes as plans to bring light rail in to Woodward Avenue downtown Detroit move toward implementation and a move to bring a regional commuter train system to metro Detroit and to Michigan and nearby states moves from a limp to a steady walk. Both are aided by federal funds from a program that endorses mass transit development as an economic stimulant. But with Michigan being a stronghold for auto travel, it's been a tough sell in some parts.
At the same time, Amtrak and the Michigan Department of Transportation have been updating trains and making changes to allow for faster travel speeds and fewer route interruptions that will in turn make train travel more appealing.
Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Janet Foran, spokesperson, Michigan Department of Transportation
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Concordia University Ann Arbor is taking a catered style of college learning to Dearborn, addressing a demand by non-traditional students looking to earn a degree in less time.
Concordia's new accelerated learning center in Dearborn opens this month; a Frankenmuth center opened in December. The Wisconsin-based, Lutheran-centered university is responding to existing and prospective students who want to earn a degree in less time but in more intense sessions (say longer classes and shorter semesters) in order to accommodate jobs or families that already occupy much of their time.
The center, which is currently located at the Great Lakes Members Credit Union building, 22720 Michigan Ave., will offer undergraduate courses in business, hospitality management, management of criminal justice and nursing, as well as a Master of Science program in organizational leadership and administration.
Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Rochelle Regenauer, Concordia University Wisconsin Centers and Accelerated Programs executive director
Thursday, January 10, 2013
The Hyatt Regency Dearborn's transformation into an eco-friendly hotel is closing in on completion as an Adoba Eco Hotel, a hotel brand working to make a name for itself as being "Green from the Ground Up."
The hotel is situated near national tourist attraction, The Henry Ford, and Ford Motor Co. with all of its business travelers. The postmodern, glass structure where the Hyatt operated for more than 30 years is at 600 Town Center Drive and is one of city's most prominent structures.
Adoba Dearborn began operations in November, and the final sale of the hotel is expected later this month.
The purchase saves about 300 jobs and also gives visitors to Dearborn another lodging option. It also brings to metro Detroit a business that is focused on sustainability in its operations, including the use of low flow toilets, water-saving shower heads and more.
The Colorado-based company started in 2010 and was based on building - or in Dearborn's case, renovating - hotels that are LEED-certified facilities. LEED buildings meet national standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council for conservation.
Adoba owner, Atmosphere Hospitality, operates one other eco-hotel near Mount Rushmore in 2010. It opened in 2010 and has been named a top hotel for the Black Hills of South Dakota.
Once the purchase is complete, more involved LEED-focused renovations to the Dearborn hotel can begin and could take up to three years.
Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Adoba Eco Hotels & Suites and City of Dearborn
Thursday, October 18, 2012
A growing market and interest in locally-sourced food, organic food and knowing where your food comes from has Garry Kuneman expanding his business, adding a new location and bringing new products to customers.
Kuneman, who worked the farmer's market circuit for 10 years, opened his
Natural Food Local Express in Plymouth in July 2010. It didn't take him long to see that demand would lead to a second location.
The new store will open Dec. 1 at 6870 Telegraph Road. The company will take on a new name, Pure Pastures, with one location becoming Pure Pastures East and the other Pure Pastures West.
The name change is more of a reflection of the core business, says Kuneman. That is to sell meat, eggs and other products from Michigan farmers.
Except for air-chilled chicken, a European style of chicken preparation that's become popular since an endorsement from Dr. Mehmet Oz, and a portion of buffalo, another popular product, everything comes from Michigan. Local eggs that come from chickens that aren't caged and eat no soy or GMOs are a top seller. Kuneman will add more national products when he brings in more organic and gluten-free foods, he says.
Kuneman's start with farmers' markets and home deliveries are still a part of the operations. He plans to expand home delivery and product offerings and hire 3-4 new employees when the new store opens. Currently, there are four employees.
"The farmers markets helped me get a handle on the kind of products I wanted to carry. And it helped me build a customer base," he says. "There are several segments of the population we pull from: special diets, people who want to know what's in their food and some are concerned about the humane treatment of animals. It's a little pricier, but people are willing to pay to know what they're getting, to support Michigan."
Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Garry Kuneman, owner, Natural Food Local Express, the future Pure Pastures
Thursday, September 20, 2012
A Sept. 24 groundbreaking for a student housing complex will take the
University of Michigan Dearborn, largely a commuter school, into the direction of creating a campus residential community.
The $30-million The Union at Dearborn, a project of Bloomfield Hills based developer Urban Campus Communities, will convert a closed Ford Motor Co. diagnostic center into 231,791 square feet of space for 500-plus students and other campus amenities.
Inside the buildings, which are located across Evergreen Road from the U-M Dearborn campus at 760 and 780 Town Center Drive, will be space for student life activities, meeting rooms, student study areas offices and a cabaret style theater.
Construction is expected to be completed in time for the fall 2013 school year. School and city officials see it as a major academic and economic opportunity for Dearborn.
The Union at Dearborn also will bring a newly revived, 24/7 presence to the community, with economic growth expected for the surrounding businesses.
“This is such an exciting development for the City of Dearborn,” Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly Jr. says in a statement announcing the groundbreaking. “We are thrilled that UM-Dearborn students soon will be able to call Dearborn home throughout the year and we look forward to welcoming them to our community.”
U-M Dearborn Chancellor Daniel Little says students have asked about campus housing for many years.
“With the reduction of state funding and our commitment to minimizing tuition increases, this public-private collaboration will allow the university to continue to invest in its academic mission, while transforming the campus experience for all students. The Union at Dearborn also will provide greater access for students wishing to pursue a Michigan degree in southeastern Michigan,” Little says.
Source: Beth Marmarelli, associate director, communications & marketing, University of Michigan-Dearborn
Writer: Kim North Shine
Thursday, September 13, 2012
As plans to improve a 304-mile stretch of passenger rail line that runs through Michigan, Illinois and Indiana move forward, the public is invited to participate in the process that determines what the local impact will be.
For metro Detroiters, the Chicago-Detroit/Pontiac Passenger Rail Corridor could offer connections to places that improve economic situations or quality of life, but it could also affect neighborhoods.
A series of meetings will be held this month and hosted by the three states' Departments of Transportation. The meetings will explain more about the proposal to make changes to the line and also take comments from the public. They will also offer possible route alternatives and identify potential issues that should be considered in the planning. They are required as part of the plan formation and environmental impact assessment to be done before construction can begin.
The rail improvements come as several metro Detroit communities, including Detroit, Pontiac, Troy, Dearborn, and the federal government have invested in new transportation stations that have brought economic benefit to cities around the
country by opening up access to jobs, education and affordable transportation.
According to GreatLakesRail, "the purpose of the program is to improve intercity mobility by providing an improved passenger rail service that would be a competitive transportation alternative to automobile, bus and air service between Chicago and Detroit/Pontiac…The program will provide sufficient information for the FRA (Federal Railroad Administration) to potentially support future decisions to fund and implement a major investment in the passenger rail corridor."
The local meeting will be held Wednesday, Sept. 26 at 7 pm. at the Double Tree Hilton Hotel, 5801 Southfield Expressway, Detroit.
Comments about the changes can also be shared online at
GreatLakesRail.org or by telephone, 877-351-0853.
Source: Janet Foran, communications, Michigan Department of Transportation
Writer: Kim North Shine
Thursday, August 02, 2012
A Rouge River island with a deep history and a washed up appearance is looking better than it has in years, and though it's more industrial than natural its become a place of interest for recreational water users and environmentalists.
Fordson Island, an 8.4 acre piece of land born in the early 1920s when a channel was dug by the Army Corps of Engineers to increase shipping transportation, fell into decline in the 1970s after the water levels dropped, sediment rose and residents left.
Rundown homes, dozens of old and rusty boats and poor water quality were discovered years later, and a now two-three year old effort by several organizations, including
AKT Peerless, an environmental and energy consulting firm; NOAA,
the marine debris division National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; the
Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority; and
Friends of the Rouge have removed tons of debris, literally, which has resulted in an improvement in water quality.
Slowly, the island, although private, is starting to attract nature lovers and kayakers, along with fish and other wildlife. Hundreds of volunteers have removed many many cubic yards of junk and garbage, and water testing has shown an improvement in the amount of pollution.
Several goals have been set, including the return of fish once common to the area.
The island is about 3 miles inland from the Detroit River on the River Rouge owned by the city of Dearborn and accessible only by boat or a one-lane bridge from Detroit.
Source: Tim McGahey, regional manager of operations for Southeast Michigan at AKT Peerless
Writer: Kim North Shine
Dearborn is jumping on the food truck bandwagon by hosting rallies that will give locals - and visitors - of taste of several rolling restaurants and also serve as a test case for how food trucks interact with nearby businesses.
The first Dearborn Food Truck Rally, sponsored by Westborn Market, will be held from 5 p.m. - 9 p.m. this Friday city's Parking Lot C behind PizzaPapalis, 22022 Michigan Ave., west of Monroe.
It is the first of three food truck rallies planned for this summer, the second coming Aug. 24 in the parking lot between the West Village parking decks and the third on Sept. 21 in the city lot behind the Double Olive.
The
Dearborn Area Chamber of Commerce, the
city of Dearborn and the
West Dearborn Downtown Development Authority are partnering with the Michigan Mobile Food Vendors Association, which put out the word about Dearborn's interest in food trucks and rounded up eight to 10 operators: Frank's Anatra, Concrete Cuisine, Treat Dreams, Ned's, Mack Shack, El Guappo, PPC and Jacques Tacos. Live music will be a part of the event and nearby businesses may try to capitalize on the activity. Economic development officials are hoping businesses will participate by offering specials, events and sales.
Food trucks are at the center of a debate over whether they help or hurt brick-and-mortar businesses, whether they're unfair competition and whether they should be more heavily regulated for food safety and business taxes. Portland, OR, a city known for its vibrant food truck culture, ran an
impact study several years ago that demonstrated how the mobile eateries had mostly positive effects on the neighborhoods they were in, and aside for parking issues, local businesses saw the food carts as a good way to increase street activity.
"We think this will be an exciting and unique way to bring families downtown on Friday evenings for food, fun and entertainment,” Jennifer Giering, president of the Dearborn Area Chamber of Commerce, says in a statement. “These community events have a tremendous economic impact on surrounding businesses with the first event in Ferndale attracting 1,500 people, many of which patronized local bars and restaurants after the event.”
Source: Dearborn Area Chamber of Commerce
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
Dearborn city officials may be moving out of City Hall and a bunch of artists could be moving in, bringing with them a place that attracts all sorts of creative types and potentially a brighter economy.
It'll happen if Artspace, a national nonprofit that facilitates live-work-sell developments for artists around the country, and the East Dearborn Downtown Development Authority succeed in their plans to start a Deaborn Artspace.
The project has passed most of the major hurdles to make it a reality. Before renovations and eventually move-in could begin, the city has to settle on a sales price and money has to be added to the $300,000 already donated by the Kresge and Ford foundations to cover renovations and other costs.
City Hall became the likely site after the city became aware that Artspace and the East Dearborn DDA were scouting locations. City officials are ready to sell the historic City Hall and move employees into a more modern building in order to avoid costly repairs to the building.
"Artspace got really enthusiastic about the project, when they heard about City Hall," Kania says. "They've done 30 projects around the country…They've never done a city hall before."
The campus-like arrangement on a prominent spot on Michigan Avenue and the openness of the building make it a great fit for a place where artists would live, work, rehearse, and sell or present their creations. There will be room for 40-50 live-work units and about 10 residents would live there. There will also be performance areas and vendor areas.
Every discipline of art is welcomed and Kania regularly receives inquiries from artists asking when Artspace will be taking tenants. If everything goes as planned, construction should begin in the third quarter 2014 and be finished and ready to lease in 2015.
Artspace Dearborn "would animate the historic structure with a 24-hour vibrant hub of activity that will bring the block alive with festivals, events and commerce," Kania says.
Typically, Artspace attract other artists, art organizations and businesses. "One of Artspace's projects in Minnesota fostered the area as the fastest-growing residential area with an abundance of restaurants, market-rate housing and creative businesses, Kania says.
The project would create construction jobs and jobs in the creative industry, she says.
"The East Dearborn DDA and the city of Dearborn are reinventing themselves for the 21st century. The City Hall campus will have the most profound impact on downtown business and cultural activity alike. East Downtown Dearborn will be on the map for utilizing the power of the arts to its fullest potential."
Source: Melissa Kania, East Dearborn DDA administrative assistant
Writer: Kim North Shine
Ground was broken Tuesday on a $28.2 million station to be used for multiple modes of transportation and a crucial link in regional mass transit.
The Intermodal Passenger Rail Station will be built at 20201 W. Michigan Ave., west of the Southfield Freeaway at the entrance of west downtown Dearborn.
Besides being a crucial link for Amtrak service and local bus services, the 16,000-square-foot glass-and-brick, historical-meets-contemporary structure will serve as a station for all types of transportation public and private.
There will be Wi-Fi service for passengers, bicycles racks, and interior design that highlights Dearborn's history and best-known institutions. The exterior will be a mix of contemporary design elements and historic features of landmark train stations. There will be a pedestrian bridge and a clock tower. In addition, it will be built with green features such as a solar collectors on the rooftop, rain gardens and energy efficient heating and cooling.
Construction is expected to be completed in the fall of 2013. About 280 temporary construction jobs will be created and 25 permanent employees, some full-time, some part-time, will be needed to operate the station. Federal Department of Transportation and economic stimulus funds are paying for the project.
Locally, it will be a convenient source of transportation for employees of some of the city's major institution and for visitors to its tourist attractions.
Regionally, it "will serve as a rail gateway to Dearborn and Southeast Michigan," according to an announcement released by the city Tuesday, the day a ceremony celebrating the ground breaking at The Henry Ford.
"The important transportation link will allow thousands of passengers per year to make connections to Amtrak’s Wolverine service that extends from Pontiac to Chicago; as well as to SMART, DDOT, Greyhound and charter buses; corporate and hotel shuttles; taxis and personal vehicles.
The station is positioned to support the eventual operation of the Detroit to Chicago High Speed Rail Corridor, which already has seen progress in western Michigan.
"It will also serve the proposed Ann Arbor to Detroit commuter rail line. Eventually, the commuter rail line will allow easy bus connection to the Detroit Metropolitan Airport. The station’s proximity to the Rouge River Gateway Trail on the north side of Michigan Avenue in Dearborn should prove popular to pedestrians and bicyclists and provide easy access to the campuses of the University of Michigan-Dearborn and Henry Ford Community College," the statement went on to say.
It's a massive overhaul and ambitious project for a site previously used to only to store vehicles.
Source: City of Dearborn Department of Public Information
Writer: Kim North Shine
When
Tijuana's Mexican restaurant opened on the border of Dearborn and Detroit 20 years ago all went smoothly, except for one thing: The printer and sign-maker got the name wrong. Instead of Tia Juana's (Aunt Juana's), the name came out Tijuana's, the Mexican border town.
"Back in the day we didn't have a lot of computers or ways to make this kind of thing easier. They spelled it and printed it wrong. It just stuck… I had everything already printed.
"I've never even been there," owner Marisa Garcia says, laughing. "But the customers seem to like it."
And how.
Garcia, a stay-at-home mom of two young children when she opened the misnamed establishment 20 years ago, is now up to three locations, including the re-opening last week in the original site at 18950 Ford Road, near Southfield and Evergreen.
Garcia closed the location six years ago and moved to Lincoln Park. She later opened an express takeout version in Southgate. "The customers that followed us kept asking us to come back," Garcia says.
In the meantime the old location and original home was taken over by a new tenant. The owner renovated. The space was bigger, the parking was better and finally Garcia could tell her customers that she was coming back.
With her would come the fresh made salsas, handmade tamales and tortillas and sauces. And room for more customers, 120-130. The restaurant also has a bar and a liquor license pending.
The new, old location opened April 26th and led to 10 full-time jobs, says Garcia, who runs the restaurants with her husband, son, daughter and son-in-law.
Source: Marisa Garcia, owner, Tijuana's Mexican restaurant.
Writer: Kim North Shine
Thursday, February 23, 2012
A residential and work community for artists is moving forward with a decision by the East Dearborn Downtown Development Authority to sign a contract with Artspace.
Artspace is a national nonprofit that helps facilitate artists' communities.
The EDDDA contract begins the next phase of the project: predevelopment services, the first of three phases which will take about two years to complete.
The first phase is to identify the location and size of the Artspace.
The EDDDA presented Artspace 24 potential project location sites throughout Dearborn and the two organizations have now narrowed them down to 10, says Melissa Kania, executive assistant of the EDDDA. Beyond that the funding, fundraising and architectural plans and other pre-construction plans must be made - all of it about three years away, Kania says.
ArtSpace is a Minneapolis nonprofit that assists communities in setting up spaces where artists and aspiring artists can live, work, sell and learn. It works with the city in going through the steps to see it through to fruition. About $350,0000 of the $750,000 needed for pre-development serves has been raised.
The project has received two grants; $150,000 from the Ford Foundation and another $150,000 from the Kresge Foundation.
The community interest is there, according to a series of surveys and studies that have been completed, and the funding through donations, grants and possibly loans is being lined up with several grant applications that have recently been submitted, including to the National Endowment for the Arts.
The project is being watched by other communities as it is the first of its kind in Michigan.
"Coupled with Dearborn’s intention to replenish and rejuvenate its downtowns through bringing housing and the arts and economic development objectives together and to bring affordable live/work space for artists," Kania says, "we’re confident we can achieve the necessary funding to complete this project," Kania says.
Source: Melissa Kania, executive assistant, East Dearborn Downtown Development Authority
Writer: Kim North Shine
Thursday, February 09, 2012
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
Thursday, December 22, 2011
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
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Regional mass transit champions, especially of train and light rail, received several pieces of good news in 2011 as Amtrak operators and bus service providers saw ridership hit record numbers. Funding added up, new stations opened and Woodward Avenue light rail moved as close as ever to leaving the station.
Metro Detroit suburbs liked what they saw and threw money and manpower behind studies and possible land acquisition into linking their main corridors, namely Woodward Avenue and possibly 8 Mile, to light rail or other regional mass transit system.
Of course, the Woodward Avenue Rail project has been put on hold in favor of a rapid bus transit plan... but the conversation deepens and most assuredly continues.
Note: The record numbers and the funding have been a "trend" since at least 2008, but 2012 might show us if this thing that has brought so much economic stimulus to other towns can happen in metro Detroit. It's why we posed this in 2011: If Dallas can do it, why not Detroit?
As train and bus ridership gorw, $47 million is committed to new transit options
http://www.metromodemedia.com/devnews/1020masstransit0229.aspx
Transform Woodward ponders light rail beyond Detroit
http://www.metromodemedia.com/devnews/0804woodlightrail0219.aspx
Woodward Avenue as linear city
http://www.metromodemedia.com/devnews/0609woodave0212.aspx
If Dallas Can Do It, Why Can't Detroit?
http://www.metromodemedia.com/features/dallasdetroitlightrail0218.aspx
Case for Detroit light rail grows with $25M federal grant, 23 percent growth in Amtrak ridership
http://www.metromodemedia.com/devnews/lightrailplans0195.aspx
Nearly $200M federal grant accelerates high speed rail in Metro Detroit
http://www.metromodemedia.com/devnews/0512highspeedrail0209.aspx
Next stop: Dearborn. New new train station pulling in
http://www.metromodemedia.com/devnews/0721dearborntrain0217.aspx
New transit center in Pontiac welcomes bus, train commuters
http://www.metromodemedia.com/devnews/0811pontiactransit0220.aspx
By Kim North Shine
Thursday, December 08, 2011
A recently completed survey of bus riders on six systems in Southeast Michigan will help transportation planners and system operators learn what's needed to better serve riders.
The last survey, a project of SEMCOG (Southeast Michigan Council of Governments) was completed in 2002 and much has changed since then.
"With all of the economic impacts that have happened recently, it's changed travel patterns, especially with transit," says Tom Bruff, transportation manager for SEMCOG's Plan Policy Development Group.
"By performing this survey we get to better understand what these travel patterns are and use the information to design a system-wide transportation plan."
While the focus was on bus riders, the information gathered could factor into planning for other forms of mass transportation and transportation dollars, especially as plans for light rail, train and similar transportation in Detroit, metro Detroit and Ann Arbor are moving further along.
The survey, conducted in person, asked 18,500 people their views on topics such as destinations, purpose of trips, and transportation methods to starting and ending points, as well as personal attributes. Surveys were taken from riders on Detroit Department of Transportation, Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation, Ann Arbor Transportation Authority, University of Michigan Transit Service, Detroit People Mover, Blue Water Area Transit and Lake Erie Transit.
"By performing this survey and getting more information on our fixed route system we're able to utilize it for other purposes, such as how it could be applied to light rail…We need to have the proper information to apply for dollars out there," Bruff says. "We also have to do the survey for compliance with receiving federal funds and also monitoring and improving air quality."
Only preliminary results of the survey, which was taken in 2010 and 2011 and completed in the spring, are available at this point. They are available ln SEMCOG's website and will be updated as new findings are released.
Among the preliminary findings:
* More than 222,000 bus boardings occur on the six systems each day.
* About half of transit usage occurs on 10 percent of the system
* 54 percent of trips were work and university related
* More than a third of riders were between 18-25
* 90 percent of riders did not get any fare subsidy.
*20 percent of riders are unemployed
*46 percent of riders did not have a valid driver’s license and nearly 52% had no access to any vehicle.
The information will be further broken down and analyzed to determine how much has changed since 2002 and to compare the findings to other cities, Bruff says.
"First and foremost it gives us more recent and relevant information that we can use and the transit operators can use to plan for changes in the transit system," Bruff says. "We'll take this information and include it in our travel demand forecast model…We'll put in transportation projects that are being planned…and determine how are those projects improving the system….
Bruff himself is one of metro Detroit's bus riders. "I go from Macomb County to downtown Detroit every day," he says. "I go by choice. There are a lot of riders who need affordable, reliable transportation because it's their only means of transportation, and there are a number of riders who are choice riders."
The goal of the survey is to serve them all.
Source: Tom Bruff, transportation manager for SEMCOG's Plan Policy Development Group
Writer: Kim North Shine
Thursday, October 20, 2011
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
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Chambers of commerce that previously focused primarily on their own ethnic constituencies are banding together, seeing power in numbers and a savings of time and money.
The newly formed Council of Ethnic Chambers of Commerce is made up of The
American Arab Chamber of Commerce, the
African Business Chamber of Commerce USA, the
Detroit Chinese Business Association, the
Indo-American Chamber of Commerce, the
Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce of Greater Detroit, the
Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the
African Caribbean Chamber of Commerce and the
Michigan Black Chamber of Commerce.
The group announced its formation this week and launched its website,
www.ethnicchambers.com.
Ahmad Chebbani, chairman of the new council, says joining together will bring a wider audience to the individual chambers as they join together on events, local projects, and trade missions on a plan to promote Michigan to the world.
"We're talking about a collective effort of a number of chambers of commerce that are all sincere about fostering economic growth," says Chebbani, who is chairman of the Arab American Chamber of Commerce and founder, president and CEO of
Omnex Accounting & Tax Services in Dearborn.
Together there can be collaboration, elimination of redundancies, discovery of best practices - or what works and what doesn't - and efforts made on a larger scale, he says. The council will meet regularly, he says, and perhaps most importantly learn more about how each group's interests and cultures come in to play.
"In my discussions with other chamber leaders I've learned so much about their cultures. Every business has a cultural background," he says. "If we want to be a global competitor we really have to understand these other communities."
Source: Ahmad Chebbani, chairman, Council of Ethnic Chambers of Commerce
Writer: Kim North Shine
Thursday, October 06, 2011
The
University of Michigan - Dearborn is working with the
Michigan Department of Transportation and two private companies to conduct research that could increase the number of contracts awarded to disadvantaged and minority-owned businesses.
UM-Dearborn's engineering school is also participating in the study of ways to promote such businesses. A $200,000 grant from MDOT is paying for the yearlong research headed by
UM-Dearborn's Center for Innovation Research - or iLabs - along with the college's
Connected Vehicle Proving Center.
"We will work with experts in the field to look at the ways MDOT is or could be promoting minority and disadvantaged programs," says Tim Davis, director of iLabs.
ASG Renaissance, a transportation engineering firm owned by Beth Ardisana, and
Somat Engineering, founded by India native Ramji Patel, make up the private arm of the project.
Together they all will examine the public and private methods of contracting, determine best practices, zero in on successes, and put them in the form of an action plan that will help state transportation officials understand what changes would be need internally and externally to add more such contracts, Davis says.
Source: Tim Davis, director of iLabs - Center for Innovation Research, University of Michigan-Dearborn
Writer: Kim North Shine
Thursday, October 06, 2011
Downtown Auburn Hills, following the approval of a new student housing complex with parking and retail space (the largest development of its kind), is celebrating the openings of at least six new businesses in the last three months.
The downtown business openings leave only one small vacant storefront. The openings are the joining of a deliberate effort of economic development and Chamber of Commerce officials and entrepreneurs looking for new ways of life in a changing economy, says Tom Tanghe, assistant city manager and director of human resources and labor relations.
"It's sort of a big deal in this economy," Tanghe says, "to have this many businesses opening at the same time."
The openings were becoming so regular that the city and the Chamber of Commerce tried a twist on the usual ribbon-cuttings by holding them on the same night at an event called a strolling ribbon cutting.
He says groundwork, mainly in the way of streetscape projects, was laid back in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
"We had some pretty good activity around 2002, 2003 and 2004. Residential condos, townhouses, office, retail," he recalls. "Around 2006, 2007, everything came to a screeching halt. We had a number of vacancies. Of course when the market crashed in '08 everything just stopped."
What changed, he says, was the arrival of "a lot of people with the entrepreneurial spirit. In some cases they have given up hope on the private sector and decided they'd seek out a different destiny," he says.
There are no franchises among the bunch of new businesses on Auburn Road: YourSource Management Group, HomeCrafters Home Improvement, Sound-Wave Music & Arts, Walker Self Defense Academy, Edge Men’s Grooming and the Pampered Pooch LLC, which grooms nearly 30 dogs a day.
In addition to the infrastructure being in place and entrepreneurs striking out on their own, newcomers were attracted by investments and grants from TIFA (Tax Increment Financing Authority), which captures taxes in designated areas to be used for economic development.
One program grants up to $30,000 in matching funds to help businesses build out their spaces. Facade improvement grants are also available.
“The city makes a strong case for new businesses to open their doors downtown,” says Denise Asker, executive director of the Auburn Hills Chamber of Commerce. “With an appealing mix of architecture, restaurants, shops, recurring community events, and access to free Wi-Fi, the commercial climate here couldn’t be better, whether companies are established entities or emerging enterprise.”
Source: Tom Tanghe, assistant city manager and director of human resources and labor relations; Denise Asker, executive director of the Auburn Hills Chamber of Commerce
Writer: Kim North Shine
Thursday, September 29, 2011
The University of Michigan-Dearborn launched a program this school year to introduce college students and recent graduates to the idea of franchising -- and entrepreneurship in general.
The College of Business, various colleges across campus, and outside organizations are participating in the program, which includes six campus events during the fall and winter semesters. The events will feature presentations by franchise owners and representatives from corporations that franchise. Other events will offer access to franchisors, scholarships and internships and more, much like a job fair.
The Business Franchising Initiative, says UM-Dearborn, is the first of its kind in Michigan. It's funded by a $25,000 grant from
MIIE, Michigan Initiative for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Part of the mission of the organization, which is a collaboration of public universities and the philanthropic community, is to strengthen ties between academia and industry and to encourage start up and small business growth.
"The hope is to encourage graduates to stay here in Michigan," says Tim Davis, director of iLabs at the
U-M Dearborn's Center for Innovation Research.
"We sort of see franchising as a method of entrepreneurship…It's a mechanism for finding supply contracts, building marketing materials…The nuts and bolts…the things that new business owners may not want to focus on or don't know how to implement," Davis says. "Franchising provides you all those structures. It's a great way to understand how to run a business."
Private partners in the initiative include Little Caesars, H&R Block, Great Harvest Bread Company, FranNet, Service Brands International, Grand Traverse Pie Co. and Biggby Coffee.
"We hope what this seed money can do is help us create a structure where we can duplicate this event," Davis says, "either on our campus or others' campuses."
Source: Tim Davis, director of iLabs at the University of Michigan-Dearborn
Writer: Kim North Shine
Thursday, September 22, 2011
The University of Michigan-Dearborn and a private developer are embarking on a project that would bring the first student housing to campus and also revive shuttered Ford Motor Co. property.
The city of Dearborn and the state of Michigan are supporting the Union at Dearborn development by approving discounted taxes and other incentives to help Urban Campus Communities, the developer, renovate and turn prominent, vacant buildings into student housing and a student activity center, says Barry Murray, director of economic and community development for the city of Dearborn.
"We are just thrilled about this," Murray says of the $47 million proposed project that could employ 20 people in full-time jobs and lead to numerous construction jobs.
The first phase of the project, he says, would renovate former research and testing facilities vacated by Ford Motor Co. when it began its downsizing. Three buildings ranging from one to four stories tall would house about 525 students, possibly by fall 2012, Murray says. A second phase, if it comes to pass, would add more housing, possibly another 300 beds. There is also talk of bringing student housing to downtown Dearborn, he says. One building in the first phase would also include a student union.
The buildings are located on Evergreen, on the ring road around Fairlane, across the street from the university. At 150,000 square feet, they represent 10 percent of the city's unused buildings and have been declared brownfields, which makes the project eligible for tax abatements, $2.34 million of which were approved last week by the
Michigan Economic Growth Authority.
Murray points out that UM-Dearborn is the only state school to have no student housing, something that market research by the school found to be a deterrent to choosing it over other schools with housing. He says that research shows the school could support 2,000-3,000 students in housing.
"This is a true green use for obsolete buildings," Murray says. "The best thing you can do for the environment is re-use buildings."
Beth Marmarelli, associate director for communications and marketing at UM-Dearborn, says enrollment numbers for this year will not be finalized until next week. The project is still in the planning stages, she says.
Sources: Barry Murray, director of economic and community development, city of Dearborn;
Beth Marmarelli, associate director for communications and marketing at U-M Dearborn
Writer: Kim North Shine
Thursday, September 01, 2011
Projects coming courtesy of the federal government will bring changes to streets, sidewalks and commercial areas in Grosse Pointe and Dearborn.
The changes, part of federal Transportation Enhancement Grants distributed by the Michigan Department of Transportation, will basically make busy areas of the two cities more pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly and ideally more attractive to locals and visitors.
The $575,105 Dearborn project will realign the Dix-Vernor business corridor and improve pedestrian safety. The realignment will change the angle at which Vernor Highway intersects Dix Avenue. In addition, a streetscape project will add ADA-compliant curb ramps, pedestrian stereo lighting, benches, trash receptacles and landscaping and also provide space for added parking. The city is paying $228,442 while the federal grants cover $342,663.
"Working with MDOT and Wayne County, we will be able to create a modern, pedestrian-friendly intersection that will be safer and more attractive to residents and visitors alike while boosting our business district," Dearborn Mayor John O'Reilly, Jr. says in a statement announcing the grants. "This is a great example of how a partnership between local and state government can set the stage for community improvements and economic growth."
In Grosse Pointe, a $969,029 project will also add ADA-compliant curb ramps, decorative sidewalks, bike racks, benches, trash receptacles, scored concrete crosswalks, landscaping and decorative lighting. The changes will improve pedestrian safety and mobility and improve the appearance of the neighborhood.
The city is paying $329,470, the federal government $639,559.
The grants fall under a federal law that requires 10 percent of federal surface transportation funds be used for transportation enhancement projects for community investment in projects such as streetscapes, bicycle paths and historic preservation.
Source: Jeff Cranson, director of communications, Michigan Department of Transportation; Grosse Pointe City Manager Peter Dame; Dearborn Mayor John O'Reilly, Jr.
Writer: Kim North Shine
Construction on a new train station in Dearborn could be weeks away now that several key agreements are signed.
The $28.2-million project formally known as the Dearborn Intermodal Passenger Rail Facility will be located on Michigan Avenue west of the Southfield Freeway and replace an old, outdated station that takes riders across the railroad tracks.
The new station will feature a bridge over the tracks.
"The bridge will be a safer way to cross," says Barry Murray, Dearborn's director of economic and community development.
The new station will be served by Amtrak and provide quick access to some of the city's top institutions, including Henry Ford Hospital, The University of Michigan at Dearborn, The Henry Ford and Greenfield Village, and the west end of downtown.
Murray says conference calls this week with federal rail officials will hopefully result in the release of the federal funds that are part of an economic stimulus grant.
Key agreements that were reached and required for the release of the money include the hiring of the architectural firm,
Neumann Smith, and the construction manager, Tooles & Clark.
"We're very hopeful the grant will be obligated sometime very soon, maybe 30 days is a good number to put on it," Murray says. "It's really hard to say for sure. We've been saying 30 days for a long time, but I think we're really close."
Source: Barry Murray, director of economic and community development, city of Dearborn
Writer: Kim North Shine
Dearborn is showing lots of love for the arts as community development groups carry out plans to shape the city's identity around creativity and culture.
There is the addition of three new outdoor sculptures to join the eight already on display as part of the
Midwest Sculpture Initiative in the east, west, and center parts of the city. After rounding up interest and determining there is a market in Dearborn, the national nonprofit,
Artspace, is working with the city, development officials, and arts groups to build a live and work space for artists.
The project, now entering the third phase, could be at least two years away from completion. The next step is to find an ideal piece of property. If the goals are accomplished, it would be a magnet for other commercial and residential development.
Pockets of Perception is bringing student art into the public eye, letting them express not only their creativity but learn the nuts of bolts of working with local government and business. A Youth Arts Festival was held earlier this month.
DearbornSoup came to the city in March, putting out the artists welcome sign by sponsoring soup nights where the money paid for soup goes toward sponsoring entrepreneurs in the arts.
The city is also giving a shout-out to the musical arts with the
West Dearborn Downtown Development Authority's Friday Nites in the Park, opening June 17, at Muirhead Plaza each week. Jazz on the Ave, the Wednesday night concerts sponsored by the
East Dearborn DDA, come to Dearborn City Hall Park, starting July 13.
"We've got so much going on," says Melissa Kania of the East Dearborn DDA. "We've just got to get people here and keep them here."
Source: Melissa Kania, spokesperson, East Dearborn Development Authority
Writer: Kim North Shine
Metro Detroit and Michigan's high speed rail system moved into the fast lane this week with the announcement of nearly $200 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation to improve lines from Dearborn to Kalamazoo.
The grant goes toward the purchase of tracks, signals and other rail infrastructure that will address congestion points and separate rail and freight trains -- currently the reason train travel is slower than ideal. The changes will allow trains to travel up to 110-mph along certain portions of the line. This will also decrease the travel time between Chicago and Detroit by one hour on what is known as the
Amtrak Wolverine line. The 135-mile-long corridor will receive $196.5 million in funding while a separate $2.8 million will pay for a new train and bus station in Ann Arbor to serve Amtrak and other local transit providers.
Michigan will also receive funding to purchase the latest in locomotives and coaches as part of a joint application with Illinois, Wisconsin and Missouri. The new cars will be added to Amtrak's Wolverine, Blue Water, and Pere Marquette lines.
The projects are expected to start next year and be completed by 2013 or 2014. Once the new rail network is built, Michigan workers and residents will have greater access to high speed rail than most states. According to the Michigan Municipal League, 69 percent of Michigan residents and 71 percent of employers would be within 15 miles of a station, including Pontiac, Detroit, Dearborn, Ann Arbor, Jackson, Albion, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek.
The announcement comes at a time when ridership on the trains is rising substantially, an illustration that high speed rail is desired by Americans and will be a part of American life across the nation, as Federal Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said during the accelerated high rail funding announcement in Detroit Monday.
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and other transportation advocates say the high speed rail projects will mean jobs and economic development, but critics complain that Michigan is not a high speed rail or mass transit kind of market and the money is a waste.
"Accelerated rail service has the ability to enhance our economy, environment and overall quality of life," Gov. Snyder said in a statement. "An investment of this magnitude can spur economic development in our communities with rail stations, and provide access to a 21st century rail system that will help Michigan citizens compete in a global economy. Reliable, fast train service is attractive to businesses that want to locate or expand near it. This investment in our rail system is critical to Michigan's recovery."
Michigan Municipal League CEO and Executive Director Dan Gilmartin says the funding caps many years of working in unison.
"Here in Michigan, we have been fortunate enough to have strong bi-partisan support for high-speed rail. Our political leaders on both sides of the aisle fully understand how important this money is to creating jobs, increasing affordable transportation options, and jump-starting our economy."
Source: Sara Wurfel, spokesperson for Gov. Rick Snyder; Dan Gilmartin, executive director, Michigan Municipal League
Writer: Kim North Shine
They built it and they're coming. The Dearborn Town Center, an urban redevelopment that opened last December on the site of the vacant Montgomery Ward's department store in east Dearborn, the city's downtown, is attracting new tenants and customers, bringing on a revival as hoped.
"There's been a significant uptick in business there," says Melissa Kania, director of the
East Dearborn Downtown Development Authority. "There is so much interest there."
The main tenants of the Dearborn Town Center at the corner of Schaefer and Michigan Roads are the Oakwood Health System and Midwest Health and their 500 employees. The Kresge Eye Institute is located there as well.
Since then, the center has spun off eating establishments, coffee shops, and more to the 162,000 feet of office and retail space that was to be used just for that, Kania says.
This summer comes the downtown's first parking deck, one outfitted with energy efficient lighting and car-charging stations. With plans for public artwork through the Midwest Sculpture Initiative and plans to create an artists' live, work, and sell space, Kania says, "we feel like so many great things will keep happening to attract more and more people to Dearborn."
Source: Melissa Kania, director of the East Dearborn Downtown Development Authority
Writer: Kim North Shine
While population declines were the mostly the rule, according to U.S. Census data released last week, many metro Detroit communities are using news of their population gains to lure business and attract more residents.
Sterling Heights, Macomb County's second largest city and the state's fourth largest, and Rochester, one of the fastest growing cities in Michigan and Oakland County's fastest with an increase of 21.4 percent from 2000-2010, have already hailed their growth as harbingers of future prosperity.
Rochester officials are calling their population jump from 10,439 in 2000 to 12,711 in 2010 evidence that a formula of mixed housing options, a vibrant downtown, access to trails and water and a solid commercial base has worked and is reason to show other prospective businesses and residents that the city is on solid ground and poised for economic prosperity.
Sterling Heights, which grew 4.2 percent from 124,471 in 2000 to 129,699, in 2010, is spreading word about how it got here.
"Sterling Heights is known as one of the safest cities in America," Mayor Richard Notte says. "Businesses have seen fit to reinvest, build and relocate in our city, as witnessed by $1 billion in development over the past year. Sterling Heights is still experiencing a strong housing market with two residential developments in full swing. And finally, residents choose the city because of our excellent public school systems and proximity to world-class higher education opportunities."
Other population gainers include Birmingham, Dearborn, Macomb Township, Brownstown Township, and Romulus. Losers include Royal Oak, Pontiac, Ferndale, Warren, Mt. Clemens and Livonia.
Overall, Southeast Michigan lost 2.7 percent of its population, dropping from 4,833,368 in 2000 to 4,704,743 in 2010. However, the number of households remained nearly the same.
A large part of the loss is due to a 25 percent population decline in Detroit. According to
SEMCOG, the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, population of many of the nations' cities declined. However, many of those same urban centers are experiencing an economic rebirth, according to SEMCOG.
Wayne County, Michigan's most populous county with 1.8 million people, lost 11.7 percent of its residents. Its neighbors in the tri-county area, Macomb and Oakland, saw population gains. SEMCOG's Southeast Michigan figures cover seven counties in addition to these three: Livingston, Monroe, St. Clair and Washtenaw.
In metro Detroit, Oakland County came up with a 0.7 percent increase in the 10-year span while Macomb registered a 6.7 percent gain.
Whether the population gains were minimal or substantial, communities are celebrating the upticks and awaiting anxiously a demographic breakdown, namely age groups which point to a community's attractiveness and chance for thriving. Those numbers will be released by the
U.S. Census Bureau this summer.
Source: SEMCOG, city of Sterling Heights and Mayor Richard Notte, Rochester City Manager Jaymes Vettraino
Writer: Kim North Shine
An innovative program that takes energy efficiency and renewable energy projects into Michigan schools is expanding, offering 90 new schools a share of $4.4 million.
Energy Works Michigan, an arm of the Ann Arbor-based
Ecology Center, awarded its first round of $3.5 million in Michigan Renewable Schools grants in November 2009 and will distribute the next round in September to schools that are selected as good candidates to undergo energy efficiency audits and implement new energy programs. The next round will include colleges and universities, in addition to K-12 schools.
Winners use the money to cut energy costs, install solar and wind energy-generating systems, and to implement energy efficiency and renewable energy studies in the classroom. The outcome is not only energy savings but a decrease in emissions into the environment as well as educated students who ideally will change their energy consumption ways.
The
Michigan Public Service Commission provides the money for what is seen as "a pretty unique program…There's not another organization doing this on a such a large scale," says Kendal Kuneman, project associate for Energy Works Michigan.
Energy Works Michigan administers the program that has its employees showing schools how to be more energy efficient, how to install solar panels or wind turbines and training teachers in renewable energy and energy efficiency curricula.
Currently 67 schools, including Allen Park Middle School, the Advanced Technology Academy in Dearborn, Pierce Middle School in Grosse Pointe Park, the South Lyon School District, and several Detroit Public Schools, including Cass Tech High School, are participating.
"All of the projects are currently being wrapped up. Most are completed by now," Kuneman says. Experience from those projects will be used to make the next phase of the project even more effective, she says.
The grants help pay to send engineers into schools to identify energy waste and show the schools how to correct it. Once a school is deemed energy efficient, it can choose to install a small, medium, or large solar or wind energy generating system.
The schools provide matching money to their grants.
"We prioritize how to get a return on investment in 5-8 years," Kuneman says. "So schools are seeing some significant cost savings. Some are getting return in less than five years."
Source: Kendal Kuneman, project associate, Energy Works Michigan
Writer: Kim North Shine
A system of regional mass transit in southeast Michigan has moved further down the track thanks to a $25 million federal grant and an Amtrak ridership survey that shows the number of train commuters continues to increase.
"I believe that southeast Michigan is as close as it has ever been to implementing higher levels of transit," says Carmine Palombo, transportation director for SEMCOG, the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments.
He says SEMCOG and the Michigan Department of Transportation "continue moving forward on the commuter rail project from Ann Arbor to Detroit. Amtrak ridership on the Pontiac to Chicago line is up significantly. These are all positive signs that could lead to enhanced transit being in our future in the not too distant future."
The positive prognosis comes after the award of a $25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation for the building of the Detroit Light Rail Line. The grant comes from the Transportation Investment Generating Recovery - TIGER, a program of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.
The first phase is the construction of a light rail line that runs 3.4 miles along Woodward and has 12 stations connecting downtown Detroit to Grand Blvd in the New Center area. The second phase would extend the light rail line 5.9 miles from Grand Blvd to 8 Mile Road near the Michigan State fairgrounds.
Separately, according to a report from the Michigan Dept of Transportation (MDOT), Amtrak ridership and ticket revenue increased again.
From October to December, 130,683 passengers took trains on the Pontiac/Detroit-Chicago corridor -- or Wolverine line -- for an increase of 22.7 percent from a year ago. Ticket revenue increased 26 percent to $4,949,889, according to MDOT. Ridership and revenue also increased on the Blue Water train that goes between Port Huron and East Lansing and the Pere Marquette line between Grand Rapids and Chicago.
Janet Foran, a spokesperson for MDOT, which helps fund the Pere Marquette and Blue Water lines, says "certainly there is a lot more effort in southeast Michigan to get new projects off to a start, one being the Woodward light rail line…Clearly there is much more defined interest train travel."
Palombo and Foran say, as always, funding will have to follow the interest.
Source: Carmine Palombo, director of transportation for SEMCOG and Janet Foran, spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Transportation
Writer: Kim North Shine
The deadline for a survey seeking input for an Artspace project in Dearborn has been extended to Feb. 1.
Artspace is a national nonprofit that works with communities to design affordable housing and workspace for artists and arts and cultural organizations.
The survey is the second phase of the Artspace Dearborn project and seeks to determine the interest level in designing an Artspace development in the city and learn what kinds of artists and businesses might locate to a place like this, one that could give an economic and lifestyle enhancement to the city. The survey can be taken by anyone, anywhere.
"We hope to hear from artists who say 'this could make a difference in my life," says Teri Deaver, Artspace's director of consulting and new projects.
Responses to the survey, which was initially due Jan. 4, might have been lower due to the holidays, she says, so the deadline was extended.
In Dearborn, "the vision is to create a place for the art industry, small businesses, entrepreneurs, start-ups, arts organizations, cultural organizations, architectural organizations...The vision is to offer not only affordable housing but affordable space for the creative industry."
There clearly is already interest from city officials, including the East Dearborn Downtown Development Authority, as well as artists, art groups and funders, Deaver says. The survey results will be used for a recommendation to be presented to interested parties, probably around May 10, she says.
"We try not to move forward unless we think there is a level of interest to make the project successful."
Often Artspace projects can be a draw for re-locaters.
"You have artists who left because there wasn't a place for them, and when they hear about this it can encourage them to come back."
Source: Teri Deaver, director of consulting and new projects for Artspace
Writer: Kim North Shine
The new Panera Cares Community Cafe in Dearborn isn't your usual soup and sandwich spot.
Well, sure, there's soup, and sandwiches, and other items, too, just like a typical Panera Bread Co. But patrons pay what they can based on what they can afford and suggested donations for each item on the menu. This way, everyone who needs a meal gets one, and those who can afford to give a little more have the opportunity to do so.
Kate Antonacci, a Panera spokesperson, says the company had spent months researching models for food distribution, including food pantries and soup kitchens, and decided they wanted to do something that looked and felt just like a regular Panera. The signs are different, but the menu is just like the Panera everyone recognizes. There are donation bins, and they can break a bill or run a credit card, just like a regular restaurant. "For the most part, it does feel the same," Antonacci says.
She explains that they wanted to offer their full menu and be self-sustaining, so the location had to be in a place where some people would be able to give the recommendation donation or more. But they also wanted it to be available to people who need it.
"Dearborn was this great mix for us," she says. "It's near public transportation, it gets a good flow of people who come in and out -- we felt it was the right place for us there."
The Dearborn location is Panera's second Panera Cares; the first was in Missouri, and a third is set to open in Portland next month. Panera Cares doesn't have any figures for the Dearborn store yet, but Antonacci says the cafe in Missouri runs at about 80-85 percent of the retail costs, which is enough to be self-sustaining. There's no way to tell for sure, but she estimates that about 60 percent of patrons pay the suggested amount, 20 percent more, and 20 percent less, with some paying significantly less or nothing.
"We wanted there to be a certain level of anonymity, so people don't feel like they're being watched," she says. "It gives them the opportunity to give what they want -- the exact amount is up to them."
The Missouri cafe is so successful that the company is implementing a program to give at-risk youth on-the-job training to learn work and life skills. "The ultimate goal is to use the space and skills we have to do something even better than feeding people," she says.
She explains that the Panera Foundation, which runs the cafe, is not part of the corporation any more, hence the name change. And although Panera already donates money for food distribution and donates its leftover product, "We weren't directly interacting with the people we were helping," she says.
Source: Kate Antonacci, spokesperson for Panera
Writer: Kristin Lukowski
A partnership between the East Dearborn Downtown Development Authority and national nonprofit Artspace may bring about some creative art space for the community.
But first, you have to take the survey.
Artists working in all media, and those involved with arts organizations, are asked to take a survey to help Artspace developers understand the living, studio, and business space for the greater Dearborn area's art community. The survey went live earlier this week with a public launch and will continue through Jan. 4.
Melissa Kania, a spokesperson for the East Dearborn Downtown Development Authority, says in an e-mail that Dearborn has a deep-rooted and well-established arts and cultural community, including the Dearborn Symphony Orchestra, Artist Society of Dearborn, and the Dearborn Community Arts Council, not to mention attractions like The Henry Ford and the Arab American National Museum.
The idea of a shared art space came about about two years ago, when former EDDDA executive director Michael Boettcher engaged Artspace.
"These activities contribute to the continued growth of the arts community, thus enhancing the cultural and economic vitality of the surrounding community," Kania says. "We invited Artspace to Dearborn to begin the process of building community support for the creation of affordable live/work space for artists and arts organizations and nonprofit organizations -- creative businesses, if you will."
The survey's primary goal is to feel out the size of the market for affordable live/work space, as well as the need for working studio and rehearsal space.
"An Artspace project would be a catalyst for redevelopment as well as a critical need for artists and their families," she says. "The impact of an Artspace project could be profound in Dearborn, particularly where multiple vacant or underdeveloped and underutilized sites exist and where a creative community has already taken root. These kinds of projects often provide a sign of progress that can act as an additional incentive for other kinds of development."
She can take questions about the survey at (313) 943-3141.
Source: Melissa Kania, East Dearborn Downtown Development Authority
Writer: Kristin Lukowski
Michigan will be receiving $150 million to help develop a high-speed rail corridor between Kalamazoo and Dearborn.
News came out Monday that the High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Grant Program will be awarding the money, along with a $3.2 million planning grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Michigan has the existing rail lines from Chicago to Detroit, but is lacking the upgrades to get the trains up to a higher speed.
Although it won't be announced until today as to how the $150 million will be allocated, Carmine Palombo, transportation director for the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, says the announcement was great news overall. "Being able to make that sort of investment in that high-speed rail corridor is great," he says.
Among the beneficiaries will be Amtrak and freight rail, but also everyone trying to establish a commuter rail service between Detroit and Ann Arbor, too. One project that was identified as necessary was the connection west of Detroit, where there is consistently a bottleneck between usage of the track by freight and passenger services. Fixing that alone would take about 5-7 minutes off the time between Detroit and Ann Arbor, Palombo says.
"That's a pretty good chunk of time that would be saved as a result of this project," he says.
It was also announced in January that Michigan will be receiving $40 million for train station development.
Source: Carmine Palombo, transportation director for SEMCOG
Writer: Kristin Lukowski
The Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority will be getting some funding to help clean debris from the Fordson Island area.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative has awarded a $150,000 grant to the Port Authority for the Dearborn-area Fordson Island Oxbow Restoration and Debris Removal Program. The project was one of eight selected nationwide out of 50 applicants, and was the only project selected in the Great Lakes.
The focus of the program is to provide federal and technical assistance to community-based activities to remove debris from living, marine resource habitats. The program also promotes stewardship and a conservation ethic for marine species and habitats.
Fordson Island was created in 1917 by the dredging and channeling of the Rouge River to the Ford Rouge Plant. The dredging provided a deeper channel, which allowed the Ford Motor Company to transport submarine chasers (Eagle Boats) from the Rouge River to the deeper water of the Detroit River during World War II. Over time, debris from commercial, industrial, and recreational use of the island and surrounding waterway accumulated in the shallow river west of the island.
Through the project, the Port Authority hopes to remove boats and other debris by first conducting an ecological and habitat survey, shoreline cleanup, and monitoring the cleaned-up areas to see how quickly more debris accumulates.
Source: Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority
Writer: Kristin Lukowski
Ford's Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne will be getting a renewable energy transformation.
The plant will be converted into one of Michigan's largest solar power generation systems, teaming up with DTE Energy and Xtreme Power to capture renewable energy. The 500-kilowatt solar photovoltaic panel system will be installed as a team effort between Ford and Detroit Edison, which will allow the facility to store 2 million watt-hours of energy, enough to power 100 homes for a year, via batteries. Xtreme Power, of Austin, Texas, is supplying the on-site energy storage and power management system.
That energy will help power the production of fuel-efficient small cars. A secondary, smaller solar energy system will be integrated at a later date to power lighting systems at Michigan Assembly.
Jennifer Moore, manager of corporate news for Ford Motor Company, says Ford looks at the energy it uses not only in its cars, but in its facilities that make cars. "As part of our overall sustainability efforts, one of the things we take a look at is energy efficiency in our facilities around the world," she says. "We use alternative energies in a number of our facilities around the globe. The use of renewable energy is something we've looked at for a long time."
The solar energy installation is part of Detroit Edison's pilot SolarCurrents program, which calls for photovoltaic systems to be installed on customer rooftops or property. This project was funded by a $3 million investment from Detroit Edison's SolarCurrents program, a $2 million grant from the Michigan Public Service Commission, and approximately $800,000 from Ford.
The systems at Michigan Assembly are expected to save an estimated $160,000 per year in energy costs. Installation begins later this year.
Ford also will install 10 electric vehicle-charging stations at Michigan Assembly, for electric switcher trucks that transport parts between facilities, also provided by Xtreme Power.
Moore says Ford is also investigating whether car batteries have a second life as storage units. And, while vehicles make the obvious environmental footprint, the automaker still seeks to lessen that footprint and make its facilities more energy-efficient.
"It is genuinely part of our overall sustainability efforts as a company," she says.
Source: Jennifer Moore, manager of corporate news for Ford Motor Company
Writer: Kristin Lukowski
For the city of Dearborn, a $50,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Energy means a plan.
A climate action plan, that is, to take an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions for both the community and the government and then plan for ways to reduce them, says Dearborn's sustainability coordinator, Dave Norwood. The specifics will depend on the city department -- legal will have different ways to be more energy-efficient than, say, the department of public works -- and the city hopes to work with large corporate partners around town, such as Oakwood Hospital and Medical Center, and AAA.
Among the things they'll be measuring include vehicle miles traveled and electricity consumed, Norwood says. "We're looking to save the taxpayers dollars, and be more efficient with taxpayer dollars," he says.
In all, the DNRE is awarding $246,547 in Community Pollution Prevention (P2) Grant funding to five municipalities for projects that focus on climate action planning. Dearborn, Hazel Park, Southgate, Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor are all grant recipients, receiving about $50,000 each.
The grant requires municipalities to develop a greenhouse gas inventory and a plan that addresses emissions, climate, and energy challenges. The cities will be required to match the state funds by at least 25 percent.
Norwood says the city would also assess itself on bike-ability and walk-ability and look at the zoning ordinances to see how greenhouse gas emissions are affected through the development of neighborhoods. The city also hopes to form a mayor's environmental commission for information about ideas and trends.
The things that could be coming to Dearborn down the line include geothermal heat, solar panels, and boilers that need to be replaced, depending on what's most needed and has a quick payback. And
the city plans to utilize urban gardens and farms that
are already in place.
Norwood points out that when he started more than a year ago, he had no budget. "Now we can start doing more, leveraging dollars in a wiser fashion," he says. "This P2 grant is a great opportunity. This is going to be very good for the city."
Source: Dave Norwood, sustainability coordinator, city of Dearborn
Writer: Kristin Lukowski
The walls for the Dearborn Town Center are
up, the parking garage is up, and work continues on the interior to ready it for an end-of-the-year opening.
The
162,000-square-foot building will offer a mix of office and retail space, the vast majority of which will be occupied by 500 workers from
Oakwood Healthcare System and Midwest Health Services. Two hundred of those employees will be new.
Progress has
continued to the point that the project looks finished from the
outside, says Barry Murray, economic and community development director
for the city of Dearborn. "Both the building and
the parking deck are up, and the bridge between them is up," he says.
"All the exterior finishes are close to being complete."
Murray's recent tour revealed the medical suites to be in various stages of completion: Some
stud walls were bare, some had drywall, and some rooms have been painted. The
timeline still calls for the project to be finished in December or
January.
The Dearborn Town Center replaces the recently demolished Montgomery Ward department
store. Montgomery Ward opened the store in 1937, expanding it to 93,000
square feet. It went belly-up in 2001 and had been vacant until its
demolition.
The
brick and stone facade and glass gives the new structure a look that's
not overpowering, in Murray's opinion. "I think it blends well with city hall
and other buildings in the areas," he says. "I think it's a very important architectural design, and
for an important corner."
Murray also appreciates the building of a 530-car
public parking garage, which is a more efficient use of space than
surface parking. "That's really one piece of the puzzle, trying to
create an urban environment that people will come out and enjoy," he says.
Source: Barry
Murray, economic and community development director for the city of Dearborn
Writer: Kristin Lukowski
Oakwood Healthcare System is making an expensive and expansive upgrade to its Heritage Hospital in Taylor.
The Dearborn-based health-care provider is renovating and expanding its surgical center. The $31 million project will improve orthopedic care, with a focus on joint replacement technology and clinical services.
"Heritage Hospital hasn't had a major improvement to its operating rooms since it was built," says Jeff Gielniak, director of architecture and construction for Oakwood Healthcare System. "This replaces the operating rooms with state-of-the-art technology."
The new and improved surgical center will feature 12 patient suites, eight operating rooms, and 40 private pre- and post-operative rooms. There will also be a new dedicated entrance with a canopy, parking lot, common areas, and registration suites for all scheduled patients and guests.
"It's a major change to the campus that allows us to take the hospital to the next level," Gielniak says.
Source: Jeff Gielniak, director of architecture and construction for Oakwood Healthcare System
Writer: Jon Zemke
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
The future of the Henry Ford Estate in Dearborn is secured now that the University of Michigan-Dearborn has worked out an agreement to transfer control of the historic structure in Dearborn to the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House.
Ownership will transfer over the next 15 months, until July of next year. In the meantime a group of advisors, including historic restoration architectural firm Chambers, Murphy, Burge, will confer on the best strategy for preserving the historic site.
"All of the plans will be coming together over the next year, including the plans for the capital campaign to pay for it," says Ann Fitzpatrick, vice president of communications for the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House.
The estate will close in July of 2011 to allow for restoration work on its buildings and grounds to begin. It will reopen in phases to celebrate milestones in Ford Family history: Henry Ford's 150th birthday in 2013, the Ford Estate's 100th anniversary in 2015, and Clara Ford's 150th birthday in 2017.
"It's a great resource now," says Ken Kettenbeil, director of communications for the University of Michigan-Dearborn. "It will be an even better resource when it reopens in 2013."
Source: Ann Fitzpatrick, vice president of communications for the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House, and Ken Kettenbeil, director of communications for the University of Michigan-Dearborn
Writer: Jon Zemke
The East Dearborn Downtown Development Authority is taking steps to set up an arts district in the city's eastern center.
Downtown leaders see the creation of an arts district as an important tool to both help encourage economic development and to raise the quality of life in the city's eastern downtown, which centers around the Michigan Avenue and Schaeffer Road intersection.
"We have so many vacancies downtown," says Melissa Kania, who is spear heading the project for the East Dearborn DDA. "Why not create pop-up galleries? If this building is empty, why not lease it to this artist for a short time and create a gallery?"
That could create more foot traffic for local retail businesses. Local leaders also think it will attract new economy-based entrepreneurs and businesses because the young people behind them often run in the same circles with artists.
The DDA is currently working with Artspace to see if it can create some inexpensive space for artists and other creatively inclined people. One possibility is the former Kroger building, which could serve as a central location for local creatives.
"This is all very conceptual right now," Kania says.
That doesn't mean a good bit of work hasn't gone into it. The DDA recently revealed three sculptures in its downtown to help kick off the effort. The sculptures come from a recent offering of eight pieces from the Midwest Sculpture Initiative. The other five are in Dearborn's western downtown.
Source: Melissa Kania, administrative assistant with the East Dearborn Downtown Development Authority
Writer: Jon Zemke
Dearborn will jump into the next level of recycling when the city switches its pick-up system to single-stream.
The City Council approved the switch, which will allow residents to put all of their recycling into one container. It will also allow for more materials to be recycled. City officials expect the current recycling rate of 20-30 percent of waste to double.
"It would be great to see it double," says Dave Norwood, sustainability coordinator for the city of Dearborn. "We did a pilot test area and it doubled."
The city is going from collecting just No. 1-2 plastics to No. 1-7, including the rarely recycled No. 3. It plans to begin disbursing the new recycling containers this week and move forward with the switch in July.
Among the incentives for going single stream are making it easier for residents to use, meaning more is recycled, expansion of the recycling list, and reduced logistical costs.
Among the other cities that use single-stream recycling are Austin, Texas and Baltimore. Ann Arbor made the switch earlier this year.
Source: Dave Norwood, sustainability coordinator for the city of Dearborn
Writer: Jon Zemke
Ford is sticking yet another sustainability feather in its driving hat by becoming the first automaker to join the Water Disclosure Project.
A spin-off of the Carbon Disclosure Project, the idea is to manage the shrinking water supply by setting up a clearing house for the world's largest firms to gather information on water usage, management, and risks.
The Carbon Disclosure Project does the same thing with greenhouse gas emissions. Ford is a member of that effort and has cut its energy use and CO2 emissions by 34 and 44 percent, respectively. Ford's new goal is to reduce new-vehicle greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. and Europe 30 percent by 2020.
"Reducing water use means that plants use less energy pumping and treating water, which would reduce carbon footprint," Susan Rokosz, senior environmental engineer for Ford, said in a prepared statement. "Ford is also pursuing new technologies in which reductions in water use go hand-in-hand with reductions in energy use, such as Minimum Quantity Lubrication (MQL). MQL lubricates cutting tools with a fine spray of oil. Conventional wet machining, by contrast, requires pumping millions of gallons of a mixture of metal-working fluids and water to cool and lubricate the cutting tools."
The Dearborn-based automaker has also been hard at work on water conservation. Between 2000 and 2008, Ford reduced its global H2O usage by 56 percent, or 9.5 billion gallons. It accomplished this by tracking and minimizing consumption during plant downtimes, optimizing cooling tower operations, and investing in advanced technologies.
Source: Susan
Rokosz, senior environmental engineer for Ford
Writer: Jon Zemke
Ford is pushing green building forward by lowering the energy consumption of its computer systems.
The Dearborn-based automaker has implemented the PC Power Management program, which centrally manages the settings on Windows laptops and desktop computers. An estimated 60 percent of employees don't power down their computers when they leave at night, so the program does it for them. It is also expected to increase
worker efficiency by running
software updates during off-peak hours.
Ford is implementing the system in its North American offices this year and its world-wide offices in 2011. The move is expected to save the company $1.2 million annually in power costs alone, equivalent to reducing its carbon footprint by an estimated 16,000 to 25,000 metric tons annually.
This initiative is part of Ford's ongoing process of making its buildings, both office and manufacturing, more energy efficient. That policy has allowed it to earn the EPA's ENERGY STAR Award for five straight years. The company has accomplished this with simple solutions, such as switching to CFL bulbs and installing electronic thermostats.
Ford has reduced its energy consumption by 5 percent, saving $16
million, since 2008. Energy use has fallen by 35 percent since 2000.
Source: Ford
Writer: Jon Zemke
The city of Dearborn is looking at taking on a number of green initiatives ranging from enhanced recycling to LED streetlights and has six figures worth of federal grant money to get it started.
The city received a $250,000 federal grant (thank you federal stimulus package) last year to determine the feasibility for a number of green initiatives. Those options include possibly establishing a waste-to-energy plant in the city, going to single-stream recycling, and installing LED streetlights.
Only a small part of that $250,000 grant has been used. That grant is also the first part of a $970,800 grant to help implement some of these green initiatives and create a sustainability position in the city.
The waste-to-energy plant isn't your normal dirty Detroit-style incinerator. Dearborn is looking at a gasification plans that doesn't actually burn the refuse. The city is also looking at an anerobic digestor for its sludge waste.
Installing 300-350 LED streetlights in its neighborhoods is another option. LED streetlights, which use a fraction of the electricity and last longer than incandescent light bulbs, are the green cause de jour. Ann Arbor has grabbed numerous headlines with its efforts to install these lights throughout its downtown. Pontiac has also installed LEDs, and a number of other cities such as Ferndale, Wyandotte, and Detroit have toyed with the idea.
Dearborn is also planning to switch to single-stream recycling. That is where recyclers put all of their recycling into one container (no more sorting) and the city sorts it at the recycling plant.
"The money could be used to buy the recycling cars," says David Norwood, sustainability coordinator for the city of Dearborn.
Source: David Norwood, sustainability coordinator for the city of Dearborn
Writer: Jon Zemke
Ford is making sustainability more than about the automobiles it produces. It's also about where it sells them.
The Dearborn-based automaker has launched its Go Green Dealership Sustainability Program. The idea is to work with dealerships to implement energy efficient technologies and upgrades to save them money, improve their image, and shrink their carbon footprint.
Ford is partnering with the Rocky Mountain Institute, an organization recognized as a leader in energy-efficiency solutions, to help develop the pilot program. The program will make recommendations to dealerships and help with their implementation.
"Right now we have three dealers who are helping with the pilot program," says Steve Kinkade, a spokesman for Ford, adding those dealerships are in Nevada, Florida and New York.
The first step is undertaking a comprehensive energy assessment from sustainability experts at Ford. This will provide ideas to improve energy efficiency and to make the businesses more sustainable. Ford then assists the dealerships at implementing these changes.
These improvements can range from installing LED lights to utilizing highly-efficient heating and cooling systems to adding insulation. One of the participating dealerships has developed a system where rainwater is incorporated into its car wash. The hope is that these long-term decisions will prove fruitful for both Ford and its dealerships for years to come.
Source: Steve Kinkade, spokesman for Ford
Writer: Jon Zemke
The quality of a building doesn't always revolve around its design. Sometimes it's about the amenities inside.
That's an idea that Oakwood Hospital & Medical Center is pushing with its new InTouch program. The health-care provider is providing free laptops to people in its Dearborn waiting rooms. The idea was implemented after a number of patients, their families, and staff requested it.
"People need to surf the web and do work when they are spending time in the waiting room," says Ioan Duca, director of service excellence and corporate volunteer service at Oakwood Hospital & Medical Center.
The computers are PCs but can also facilitate programs for Macs. Oakwood plans to expand the program to its other hospitals by the end of the year, including Oakwood Annapolis Hospital in Wayne, Oakwood Southshore Medical Center in Trenton, and Oakwood Heritage Hospital in Taylor.
Source: Ioan Duca, director of service excellence and corporate volunteer service at Oakwood Hospital & Medical Center
Writer: Jon Zemke
Dearborn and Birmingham are the big winners when it comes to acquiring federal funds for mass transit projects.
The two Metro Detroit suburbs and Battle Creek will split $40 million in federal stimulus funds to build or improve their train stations along the Detroit-Chicago railroad line, commonly known as the Wolverine Line. How that money will be split has not been determined yet.
"We're hopeful we'll get the full amount," says Barry Murrary, economic and community development director for the city of Dearborn.
Dearborn is planning to invest $28 million to move its Amtrak station closer to a new building near The Henry Ford. That facility would facilitate both trains, buses, cars, bicyclists and pedestrians. It is also seen as a key stop in the Detroit-Ann Arbor commuter rail line.
Birmingham also has similar designs for a new multi-modal transit station. That $7 million project would build a station that can also facilitate train, bus, car, bicycle and pedestrian traffic. It is planned to go up in Birmingham's Rail District, an area that borders Troy and would serve as a stop on the planned northern expansion of the Detroit-Ann Arbor commuter rail line into Oakland County.
Source: Barry Murrary, economic and community development director for the city of Dearborn
Writer: Jon Zemke
--This article originally appeared on April 30, 2009
A big development project is starting to come down the final stretch of long road, now that ground has broken for the Dearborn Town Center.
City officials have been working on this development at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Schaefer Road since the economy was roaring and everyone's house was worth more than their mortgage. Construction workers are expected to begin work on the 162,000-square-foot, mixed-use building next week and finish up by the end of 2010.
"We are very excited, especially with everything that has gone on with the credit markets and banks," says Barry Murrary, economic and community development director for the city of Dearborn.
The Dearborn Town Center will mainly serve as the home for Oakwood Healthcare System and Midwest Health Services. That will maintain the 300 jobs they have in Dearborn's east downtown and add another 200 positions. Those people will occupy 154,000 square feet of office space in the 3-story building. There will also be 8,000 square feet of ground floor retail space.
A 530-car public parking garage will also be constructed behind the building. Redico, the developer, is also looking at building 22,000 square feet of retail space in front of the Schafer side of the garage if it can get it leased before construction is done. Plans for senior housing behind the parking garage are still being considered for a future phase of the project.
"We'd like to see more of this mixed-use, walkable development in downtown," Murrary says.
The Dearborn Town Center replaces the old Montgomery Ward department store that was recently demolished. Montgomery Ward opened the store in 1937, expanding it into 93,000 square feet. It went belly-up in 2001 and has been vacant ever since.
Southfield-based Redico, the developer, originally planned to reuse much of the building in the redevelopment but decided against it after complications were discovered, such as a lack of space between floors and small windows. Redico also planned to move the historic clock from the Montgomery Ward building into the new building. However, the clock fell apart during demolition. Redico is now looking at putting in a replica clock in the Dearborn Town Center.
"It's really is a new chapter in development of downtown," Murrary says.
Source: Barry Murrary, economic and community development director for the city of Dearborn
Writer: Jon Zemke
The Westborn Market in downtown Dearborn is now whole, thanks to a recently completed expansion project.
George and Janette Anusbigian founded Westborn Market in 1963. It's still in the neighborhood and now calls 21755 Michigan Ave. home. It expanded to 12,000 square feet in 1983 plus another 8,000 square feet across the street in 2004.
The latest expansion adds 8,000 square feet to the main store. The across-the-street annex is closing now that the lease has run out. From now on, all of the store's functions will be handled under one roof, including a flower shop and deli counter.
"It's definitely added convenience for their customers," says Margaret Blohm, a spokeswoman for Westborn Market.
Westborn Market has stores in Dearborn, Livonia, and Berkley.
Source: Margaret Blohm, a spokeswoman for Westborn Market
Writer: Jon Zemke
Dearborn's new welcome center is ready to greet some people now that the ribbon on it has been cut.
The city and Dearborn Chamber of Commerce facilitated the renovation of the Bryant Library earlier this year. It will house the library, chamber of commerce, and the new welcome center at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Mason Street. The price tag - $175,000 – was funded by a state Cool Cities grant.
"With so much going on in Dearborn, this Welcome Center is long overdue," Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr. said in a statement.
The ground floor of the branch will house the welcome center, community conference room, and chamber of commerce. The library will operate on the second floor.
The newly renovated first floor of the circa-1924 building had been vacant and generally unused for years.
Source: City of Dearborn
Writer: Jon Zemke
The erector set portion of the Dearborn Town Center project is done, now that the last steel beam was put into place Tuesday.
The next phase is to button up the building by creating its exterior shell before the worst of winter sets in. Construction crews expect to hit that mark within the next four months, at about the same time they will begin putting together the pre-cast parking garage behind the building at Schaefer Road and Michigan Avenue. The whole project is set to be done by December, 2010.
"We're slightly ahead of schedule by 2-3 weeks," says John Barker, executive vice president of Hobbs & Black, which designed the building.
The Dearborn Town Center will feature a 162,000-square-foot mix of office and retail space. The vast majority of that space will be occupied by 500 workers from Oakwood Healthcare System and Midwest Health Services, including 200 new jobs.
A 530-car public parking garage is also being built (construction began this summer) to the rear of the building. Redico, the developer, is also looking at adding 22,000 square feet of retail space in front of the Schaefer side of the garage if it can be leased before construction is done. Plans for senior housing behind the parking garage are still being considered for a future phase of the project.
The Dearborn Town Center replaces the recently demolished Montgomery Ward department store. Montgomery Ward opened the store in 1937, expanding it to 93,000 square feet. It went belly-up in 2001 and has been vacant ever since.
Source: John Barker, executive vice president of Hobbs & Black; Jeff Gielniak, director of architecture and construction for Oakwood Healthcare; and Tom Dillenbeck, project architect of Hobbs & Black
Writer: Jon Zemke
There are seven new murals in Detroit, thanks to Henry Ford Community College.
The Dearborn-based college's Ceramics Club worked with seven current and former students to create the murals in Midtown Detroit's Children's Hospital of Michigan and Lessenger Middle School.
Henry Ford students worked with three classes at Lessenger Middle School to create two murals of three panels each. They are now mounted in the Neurology Clinic at the Children's Hospital of Michigan and in the school's main hallway.
The ceramic murals are called tessellations, a type of pattern design that forms a mosaic pattern by repeating similar shapes.
"It's a system that always fits together, no matter how you put it together in the picture," says Steve Glazer, an art instructor at Henry Ford Community College.
Source: Steve Glazer, an art instructor at Henry Ford Community College
Writer: Jon Zemke
The Dearborn Town Center is seen as a potential game-changing development in the inner-ring suburb, and such ideas will be the center of discussion at the Economic Outlook Breakfast on Sept. 15.
The focus will be on the multi-million-dollar project at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Schaefer Road and its expected impact on the city's east downtown and the community as a whole.
"That corner is the cornerstone to not only the district but the city," says Jennifer Giering, president of the Dearborn Chamber of Commerce. "We see that project as catalytic."
John Keuten, CEO of Oakwood Enterprises, will lead the discussion. Oakwood Healthcare System is the main tenant of the ambitious urban redevelopment project.
The Dearborn Town Center will feature a 162,000-square-foot mix of office and retail space. The vast majority of that space will be occupied by 500 workers from Oakwood Healthcare System and Midwest Health Services, including 200 new jobs.
A 530-car public parking garage is also being constructed (construction began this summer) behind the building. Redico, the developer, is also looking at building 22,000 square feet of retail space in front of the Schafer side of the garage if it can get it leased before construction is done. Plans for senior housing behind the parking garage are still being considered for a future phase of the project.
The Dearborn Town Center replaces the old Montgomery Ward department store that was recently demolished. Montgomery Ward opened the store in 1937, expanding it to 93,000 square feet. It went belly-up in 2001 and has been vacant ever since.
The breakfast will be held in the Early American Room at the Dearborn Inn, 20301 Oakwood Blvd. For information, call (313) 584-6100.
Source: Jennifer Giering, president of the Dearborn Chamber of Commerce
Writer: Jon Zemke
Dearborn plans to become a lot greener, thanks to some serious federal greenbacks heading its way.
The city just received $250,000 in federal stimulus funds to help determine the feasibility for a number of green initiatives it is considering. Those options include possibly establishing a waste-to-energy plant in the city, enhancing recycling so residents can recycle in an unsorted single-stream, and installing LED streetlights.
The federal money may help at least one of these projects out of the infancy stage of development. Two other cities, Flint and Grand Rapids, also received similar grants.
LED streetlights, which use a fraction of the electricity and last longer than incandescent light bulbs, are the green cause dejour. Ann Arbor has grabbed numerous headlines with its efforts to install LED streetlights throughout its downtown. Pontiac has also installed LEDs, and a number of other cities such as Ferndale, Wyandotte, and Detroit have toyed with the idea.
Source: Mary Laundroche, director of the department of public information for the city of Dearborn
Writer: Jon Zemke
Work is wrapping up on the last details of the renovation project at the Dearborn Bryant Library.
The new welcome center for the city and offices for the Dearborn Chamber of Commerce are nearly complete and expected to come online within the next few weeks. An early October grand opening is in the works.
The city is investing $175,000 to convert the ground floor of the branch into a welcome center, community conference room, and new home for the chamber of commerce. Some of the original trim and baseboard will remain.
The first floor of the circa-1924 building has been vacant and generally unused for years. The renovation, funded by the state's Cool Cities program, is expected to help breathe more life into the corner of Michigan Avenue and Mason Street. The library branch will continue to operate on the second floor.
Source: Mary Laundroche, director of the department of public information for the city of Dearborn
Writer: Jon Zemke
One of Dearborn's architectural gems is about to welcome a bit of new life - a new welcome center.
The city is investing $175,000 to turn the ground floor of the Bryant Library branch into a welcome center, community conference room and new home for the Dearborn Chamber of Commerce.
The building will be completely redone; however, crews are saving the baseboard and trim around the windows so a fresh coat of varnish can be added. Work is expected to wrap up by the end of July.
"Some of the final touches are being done with the woodwork," says Cindy Grimwade, project manager for the Bryant Library renovation.
The first floor of the circa-1924 building has been vacant and generally unused for years. The renovation, funded by the state's Cool Cities program, is expected to help breathe more life into the corner of Michigan Avenue and Mason Street. The library branch will continue to operate on the second floor of the building.
Source: Cindy Grimwade, project manager for the Bryant Library renovation
Writer: Jon Zemke
The words green demolition would seem mutually exclusive at first glance, but Wayne County will take a stab at making them a reality this year.
It is preparing to start a pilot program that calls for the deconstruction and recycling of abandoned homes instead of the normal process of bulldozing them and dumping what's left into a landfill or the Detroit incinerator. The new program trains people how to deconstruct these homes to their foundations, recycling the details, metal, and wood everywhere from scrap yards to architectural warehouses. The foundations will then be dug up and recycled.
"We hope to hit the ground running within 60 days," says Jill Ferrari, senior executive project manager for Wayne County, who is overseeing the program and supervising its use of federal neighborhood stabilization funds.
The county has been awarded $25.9 million to buy, rehab and demolish foreclosed structures. It recently received the first $3.9 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Source: Jill Ferrari, senior executive project manager for Wayne County
Writer: Jon Zemke
If you hear a big banging noise on the east side of Dearborn, don't worry. That's the sound of progress.
Specifically, it's the sound of pile driving for the Dearborn Town Center's parking garage. Workers are taking soil samples with the idea of starting work on the parking deck by August. Work has begun on the actual office building at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Schaefer Road.
"They are literally starting to break ground right now," says Mary Laundroche, director of Dearborn's Department of Public Information.
The 162,000-square-foot mixed-use building will serve as the home for offices and ground floor retail. Oakwood Healthcare System and Midwest Health Services will employ about 500 people in 154,000 square feet in the center of east Dearborn's downtown. There will also be 8,000 square feet of ground floor retail space.
A 530-car public parking garage will rise behind the building. Redico, the developer, is also looking at building 22,000 square feet of retail space in front of the Schafer side of the garage if it can get it leased before construction is done. Plans for senior housing behind the garage are still being considered for a future phase of the project.
Work began earlier this spring and is expected to finish by the end of 2010.
The Dearborn Town Center replaces the circa-1937 Montgomery Ward department store that was recently demolished. The 93,000-square-foot space became vacant when Montgomery Ward went belly-up in 2001. Southfield-based Redico, the developer, originally planned to reuse much of the building in the redevelopment but decided against it after complications were discovered, such as a lack of space between floors and small windows.
Source: Mary Laundroche, director of Dearborn's Department of Public Information,
Writer: Jon Zemke
The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments might be finished studying the feasibility of the Detroit-Ann Arbor commuter train line, but that doesn't mean it's done figuring out how to make it work.
"We're in implement mode," says Carmine Palombo, director of transportation for SEMCOG, which is quarterbacking the project. "We're not studying to see if this is a good idea."
Right now SEMCOG is at the tail end of figuring out ways to make sure its commuter trains can run smoothly with freight train traffic that already travels the line. Two of the train companies, Canadian National and Northfolk Southern, have already figured this out with SEMCOG.
Palombo also maintains that the project is still set to become operational by the end of next year. Although start times for the commuter rail line have been pushed back several times this decade, the end of 2010 deadline is one that SEMCOG officials have held in recent years. It coincides with the M-1 Rail line (Woodward Avenue light rail) deadline for completion.
The plan calls for creating a commuter rail line between Detroit and Ann Arbor, with stops at Dearborn, Metro Airport and Ypsilanti. Amtrak will provide the trains. It could conceivably be expanded to connect Royal Oak, Ferndale, Troy/Birmingham and Pontiac.
Source: Carmine Palombo, director of transportation for SEMCOG
Writer: Jon Zemke
Most people can imagine themselves in the movies. Dearborn is encouraging its residents to help make the city a star too. How? By getting them to be de facto location scouts.
"There are so many different looks that would look good as a movie set," says Randy Coble, a spokesman for the city of Dearborn.
They could range from the deep woods in the University of Michigan-Dearborn campus to the heavy industrial area of the Rouge Complex. City officials want residents to send in pictures and descriptions of these special places that are unique to Dearborn.
The city wants to compile them onto a website so filmmakers can browse these images and see if anything in Dearborn fits their shooting needs. The idea is to attract more movie shoots to Dearborn, thereby bringing in more economic development and activity.
For information on the initiative or to send in photos, send an email to dearbornmovies@ci.dearborn.mi.us.
Source: Randy Coble, spokesman for the city of Dearborn
Writer: Jon Zemke
Work on the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee's new building in Dearborn could start again relatively soon. Organizers behind the project hope to begin work again in a few months and finish up soon after that.
"We're working on a few projects right now," says Nadia Fadel, director of policy and community affairs for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. "We hope to start again this summer."
The project stalled late last year after hitting a funding snag. Fadel estimates that about 75 percent of the $5 million project is completed. She said her organization needs a small amount of money to get it started again, but declined to say how much.
The 10,000-square-foot building is going up at the intersection of Ford and Chase roads. The two-story structure will feature office space, a reception area, an auditorium and meeting space for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. It will also feature design elements rich in Arabian history.
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee is the largest civil rights group for Arab-Americans. More Arabs call Metro Detroit home than anywhere else in the world outside of the Middle East. For information, call (313) 581-1201.
Source: Nadia Fadel, director of policy and community affairs for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
Writer: Jon Zemke
Living space is becoming a little scarce in Dearborn's west downtown, now that the Horizon and Gateway lofts are nearly completely leased.
Only four are still available, including the two penthouse units. That means 28 of the lofts in the two developments are occupied by residents walking downtown's streets and patronizing its businesses.
Gateway Lofts, on the southwest corner of Michigan Avenue and Military Street, features eight lofts above ground floor retail space in the 2-story building. The lofts range in size from 1,100-1,500 square feet. They all have a bedroom and den and rent for $1,000-$1,550 per month.
Horizon Lofts has 24 lofts in four stories of new construction overlooking the corner of Michigan and Howard Street. It also offers live-above ground floor retail spaces. These lofts range from 1,000-1,700 square feet. Rents go from $1,300-$1,900 a month. There is also a fitness center and roof-top deck.
Free wi-fi will be available throughout both Horizon and Gateway lofts. Downtown also has a free wireless system installed by the guys behind Wireless Ypsi.
Source: Amer Zahr, leasing agent for Horizon and Gateway lofts
Writer: Jon Zemke
Get ready to hear the words Transit Oriented Development, or their acronym, TOD, a lot more lately.
TOD is projects that pop up around light rail or commuter rail projects. Metro Detroit is poised to experience a lot of that when the Detroit-Ann Arbor commuter rail line and Woodward streetcar line come online next year.
The Urban Land Institute Detroit is holding a TOD conference on March 19 in Livonia to help prepare Michiganders for what will be coming and how to take advantage of these opportunities.
A number of local experts on business, development, and mass transit will speak at the event. The speakers include Jana Ecker (Birmingham's city planner overseeing its new transit center), Barry Murrary (economic development guru for Dearborn), Peter Allen (an Ann Arbor-based developer), Mary Kramer (Crain's Detroit Business) and Megan Owens of Transportation Riders United.
The headliner will be John Swatosh, a key deputy of mass transit Czar John Hertel. Swatosh will present the TOD plan for Department of Regional Mass Transit.
The event costs $45 for ULI members and $60 for nonmembers. For information, click here or call (800) 321-5011 and mention meeting code 8143-0907.
Source: Urban Land Institute Detroit
Writer: Jon Zemke
The Woodward corridor’s best and brightest took home some new hardware last week when the Woodward Avenue Action Association gave out its 2009 Woodward Corridor & Design Awards.
The awards recognize the best in development & design, business and community activism along the Woodward corridor. This year’s winner include: Winners of the 2009 Woodward Corridor & Design Awards are:
- Best New Neighbor with a budget more than $500,000 - Curis Enterprises for Shops at Woodward Place in Highland Park
- Best New Neighbor with a budget less than $500,000 - Anita’s Kitchen in Ferndale
- Best Transit Oriented Design Plan - City of Birmingham for the Triangle District
- Best Planning Vision - City of Ferndale for its Master Plan 2008
- Best Historic Preservation - Detroit Opera House in downtown Detroit
- Woodward Treasure - Michigan State Fairgrounds/Michigan State Fair in Detroit
- Best New Byway Asset - The Night Move in Ferndale
- Best Small Business - The Majestic Theater in Detroit
- Seeds of Change Community Action - Enrico Rosselli who is the owner of La Dolce Vita in Detroit
- Corporate Citizen of the Year - Comerica Bank
- Government Service Agency of the Year - Michigan Department of Transportation
Source: Nicole Brown, outreach and promotions coordinator for the Woodward Avenue Action Association
Writer: Jon Zemke
Dearborn is using an old program and well-known program to improve its neighborhood. The city is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its Operation Eyesore and offering to sell trees to residents.
Operation Eyesore got its start in 1960 when the city began buying and razing problem properties so they could be redeveloped. Since that time it has removed 1,288 blighted buildings, letting developers replace them with 585 new dwellings. All sales to the city are voluntary.
Dearborn property owners who feel a sub-standard building is in their neighborhood and would like to sell it to the city can call (313) 943-2170.
The city is also offering $25 trees to residents so it can be planted in the easement in front of their homes. There is a limited supply. The following species of trees are available: Celebration Maple, Yellowwood, Honeylocust, Ginkgo, Golden Rain Tree, Rubber Tree, Hackberry, London Plane Tree. The supply of free trees for the program is limited to 200.
They can be ordered by calling (313) 943-2318.
Source: City of Dearborn
Writer: Jon Zemke
It seems like everyone wants to get in on the Detroit-Ann Arbor commuter rail project, including Jackson.
Excerpt:
It's easy to make the southeast Michigan connection when thinking about Detroit and Ann Arbor, but Jackson?
Most people wouldn't consider the birthplace of the Republican Party part of the Metro Detroit mix, but Jackson's leaders are lobbying to be let into the game by including it in one of the region's marquee projects - the Detroit-Ann Arbor commuter rail line.
Currently the project's first phase, set to become a reality in the fall of 2010, stretches between Ann Arbor and Detroit with stops at Ypsilanti, Metro Airport and Dearborn. That's it for now, according to Carmine Palombo, director of transportation programs for the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, which is spearheading the project.
He added there is talk of extending the line north into Oakland County with stops at Royal Oak, Birmingham/Troy and Pontiac as part of a second phase. SEMCOG is also looking at utilizing Jackson's rail yard as a base for the line, but extending the line to downtown Jackson isn't in the cards, at least not for the project's first phase.
Read the rest of the story here.
After years of laying groundwork, mass transit advocates are gearing up to start doing some building in 2009.
The projects include the long-awaited Detroit-Ann Arbor commuter rail line and the Woodward streetcar line. Both of those are set to come online by October 2010, according to Metro Detroit Transit Czar John Hertel. He also added that a regional transit authority covering the entire tri-county area could be up and running by June.
He spoke at Transportation Riders United annual meeting in Detroit on Tuesday. There he laid out the long-range plan for regional mass transit that Metro Detroit’s Big 4 leaders unanimously approved in December. He expects the Big 4 to again unanimously approve a regional transit authority soon and then have the state legislature approve it, too, all before June.
Once that is done, a funding system, a.k.a. tax, needs to be determined. The regional authority also needs to be established for the projects to have a shot at the President Obama stimulus package money.
Source: John Hertel, transit czar for Metro Detroit
Writer: Jon Zemke
Convention wisdom dictates that projects rooted in sustainability lead to jobs that are sustainable in the long term. Now a report from a local environmental-advocacy organization is backing up that notion.
The latest report from Dearborn-based Environment Michigan points out that America can reduce its global-warming pollution 10 percent annually. It adds that such practices can mean up to investments of $150 billion in green technology and projects while creating more than 3 million jobs.
This is the sort of investment that can serve as the cornerstone of a broad economic recovery. Not to mention it has a number of desirable side benefits, such as cooling global warming, reducing asthma attacks and cleaning the water supply while securing our energy supply.
Michigan is also uniquely positioned to play a significant role in this new green economy with its population base and bevy of natural resources. There are already a number of environmentally projects taking place in the state, such as the green housing rehab program in Dearborn and Grand Rapid's installation of wind and solar equipment.
The report adds that local effort can only take Michigan so far. Federal funding is necessary to help get more and bigger projects started.
Source: Environment Michigan
Writer: Jon Zemke
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
The Henry Ford Estate is one of the most historic sites in Dearborn, and a new $10,000 kiosk will help visitors better appreciate it.
The estate is a historic landmark on the University of Michigan-Dearborn's campus. It served as the home for the legendary automotive pioneer and his wife Clara from its construction in 1915 until they died more than 30 years later.
The kiosk is under a shelter near the entrance to the estate. There visitors will be able to learn about how the Fords lived their lives, the history behind the estate and what tours or special events are being held. The idea is to enhance the viability of the estate as a tourist location by making its history more tangible.
The MotorCities National Heritage Area, part of the National Park Service, funded the $10,000 grant that made building the kiosk possible. The organization is dedicated to preserving and promoting Michigan's automotive and labor heritage, The Estate matched the grant with contributions from donors as well as staff and volunteer labor.
Source: University of Michigan-Dearborn
Writer: Jon Zemke
Metro Detroit's Big 4 just did something regional leaders haven't been able to do for generations – agree on a plan to improve mass transit.
The leaders of Oakland, Wayne, Macomb counties and the city of Detroit signed off on the master plan for regional transit championed by Metro Detroit Transit Czar John Hertel.
The plan will allow Hertel's team to streamline local service and pursue federal money for mass transit improvement projects. Among the first orders of business is getting the ball moving on the proposed Woodward streetcar line and the Detroit-Ann Arbor commuter rail line. Both projects are expected to either be online or close to completion by late 2010.
The state legislature is also passing a number of bills that will allow these projects to move forward. They will basically allow for the establishment of a regional mass transit authority and funding mechanisms.
Both projects are expected to lead to billions of dollars of economic development in the neighborhoods surrounding the rail and streetcar stations.
Source: Megan Owens, director of Transportation Riders United
Writer: Jon Zemke
The date to start service on the Detroit-Ann Arbor commuter rail project is set and most of the station locations have been determined.
The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments plans to begin operationing the rail line in October, 2010. It also has sited the station locations for all but one of the stops. Only Ypsilanti remains. SEMCOG is still working with the city officials to find a viable stop location.
The latest station announcement was the Metro Airport stop, which will go at the intersection of Michigan Avenue and Henry Ruff Road on Wayne County property. Shuttle busses will connect the stop to Metro Airport.
SEMCOG officials and the myriad of train companies that control the track are still working out the logistics of how the commuter rail line will work and what improvements are necessary. Amtrak will provide the trains.
The commuter rail line would utilize existing tracks with stops at Metro Airport, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Dearborn. It's possible it could also be expanded to connect Royal Oak, Ferndale, Troy/Birmingham and Pontiac.
Source: Carmine Palombo, director of transportation for SEMCOG
Writer: Jon Zemke
You know something is getting close to reality when public information meetings are scheduled. Such is the case for the proposed Detroit-Ann Arbor Commuter Rail Line.
Dearborn is holding an open house about its proposed station for the line on Tuesday evening. City officials expect the intermodal station to help spur investment around it and make the city a destination for tourists, shoppers and workers.
The station is proposed to go in at Michigan Avenue and Elm Street. It will be set up like a park-and-ride, yet is designed as pedestrian friendly to those visiting the adjacent Henry Ford museums, nearby west downtown and the Rouge Parkway. Buses and taxis will be available to take passengers to the nearby Fairlane Towne Center and the campuses of the University of Michigan-Dearborn and Henry Ford Community College.
The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) is heading up the commuter rail project and is working out details with a number of train companies that control the tracks between Ann Arbor and Detroit. A video of the proposed line, set to come on line in 2010, is available here.
The meeting will be held between 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. in the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center, 15801 Michigan Avenue. A 45-minute presentation will begin at 5 p.m.
Source: Randy Coble, spokesman for the city of Dearborn
Writer: Jon Zemke
A little healthy living is coming to the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center in Dearborn.
The Detroit Medical Center has opened a Wellness Center there. The idea is to provide a wider variety of programs for physical therapy, athletic training, injury prevention and general health and wellness. In a nutshell the center will offer basic health screenings, nutrition counseling, healthy cooking demonstrations, physical therapy and fitness classes.
The wellness center will also take a special interest in treating sports injuries through physical therapy since the DMC is the official health care provider to the Detroit Shock, Pistons, Red Wings and Tigers.
A free open house for the new wellness center will be held between 5-9 p.m. Thursday. The center is located at 15801 Michigan Ave. For information, call (313) 943-5479.
Source: Detroit Medical Center
Writer: Jon Zemke
Two new lofts developments in Dearborn's West Downtown are nearly full, and the developer is willing to make a deal to finish them off by the holidays.
Only six of the units at Gateway and Horizon lofts are left, which is down from nine just a week ago. Those lofts are mainly 2-bedroom units. The developer is willing to lower the security deposit from $1,000 to $500 and knock as much as $150 a month off units that are priced as high as $2,100.
"My goal is to have all of these occupied by Thanksgiving," says Amer Zahr, leasing agent for both developments.
The developments are some of the most progressive Dearborn's West Downtown has seen in a long time. They are built up to the lot line and feature ground floor retail space underneath residential space. They also blend in with the historic structures along Michigan Avenue.
Horizon Lofts is at the corner of Michigan and Howard Street. It features 24 homes on the second, third and fourth floors of the 4-story building. Many of the occupied units in that building are in the upper floors. Most of the ground floor retail space is also filled with the likes Buffalo Wild Wings and Panera Bread.
The units at Horizon Lofts range in size between 1,000 and 1,700 square feet. Prices for one-bedroom lofts start at $1,300 a month while two-bedroom lofts go for $1,900 a month. It also features a recently finished fitness center and an in-the-works roof-top deck. Both Horizon and Gateway lofts offer free Wi-Fi.
Gateway Lofts is on the southwest corner of Michigan Avenue and Military Street, a stone's throw away from Horizon Lofts. The new 2-story building features eight lofts, ranging in size from 1,100-1,500 square feet. They all have one bedroom and a den. Prices start at $1,000 per month and go as high as $1,550.
Caliente Grille, a Mexican food restaurant, is on the ground floor. There is enough retail space on the ground floor to accommodate up to four other businesses.
Source: Amer Zahr, leasing agent for Horizon and Gateway lofts
Writer: Jon Zemke
What was once the old Montgomery Ward's building in Dearborn's east downtown is no more. Well, almost. The rubble makers are nearly finished razing the historic structure, a job expected to be done by early November.
They are making way for the future, a 125,000-square-foot, mixed-use building that will stand in its place at the southeast corner of Michigan Avenue and Schaefer Road. Southfield-based Redico plans to begin building the structure soon after the last of the old structure is cleared away.
The $45 million project will serve as the new home for Oakwood Healthcare System and Midwest Health Services, creating about 500 new jobs in the core of the downtown.
The 3-story structure will feature 20,000 square feet of ground floor retail space. A 500-space parking deck will be built behind the new building and 100 to 120 units of senior citizen apartments will be built behind that so it melds in with the surrounding neighborhood filled with single-family homes.
Work is expected to wrap up midway through 2010.
Montgomery Ward opened the store in 1937. Over the years the business expanded into 93,000 square feet until it went belly up in 2001. It has been vacant ever since. The developer originally tried to incorporate the structure into the project but failed to make it work.
Source: Randy Coble, spokesman for the city of DearbornWriter: Jon Zemke
Everyone likes to celebrate when a specialty grocer moves into a downtown area, but there is a lot to be said for reinvesting in a traditional grocery store. At a minimum, it bodes well for the economic health of the nearby community.
Dearborn is doing just that, showing off its newly renovated Kroger just west of Dearborn's east downtown. The supermarket chain has invested $2.8 million in refurbishing the structure at the corner of the Michigan Avenue and Greenfield Road.
The 65,000-square-foot facility now has a new deli and bakery. It also has a natural and organic foods department, a seafood counter and a larger wine department to complement an expanded international foods section.
The investment is creating 12 new jobs at the store.
Source: Randy Coble, spokesman for the city of Dearborn
Writer: Jon Zemke
What's rolling, rolling down the river? In the case of the Rouge River, it would be money. Lots of it.
Wayne County's second most famous waterway has attracted more than $7 billion in new investments along its lower eight miles over the last 10 years. That's according to the Rouge River Gateway Partnership and University of Michigan-Dearborn, which concludes that this money has created thousands of jobs while helping improve the local environment.
Much of the investment has come from industrial and manufacturing facilities from the likes of Ford ($2 billion for a truck plant), DTE Energy (major alternative energy investments) and Severstal Steel ($1 billion for a new blast furnace).
The Rouge River has long been a major component of southeast Michigan's industrialism. Among the notable manufacturing sites are Henry Ford's world famous Rouge Plant.
More than 1.5 million people in 48 communities and three counties line the Rouge River. Its watershed is about 438 square miles. A number of institutions (both business and academic) make up the Rouge River Gateway Partnership.
Source: University of Michigan-Dearborn
Writer: Jon Zemke
The interior of the old Midway Theater in Dearborn's east downtown may have changed but the building's owner plans to restore its exterior.
"We're trying to restore it to its original style," says Ahmed Chebbani, owner of the old Midway Theater.
That means Art Deco, and lots of it, for the circa-1936 building on 4915 Schaefer Road. Chebanni is starting a $75,000 façade restoration project this week that will repair or replace much of the structure's exterior stone work. The goal is to make it look like it did when it was a movie theater.
"It's one of the few Art Deco buildings around," Chebbani says. "It has quite a bit of significance."
Longtime locals have memories of the films it brought to downtown. In the the mid 1970s the 2-story building was split into two levels, ending its days as a movie house. The 18,000-square-foot structure now has office space on the second floor and will have a family entertainment center on the first.
Source: Ahmed Chebbani, owner of the old Midway Theater
Writer: Jon Zemke
Work is wrapping on Dearborn's Gateway and Horizon lofts projects so people can begin moving into them later this month.
The developer of the two rental-loft developments in Dearborn's West Downtown has been focusing on finishing the residential units above the ground-floor retail space this year. When finished, the projects are expected to provide living options for young professionals in the center of downtown on Michigan Avenue.
More than half of each development's units are taken and availability at both projects is dwindling, according to Amer Zahr, leasing agent for both developments.
Horizon Lofts, at the corner of Michigan and Howard Street, is the furthest along in being fully leased. It features 24 homes on the second, third and fourth floors of the 4-story building. Of those the entire second floor is leased and occupied while the third and fourth floors are filling up quickly. Most of the ground floor retail space is also filled with the likes Buffalo Wild Wings and Panera Bread.
The units at Horizon Lofts range in size between 1,000 and 1,700 square feet. Prices for one-bedroom lofts start at $1,300 a month while two-bedroom lofts will go for $1,900 a month. It will also feature a recently finished fitness center and an in-the-works roof-top deck. Both Horizon and Gateway lofts offer free WiFi.
Gateway Lofts is on the southwest corner of Michigan Avenue and Military Street, a stone's throw away from Horizon Lofts. The new 2-story building features eight lofts, ranging in size from 1,100-1,500 square feet. They all have one bedroom and a den. Prices start at $1,000 per month and go as high as $1,550.
Caliente Grille, a Mexican food restaurant, is on the ground floor. There is enough retail space on the ground floor to accommodate up to four other businesses.
Source: Amer Zahr, leasing agent for Horizon and Gateway lofts
Writer: Jon Zemke
New pavement is one of those things we tend to take for granted and only notice when it becomes old and crumbles. That goes doubly for a place where aesthetics are at a premium, like, say, a downtown.
And even though road pavement isn't as sexy as new streetlights, benches or bike lanes, its one of the first things people complain about when they fall into disrepair. Well, there are some sections of road in Dearborn's West Downtown that qualify in spades.
"We have some sections of pavement that are in dire need of some work," says Rob Morosi, a spokesman for the Michigan Department of Transportation.
That's one of the reasons why MDOT plans to revamp the pavement on the main thoroughfare for Dearborn's West Downtown – Michigan Avenue. MDOT intends to repair nearly a mile of road along Michigan, between Brady and Washington streets, starting next week.
The $456,000 project, which will take place mostly at night, will replace the most heavily worked and crumbling sections of road. The idea is to make it friendlier to all of the traffic on it, whether it is commercial vehicles, commuters, bicyclists or even pedestrians.
Work is expected to wrap up by early November.
Source: Rob Morosi, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Transportation
Writer: Jon Zemke
Everyone loves reading about the big developments, the marquee projects that employ big budgets to breathe new life into prominent buildings.
But sometimes it's the smaller efforts that have the biggest impact, slowly transforming a block by providing inspiration for other smaller business owners.
Take Dearborn's east downtown. The pending redevelopment of the old Montgomery Wards site is the project holding everyone's attention, but the little improvements in places like MY Eye Care, just a hop, skip and jump away, are just as important to creating a vibrant business district.
Dr. Michael Younes, who used to practice at the Detroit Veterans Hospital, opened the business (the MY in the name stands for his initials) in December of 2006. He took over the site of a former pharmacy in a 2-story building that is almost 100 years old and has been steadily pumping money into renovating the space.
"This area is growing and I think the city has the right ideas," Dr. Younes says.
Dr. Younes, who grew up in Dearborn, has renovated the 1,800 square feet of the building's interior for his practice. He also is getting ready to refurbish the outside but installing new signs and awnings.
He choose Dearborn's east downtown because of its growing Middle Eastern population (he speaks Arabic) and how it's consistently reinvesting in itself. A trend he is taking part in himself.
Source: Dr. Michael Younes, owner of MY Eye Care
Writer: Jon Zemke
As all eyes in Dearborn's east downtown look to the redevelopment of the old Montgomery Wards site, many words will be spoken about it at the East Dearborn Downtown Development Authority special information meeting on Sept. 10.
Although the meeting will be about continuing to revitalize the emerging business district, the Montgomery Wards development will be the elephant in the room. It's why the city's top brass from Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr. to Barry Murray, director of the City’s Economic & Community Development Department, will be on hand to speak and answer question about it.
"People are sort of holding their breath for that to happen here," says Michael Boettcher, executive director of the East Dearborn DDA.
The plans for the site include tearing down the historic Wards building so a new office building, parking structure and senior-living housing can be built in its place. The project will be urban in design and is expected to begin this fall.
City officials will also be on hand to talk about other possible redevelopment projects in the city. Steve Guile, deputy director of the city's Economic and Community Development Department, will explain the city's new development intake program, which is designed to make the development process easier.
There will also be a discussion about assistance available to small businesses from Henry Ford Community College and SCORE. The East Dearborn DDA hopes to make these types of public meetings a regular event, engaging more local developers and businesses.
"When we've done our jobs, east downtown Dearborn will be a thriving urban district that invites investment in a diverse, historic and welcoming hometown environment," Boettcher says.
The meeting, which is open to the public, will begin at 5 p.m. and be held in the Dearborn City Hall, 13615 Michigan Avenue. For information, contact Boettcher at mboettcher@ci.dearborn.mi.us or at (313) 943-3194.
Source: Michael Boettcher, executive director of the East Dearborn Downtown Development Authority
Writer: Jon Zemke
More ducks are lining up in a row for the redevelopment of the old Montgomery Ward building in Dearborn's east downtown.
The Michigan Economic Development Corporation has passed a $9.6 million brownfield grant for the project, which is set to break ground later this year. That money is part of a $14.2 million capture from state and local tax incentives that make the $68 million project possible.
City leaders and the developer, Southfield-based Redico, are working out final details for the development at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Schaefer Road. Wrecking balls are expected to start razing the historic 1937 building by the end of the summer so the site can be turned over to the developer in November.
Once Redico has control of the site, it plans to build a 125,000-square-foot, mixed-use building in its place. The city determined it must raze the old Montgomery Ward building last year because the structure, originally planned to be saved, couldn't accommodate the new $45 million home for Oakwood Healthcare and Midwest Health Services.
The project is expected to create hundreds of new jobs, thousands of square feet of new retail space and dozens of new homes in the city's core.
Montgomery Ward occupied the 93,000 square feet until it went belly up in 2001. It has been vacant ever since. The new 3-story, brick-and-stone façade structure will go up in its place. Murray expects to save the old building's clock and some ornamentation so they can be incorporated into the new building.
About 22,000 square feet of ground floor retail space will also be added to the corner and along Schaefer. A 500 to 625 space parking deck will be built behind the new building as well as 100 to 120 units of senior citizen apartments, which will be constructed to blend in with the surrounding neighborhood of single-family homes. Work on the main structure is expected to wrap up by the end of 2009. The senior-citizen housing is expected to be done by June of 2010.
Source: Michigan Economic Development Corporation
Writer: Jon Zemke
An abandoned building is getting a fresh lease on life in Dearborn courtesy of Oakwood Healthcare and the University of Michigan-Dearborn.
The two institutions are renovating the old UAW/Ford Dearborn West Family Service and Learning Center on Rotunda Road near Oakwood Boulevard. They are turning the vacant 38,000-square-foot building into a state-of-the-art facility that will house Oakwood’s Program for Exceptional Families, as well as a clinician training facility.
The Exceptional Families program provides services for children with disabilities and their families. Also occupying the space is U-M Dearborn’s Child Development Center, which will give opportunities for local families, along with university teachers and students.
Oakwood and U-M Dearborn entered into a collaboration agreement in December 2006, which focused on building a comprehensive, long-term relationship to support each other’s missions for education, clinical care, research and service to the community.
Source: Oakwood Healthcare
Writer: Jon Zemke
Details, demolition and development. Those are the key words behind the redevelopment of the old Montgomery Ward building in Dearborn's east downtown.
"We're on the path to pushing this project forward," says Barry Murray, economic and community development director for the city of Dearborn.
City leaders and the developer, Southfield-based Redico, are working out final details for the development at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Schaefer Road, such as finalizing leases and issuing bonds for the parking deck construction.
Step two is razing the historic 1937 building. Wrecking balls and bulldozers should start swinging by the end of the summer. The hope is to have the site cleared so it can be turned over to the developer in November.
Once Redico has control of the site it plans to build a 125,000-square-foot, mixed-use building in its place. The city determined it must raze the old Montgomery Ward building last year because the structure, originally planned to be saved, couldn't accommodate the new $45 million home for Oakwood Healthcare and Midwest Health Services.
The project is expected to create hundreds of new jobs, thousands of square feet of new retail space and dozens of new homes in the city's core.
Montgomery Ward occupied the 93,000 square feet until it went belly up in 2001. It has been vacant ever since. The new 3-story, brick-and-stone façade structure will go up in its place. Murray expects to save the old building's clock and some ornamentation so they can be incorporated into the new building.
About 22,000 square feet of ground floor retail space will also be added to the corner and along Schaefer. A 500 to 625 space parking deck will be built behind the new building as well as 100 to 120 units of senior citizen apartments, which will be constructed to blend in with the surrounding neighborhood of single-family homes. Work on the main structure is expected to wrap up by the end of 2009. The senior-citizen housing is expected to be done by June of 2010.
Source: Barry Murray, economic and community development director for the city of Dearborn
Writer: Jon Zemke
Dearborn has high hopes for its station on the long commuter rail line between Detroit and Ann Arbor.
City officials have created plans for a station in the city, bordering The Henry Ford. Local leaders hope the two stations will help make the city a destination for tourists, shoppers and workers.
The intermodal station located at Michigan Avenue and Elm Street is set up like a park-and-ride and is pedestrian friendly to those going to the adjacent Henry Ford museums, nearby west downtown and the Rouge Parkway. Busses and taxis will be available to take passengers to the nearby Fairlane Towne Center and the campuses of the University of Michigan-Dearborn and Henry Ford Community College.
The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) is heading up the commuter rail project and is working out details with a number of train companies that control the tracks between Ann Arbor and Detroit. A video of the proposed line, set to come on line in 2010, is available here.
People who want to comment on proposed line and other Metro Detroit transportation issues can do so at any one of three meetings next month. SEMCOG will be taking public comment as it prepares a long-range transportation plan for southeast Michigan.
The first meeting will be held on Monday in SEMCOG's Detroit offices, Suite 300 of 535 Griswold, from 4 to 7 p.m. The second meeting will be held Tuesday in the Southfield Public Library, 26300 Evergreen, also from 4 to 7 p.m. The third meeting will be held on Wednesday in Ann Arbor at Washtenaw Community College's Morris Lawrence Building from 9 a.m. to noon. Formal presentations about the plans will also be given during the meetings.
For information on the plan or the meetings, call SEMCOG at (313) 961-4266.
Source: Randy Coble, spokesman for the city of Dearborn and the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments
Writer: Jon Zemke
The new Open Dearborn initiative is making the city's west downtown district more openly Wi-Fi.
The project, paid for by a $5,000 grant from the West Dearborn Downtown Development Authority, is offering free wireless Internet access throughout the city's western center. The idea is to make the downtown area friendlier to businesses and patrons.
Most of the nodes that enable the city to blanket the district with free Wi-Fi are in place and ready for people to access the Internet on them. The rest will be put into place soon, allowing for free Internet access within the boundaries of Oakwood, Military, Garrison and Newman streets.
The city is also planning to bring free wireless Internet to its east downtown soon. Although $5,000 was put aside to create the West Dearborn downtown network, only about $1,000 has been spent to create it.
Source: Randy Coble, spokesman for the city of Dearborn
Writer: Jon Zemke
Lofts are going fast in Dearborn's west downtown. Rental lofts, that is.
The second floor of the Horizon Lofts is finished and fully leased, even though the third and fourth floors are still under construction. The units on those upper floors, expected to finish by September, should also be fully leased before work is completed.
Nearby, at the Gateway Lofts project (which is supposed to wrap up in mid August) availability is also dwindling.
"The lofts are going pretty quickly," says Amer Zahr, leasing agent for both developments.
Gateway Lofts is on the southwest corner of Michigan Avenue and Military Street. The ground floor retail space and lofts above in the two-story building will be ready for occupancy at the same time.
The eight lofts will range in size from 1,100 square feet to 1,500 square feet. All of the units will be have one bedroom and a den. Prices of the rental units start at $1,000 per month and go as high as $1,550. Caliente Grille, a Mexican food restaurant, will open on the ground floor. There is enough retail space on the ground floor to accommodate up to four other businesses.
Horizon Lofts is at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Howard Street. It features 24 homes on the second, third and fourth floors of the four-story building. The rental units will range in size between 1,000 and 1,700 square feet. Prices for one-bedroom lofts will start at $1,300 a month while two-bedroom lofts will go for $1,900 a month.
The new construction building will also feature a fitness center and a roof-top deck. Free wireless Internet will also be available throughout both Horizon and Gateway lofts.
Horizon Lofts is above a mostly leased ground floor retail space. A Buffalo Wild Wings and Panera Bread opened in the building last summer. There is still 3,500 square feet of ground floor rental space available in the structure.
Source: Amer Zahr, leasing agent for Horizon and Gateway lofts
Writer: Jon Zemke
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee's new building in Dearborn is starting to look like its architectural renderings as it moves toward a December opening.
"A lot of it is up," says Nadia Fadel, director of policy and community affairs for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. "A lot of the brickwork is up and you can really see the building take shape."
The 10,000-square-foot building is going up at the intersection of Ford and Chase roads. The two-story structure will feature office space, a reception area, an auditorium and meeting space for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. It will also feature design elements rich in Arabian history.
The $5 million project was made possible by $1.5 million in gifts from prominent leaders in Qatar.
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee is the largest civil rights group for Arab-Americans. More Arabs call Metro Detroit home than anywhere else in the world outside of the Middle East. For information, call (313) 581-1201.
Source: Nadia Fadel, director of policy and community affairs for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
Writer: Jon Zemke
One small step for Metro Detroit... is the one just taken by the commuter rail project connecting Detroit, Ann Arbor and Metro Airport.
Officials from the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments and the myriad of train companies that control the track are now meeting to discuss the recently completed infrastructure capacity and fare-box studies.
Finishing these studies brings the project closer to concluding the second stage of a largely three-step assessment. The last step (what it costs) is still yet to be determined.
The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, which is spearheading the project, is negotiating logistics and improvements with the railroads that control the tracks and Amtrak for providing the trains. Organizers behind the proposal are looking at picking stops, arranging a shuttle service between the Metro Airport stop at Merriman Road and the airport's terminals and making sure delays are kept to a bare minimum.
SEMCOG hopes to establish service by late 2009 or early 2010.
The commuter rail line would utilize existing tracks with stops at Metro Airport, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Dearborn. It's possible it could also be expanded to connect Royal Oak, Ferndale, Troy/Birmingham and Pontiac.
Source: Carmine Palombo, director of transportation for SEMCOG
Writer: Jon Zemke
There's an enchanted forest in Dearborn. Yeah, for real. It's filled with dragons and dinosaurs and trolls and whales and birds and princes and anything you can imagine. It's all there, in this enchanted forest.
Anyone can visit it and join in the fun; all you need is a library card. See, this forest is located at Dearborn's Henry Ford Centennial Library.
"It started out as a park theme," says Maryanne Bartles, Library Director for
Dearborn Public Libraries. "But I wanted to take it to the next step. I want the children to come back. I wanted it to be more magical."
Bartles is talking about the Centennial's new children's area, the Enchanted Forest.
"I had a little boy come up to me and say, 'this is the bestest place,'" she says.
The Dearborn Library Foundation, a 501(c)3, received a $200,000 grant to fund a project that the city didn't routinely take care off or that the city wouldn't really have time to fund.
The foundation chose the children's area at centennial. They used about $175,000 to remodeled the section.
They added an arch, new shelving, a tree house, a puppet theater, and new tables and chairs.
"We wanted to do something to make it special," Bartles says. "The area before just blended in, we wanted it to be more inviting for the children."
Nothing says "come on in" more to a kid than an enchanted forest.
"This renovation has been great," Bartles says. "This building has been around since the mid to late-60s, and we've had new carpeting and tables, but nothing like this. This goes beyond all that."
The next step, Bartles says, is to move on to the other three Dearborn Public Libraries and enhance - or would it be
enchant - their children areas.
Source: Maryanne Bartles, Dearborn Public Library DirectorWriter: Terry Parris, Jr.
'Tis the season for more and more residential space to open in Dearborn's west downtown. First, Horizon Lofts is set to open in mid summer and then Gateway Lofts will come online toward the end of summer.
The finishing touches are being put on Gateway's 8-loft project on the southwest corner of Michigan Avenue and Military Street. The ground floor retail space and lofts above in the two-story building will be ready for occupancy at the same time.
The eight lofts will range in size from 1,100 square feet to 1,500 square feet. All of the units will be have one bedroom and a den. Prices of the rental units start at $1000 per month and go as high as $1550.
"We have received some commitments and a lot of interest," says Amer Zahr, leasing agent for Gateway Lofts.
Caliente Grille, a Mexican food restaurant, will open on the ground floor. There is enough retail space on the ground floor to accommodate up to four other businesses. Free wireless Internet will also be available throughout the building.
Source: Amer Zahr, leasing agent for Gateway Lofts
Writer: Jon Zemke
Three floors of residential fun are getting ready to open in west Dearborn's downtown in mid June.
The Horizon Lofts at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Howard Street will feature 24 homes on the second, third and fourth floors of the four-story building. The rental units will range in size between 1,000 and 1,700 square feet. Prices for one-bedroom lofts will start at $1,300 a month while two-bedroom lofts will go for $1,900 a month.
The new construction building will also feature a fitness center and a roof-top deck. Free wireless Internet will also be available throughout the building.
All of that will be above a mostly leased ground floor retail space. A Buffalo Wild Wings and Panera Bread opened in the building last summer. There is still 3,500 square feet of ground floor rental space available in the structure.
Source: Amer Zahr, leasing agent for Horizon Lofts
Writer: Jon Zemke
Art, old and new, will be discussed widely in Dearborn this month.
New is the Dearborn Public Schools City Wide Art Show, starting on Tuesday. The show will feature a wide spectrum of art from young people living in the city.
The Padzieski Gallery, Dearborn’s free public art gallery, is heading up the event in Dearborn’s Ford Community and Performing Arts Center, 15801 Michigan Avenue, near the intersection of Greenfield Road. During the opening of the exhibit on late Tuesday afternoon, several student artists will demonstrate their creative process in a variety of media. The works will be on display until May 27.
Old is the 28th-Annual Statewide Preservation Conference of the Michigan Historic Preservation Network, which runs next weekend, May 8 through May 10. A number of activities and discussions geared toward historic preservation will be held during the event.
For information on the art exhibit, call (313) 943-3095.
Source: City of Dearborn
Writer: Jon Zemke
The Montgomery Ward redevelopment project in Dearborn's east downtown is the closest it has ever been to becoming a reality.
City Council has approved a development agreement with Southfield-based Redico to raze the building and replace it with a 125,000-square-foot, mixed-use building in its place. The city has until July to close the deal and begin tearing down the historic structure at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Schaefer Road.
The building must be gone by Sept. 1 so Redico can begin construction. The project is expected to create hundreds of new jobs, thousands of square feet of new retail space and dozens of new homes in the city's core.
"If all goes as planned," says Barry Murray, economic and community development director for the city of Dearborn.
The city determined it must raze the old Montgomery Ward building last year because the structure, originally planned to be saved, couldn't accommodate the new $45 million home for Oakwood Healthcare System and Midwest Health Services.
Montgomery Ward opened the store in 1937. Over the years the business expanded into 93,000 square feet until it went belly up in 2001. It has been vacant ever since. The new three-story, brick-and-stone façade structure will go up in its place. Murray expects to save the old building's clock and some ornamentation so they can be incorporated into the new building.
About 22,000 square feet of ground floor retail space will also be added to the corner and along Schaefer. A 500 to 625 space parking deck will be built behind the new building as well as 100 to 120 units of senior citizen apartments, which will be constructed to blend in with the surrounding neighborhood of single-family homes. Work on the main structure is expected to wrap up by the end of 2009. The senior-citizen housing is expected to be done by June of 2010.
Source: Barry Murray, economic and community development director for the city of Dearborn
Writer: Jon Zemke
While both political parties claim to have a tent big enough for everyone, Dearborn's leaders believe they can take that concept one step further: A home for just about anyone who wants to buy one.
The Big Open House event, set for April 27, is part of the Welcome Home Dearborn ad campaign. The idea is to attract more home buyers to the vibrant inner-ring suburb. The open house will feature close to 200 homes for sale in the city, along with exhibits from all of its major institutions, such as The Henry Ford and the Arab American National Museum, among others.
The year-long marketing campaign is using a number of different avenues to attract home buyers, such as Why I Love Dearborn! essay contest. The campaign's website also features information about where people live, work and play in Dearborn, along with information about homes for sale.
The event will be held at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center. For information on the campaign, click here and for information on the open house, call (313) 943-2285.
Source: City of Dearborn
Writer: Jon Zemke
Improving regional transit, it's one of those phrases everyone likes to say but few seem to want to put the hard work into doing.
Until recently. Maybe it's those $4 a gallon gasoline projections.
Within the last few years regional leaders have worked to streamline and integrate rival transit authorities, establish commuter rail lines and propose light rail lines. But putting all of these pieces of the transit puzzle together is arguably the most important aspect of improving overall regional transit, which is exactly what Metro Detroit's Regional Transportation Coordinating Council (what's left of DARTA) is trying to do.
The council, led by transit czar John Hertel, will host regional transit planning open houses in the tri-county area in early April. Hertel's group is developing a regional transit plan for Metro Detroit as a basis for applying for federal funds (the mother's milk of mass transit initiatives) and is hosting the meetings to get public input on developing this vision.
The first meeting will be held on April 8 in downtown Detroit at the SEMCOG Conference Room in the Buhl Building, 535 Griswold. That will be followed by meetings in Oakland County (April 9) and Macomb County (April 10).
The Oakland County meeting will be held in the Oakland County Board of Commissioners Auditorium, 1200 North Telegraph Road, in Pontiac. The Macomb County meeting will be at 15 Main in Mt. Clemens.
For information, contact the Regional Transportation Coordinating Council at drmt2006@sbcglobal.net or at (313) 393-3333.
Source: Megan Owens, executive director of the Transportation Riders United and John Swatosh, deputy director of the Regional Transportation Coordinating Council
Writer: Jon Zemke
If there's a silver lining to every problem,
then it makes sense why Dearborn's
leaders are looking at the city's aging outdoor pools as an opportunity
to create water parks.All eight of the city's outdoor pools, while
still functional, are reaching the later stages of life. Some have been around as long as 40
years. The oldest water holes would require significant investments to fix them for the long
term.
Or they could be replaced with modern splash parks. Ypsilanti, for example, has just such a facility in Rolling Hills Water Park, which has been a great success, drawing large crowds all summer long.
However, nothing has been decided. For now,
city leaders are looking for public input on what to do before forming a
long-term plan. Putting any plan in action requires a recommendation by the
city's Recreation Commission, a proposal by the administration and concurrence
by the City Council.
To voice an opinion, call (313) 943-2350 or
send a letter to Chairman, Dearborn Recreation Commission, 15801 Michigan Ave.,
Dearborn, MI 48126.
Source: Mary Laundroche, director of the
Dearborn Department of Public Information
Writer: Jon Zemke
Dearborn is looking for a few good men, and women, and even kids to buy a home in the inner-ring suburb. To accomplish this, the city is launching the Welcome Home Dearborn ad campaign this spring to attract the elusive homebuyer.
The year-long marketing campaign is using a number of different avenues to attract homebuyers, such as Why I Love Dearborn! essay contest. The campaign's Web site also features information about where people live, work and play in Dearborn, along with information about homes for sale.
"The City agreed that it was important to invest in this marketing campaign for the long-term vitality of our very vibrant community," says Dearborn Mayor John B. O'Reilly. "We're a regional center for employment, health-care services, higher education, shopping and transportation as well as home to outstanding cultural and visitor attractions."
For information on the campaign, click here.
Source: City of Dearborn
Writer: Jon Zemke
How many bureaucrats does it take to change a light bulb in Dearborn? Actually, a better question would be how long will it take city officials to screw in LED lights into the city's traffic signals? But the important point is the city is becoming a little more green by installing more energy efficient bulbs into its traffic lights.
So far city workers have put LED lights into 12 of the city's 88 traffic signals and have plans to do the same with 30 more within the next two years. On top of that, local officials are also putting more energy efficient light bulbs in city buildings to help save electricity and more importantly money.
LED lights use a fraction of the electricity of normal light bulbs because 95 percent of the energy they utilize creates light the human eye can see. In comparison, only 50 to 60 percent of energy used by regular light bulbs makes visible light. LEDs are currently used in traffic lights, TV and brake lights for car; as well as many other products.
The LEDs in Dearborn's traffic lights are expected to save 90 percent of the electricity normally used by incandescent bulbs. They are expected to pay for themselves in energy savings within four years.
The new LED signals can be found at several intersections around Dearborn, including Schaefer and Bryan, Chase and Colson, Military and Newman/West Village, Monroe and West Village and along Ford Road from Oakman to Mercury Drive. These intersections also feature LED countdown pedestrian signals, which provide those crossing the street with a visual numbered countdown of the seconds left before the "don’t walk" signal appears.
Other Metro Detroit communities are also looking into making the switch to LED. Ann Arbor is in the process of changing its downtown streetlights and Ypsilanti is also looking into doing the same with its downtown. Ferndale has already switched its traffic signals to LED lights and is looking at doing the same for its streetlights. Oxford-based Relume Technologies is working with a number of other Metro Detroit communities to make the switch.
Source: Randy Coble, spokesman for the city of Dearborn
Writer: Jon Zemke
Big meetings and big decisions are about to
be had and made for Dearborn's
biggest pending project, the redevelopment of the old Montgomery Ward's site.Representatives of the city-designated
developer, Southfield-based Redico, will
meet with the officials from Oakwood Healthcare
System and Midwest Health Services later this month to nail out final details
for the development. The general plan is for Redico to raze the structure at
the corner of Michigan Avenue
and Schafer Road
to build office space for Oakwood and Midwest Health Services.
"If that all goes well, it will come
before the city council in March," says Mary
Laundroche, the director of the department of public information for Dearborn. "If it all
goes well they will reach a development agreement and everything will go from
there."
That seems tantalizingly close for a complicated
project that has experienced fits and starts over the last few years. The
development has morphed from redeveloping the 1937 building's 93,000 square
feet into office space to razing it so Redico can build a 125,000-square-foot, three-story,
mixed-use building in its place. The latest plan promises to create hundreds of
news jobs, thousands of square feet of new retail space and dozens of new homes
in the city's core.
About 20,000 square feet of ground-floor
retail space will also be at that corner and along Schaefer. A 500-space
parking deck will be built behind the new building and 100 to 120 units of
senior citizen apartments will be built behind that so it melds in with the
surrounding neighborhood filled with single-family homes.
Work on the main structure is expected to
wrap up in 2009. The senior-citizen housing is expected to take a little longer.
Source: Mary Laundroche, the director of
the department of public information for Dearborn
Writer: Jon Zemke
Catching the SMART bus is about to become
much easier, at least if Hayes
Jones has anything to say about it.The newly hired general manager of the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional
Transportation is looking at a couple of ways to use new technology to make
traveling on the authority's buses easier and faster.
Among the innovations that could be in
place before the end of the year is using a MapQuest-like
feature on the authority's web site to plan out trips. The tool would not only
tell patrons which buses to take but when they stop at their destinations or
transfer to other buses.
Another possibility is putting the buses
routes into real time. That would allow patrons with smart phones or laptops to
check when their bus is on
time or not.
The idea behind the two innovations is to
eliminate waiting time for passengers and streamline their bus-riding
experience. Jones also said at a recent meeting for Transportation Riders
United that he and his staff are looking for ways to be more customer-service
oriented by getting rid of small inconveniences and adding new services.
Source: Hayes Jones, general manager of the
Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation
Writer: Jon Zemke
As sloth-like as it seems at times, the commuter rail project connecting Detroit, Ann Arbor and Metro Airport is not on a slow boat to China. But then again, it's not using Maglev technology either.
Regardless, officials close to the project expect infrastructure capacity and fare-box studies to wrap up by April, giving the project a big boost toward becoming a reality.
"That's key because we're trying to nail down the cost of the project," Saundra Nelson, director of special projects for Wayne County, said in a speech to Transportation Riders United earlier this week.
Nelson pointed out that finishing these studies will get the project closer to concluding the second stage of a largely three-step assessment. The first two (what it is and what it takes) will be done, leaving the third (what it costs) left to be determined. Nelson was quite optimistic that the proposal will become a reality sooner rather than later.
The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, which is spearheading the project, is negotiating logistics and improvements with the railroads that control the tracks and Amtrak for providing the trains. Organizers behind the proposal are looking at picking stops, arranging a shuttle service between the Metro Airport stop at Merriman Road and the airport's terminals and making sure delays are kept to a bare minimum.
Carmine Palombo, director of transportation for SEMCOG, gave a prognosis last year of establishing service by late 2009 or early 2010 while SEMCOG and the railroads sort out logistical issues.
The commuter rail line would utilize existing tracks with stops at Metro Airport, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Dearborn. It’s possible it could also be expanded to connect Royal Oak, Ferndale, Troy/Birmingham and Pontiac.
Source: Saundra Nelson, director of special projects for Wayne County
Writer: Jon Zemke
Dearborn wants you to move there and wants you to buy a house within its city limits. To get this done, the city has launched WelcomeHomeDearborn.com.
This year-long marketing campaign, spearheaded by the city, is focusing on attracting homebuyers. The Web site features information about where people live, work and play in Dearborn, along with information about homes for sale.
Dearborn is also sponsoring an essay contest on why residents love the city. Submissions should include a written description of up to 75 words and/or a graphic depiction, photo or drawing, about “Why I Love Dearborn!” sweepstakes entries will be used in a media campaign to highlight living in the city early this spring.
"Our goal is to help create public awareness about the campaign, generate a "buzz" about Dearborn before the media campaign is launched and to obtain interesting written and visual descriptions about Dearborn that can be used in our overall campaign," said Sandra Boulton, a partner of the JCI Group Dearborn marketing team that is developing and implementing the campaign.
For information on the sweepstakes, click here.
Source: City of Dearborn
Writer: Jon Zemke
Dearborn's west end is in line for a nice little shot in the arm. The Michigan Economic Development Corporation approved $55 million in tax credits and local tax capture meant to help redevelop 12 sites along Michigan Avenue between Howard and Military streets.
The mixed-use development will include building retail space, housing, two 10-story condo towers and a tri-level, 881-space parking deck. In all, the project will renovate one whole city block in Dearborn's west downtown.
The project is expected to generate $125 million in capital investment and create 350 new jobs.
Source: Michigan Economic Development Corporation
Writer: Jon Zemke
State officials are looking for regular Joe's (or Josephine's) to give their opinion on where state transportation should go and how they want it to get there. The solicitation is part of the annual comment period for the Michigan Department of Transportation's Five Year Plan.
The plan covers how Michigan intends to spends its resources on transportation issues, such as road construction and mass transit, in the next five years. In the past this has mainly focused on road construction, but this year the emergence of the Detroit to Ann Arbor commuter rail project, Ann Arbor to Howell commuter rail project, Detroit Transit Options for Growth Study (aka Woodward mass transit line) and a host of local greenway initiatives are giving locals a variety of subjects to pontificate on.
You can make your opinion known where it counts here. The deadline for public comments is Dec. 21.
Source: Michigan Department of Transportation
Writer: Jon Zemke
Dearborn isn't waiting for Spring to start cleaning up its neighborhoods. The city plans to launch its Public Service Days initiative in early January in an effort to create cleaner streets.
The initiative will give a concentrated dose of city services to neighborhoods twice a month. That dose of services will include everything from curb-to-curb street sweeping to tree trimming to catch basin cleaning.
To make it possible, city officials are asking residents to keep their streets clear during the Public Service Days. The days will happen on the neighborhood's trash pickup day that falls on the first full week of each month and again two weeks later. The program will begin on Jan. 7.
To make the plan work, city officials need local residents to keep their cars off the street and trash cans on the curb so city employees can work. Vehicles and trash bins left in the street will be ticketed or towed.
For information, call the city at (313) 943-2300.
Source: City of Dearborn
Writer: Jon Zemke
It's not always a bad thing when the feds are paying attention to you. Such is the case when the Federal Highway Administration recognized the Michigan Department of Transportation with an award for "exceptional environmental stewardship" of its 100-mile network of trails and greenways in southeast Michigan.
"This award reflects our commitment to making non-motorized trails available as a transportation mode," says Kirk T. Steudle, director of MDOT. "Trails are a part of the transportation mix that is essential to protecting the health and well being of Michigan residents, and greenways contribute to enhancing quality of life."
The award largely recognizes the efforts of the Southeastern Michigan GreenWays Initiative. The public and private partnership has helped organize efforts to finance and develop a 100-mile network of greenways across Metro Detroit since 2001. The regional effort involves more than 75 municipalities in Warren, Oakland, Macomb, Monroe Washtenaw, St. Clair and Livingston counties.
Greenways provide recreation, transportation, conservation, tourism and economic benefits by creating non-motorized trails in developed areas that nurture and preserve green space. The GreenWays Initiative has worked to expand and enhance local greenways, helping leverage more than $82 million in investments in greenways from public and private sources. Although great progress has been made in recent years, Metro Detroit's greenways system is still behind leaders like Indianapolis, leaving plenty of work for southeast Michigan's leaders.
Source: Michigan Department of Transportation
Writer: Jon Zemke
It looks like Dearborn is going to have to sacrifice a bit of its past to have a brighter a future. At least that's the case with the old Montgomery Ward building in the city's downtown.
The city and developer for the site, Southfield-based Redico, plan to tear down the historic structure at the southeast corner of Michigan Avenue and Schaefer Road. Doing so will allow Redico to build a 125,000-square-foot, mixed-use building in its place, creating hundreds of news jobs, thousands of square feet of new retail space and dozens of new homes in the city's core.
"I got over it (tearing down a historic building) pretty fast when we have a $45 million development going in its place," says Barry Murray, economic and community development director for the city of Dearborn. "In this case there are 500 jobs coming into the city. It's a big difference from a vacant department store at that corner."
Montgomery Ward opened the store in 1937. Over the years the business expanded into 93,000 square feet until it went belly up in 2001. It has been vacant ever since. The developer had originally planned to reuse much of the building in his redevelopment until complications were discovered, including a lack of space between floors and windows.
Redico plans to begin razing the old Montgomery Ward building in January or February so a new three-story, brick-and-stone façade structure can go up in its place. The new building will mostly be occupied by Oakwood Healthcare System and Midwest Health Services.
About 20,000 square feet of ground floor retail space will also be at that corner and along Schaefer. A 500-space parking deck will be built behind the new building and 100 to 120 units of senior citizen apartments will be built behind that so it melds in with the surrounding neighborhood filled with single-family homes.
Work on the main structure is expected to wrap up by the spring of 2009. The senior-citizen housing is expected to take a little longer.
Source: Barry Murray, economic and community development director for the city of Dearborn
Writer: Jon Zemke
The name of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee's new building in Dearborn might read the "American-Arab Center for Civil and Human Rights" but its leaders hope it will reach beyond that.
"This is a one-of-a-kind entity for the Arab-American community in Dearborn," says Imad Hamad, director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. "But we see this as a place for all Americans."
Construction on the 10,000-square-foot building at Ford and Chase roads is set to begin within the next month and finish up by the end of next summer. The two-story structure will feature office space, a reception area, an auditorium and meeting space for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. It will feature design elements rich in Arabian history.
The $5 million project was made possible by $1.5 million in gifts from prominent leaders in Qatar.
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee is the largest civil rights group for Arab-Americans. More Arabs call Metro Detroit home than anywhere else in the world outside of the Middle East. For information, call (313) 581-1201.
Source: Imad Hamad, regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
Writer: Jon Zemke
There's good news and, err… not so good news about the proposed commuter rail line connecting Detroit, Ann Arbor and Metro Airport.
The good news is negotiations between the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments and the railroads that control the tracks that connect Ann Arbor, Detroit and Metro Airport have progessed to the point of signing a contract to conduct a capacity study beginning in October. The six-month study is a key element to developing the logistics necessary to get the commuter train up and running.
The err… not so good news is that the line isn’t expected to take on its first passengers until late 2009 or early 2010 because SEMCOG and the railroads need to sort out logistical issues.
"There is an awful lot of work to do to make sure we are running both passenger and freight trains safely on the same track," says Carmine Palombo, director of transportation for SEMCOG.
The immediate issue is conducting the capacity study. Norfolk Southern Railway, which controls most of the tracks between Detroit and Ann Arbor, and SEMCOG officials require the study to determine the infrastructure needs along the route and how passenger trains would impact freight train traffic. It will also provide an estimate on needed capital costs.
SEMCOG also expects to enter into a contract with Amtrak to perform a ridership and fare study, which will give officials an estimate for the line's operating costs.
The commuter rail line would utilize existing tracks with stops at Metro Airport, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Dearborn. It’s possible it could also be expanded to connect Royal Oak, Troy/Birmingham and Pontiac.
Source: Carmine Palombo, director of transportation for the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments
Writer: Jon Zemke
New businesses are starting to pop up throughout Dearborn's east and west downtowns with the frequency of a whack-a-mole game.
Dearborn's west downtown has three new businesses. Among them is Encore Exchange, a resale shop at 22819 Michigan Ave., which offers designer clothing at affordable pricing. Nearby is Sophia's, a "giftique," specializing in home goods and gifts. It's in the former Lilly Boutique near Howard Street and Michigan. New to West Village Commons, near Au Bon Pain, is Exclusive Styles, an upscale clothing boutique offering men's and woman's clothing.
On the east side of town, Brick Oven Bistro opened at 4656 Greenfield Road. The Italian bistro is a relaxed, casual and family friendly establishment, serving dishes such as beef carpaccio and thin-crust pizzas made in a wood-burning brick oven.
Source: Dearborn Chamber of Commerce
Writer: Jon Zemke
As downtowns across Metro Detroit continue to revitalize, small businesses like TeamLogicIT should be credited with making these turnarounds possible.
The new downtown Dearborn firm spent $13,000 to do some cosmetic renovations to its one-story storefront at 4929 Schaefer. Not a huge sum and not a project that will inspire countless conversations, like the proposed renovation of the old Montgomery Ward building down the street. But making one more small building better helps make downtown better and can inspire its neighbors to invest more.
TeamLogicIT, which opened earlier this year, is an IT service provider for small- and mid-size businesses. It plans to add an employee or two, such as a sales person, by the end of the year. The firm's founders live and work in Dearborn and wanted to be involved in the community and downtown.
They took control of the old storefront and went to work on it. They repainted the inside, did some minor repairs and replaced the exterior, made of stucco and rotting wood, with ceramic tile.
"Basically painting it was out of the question so we had to strip it down and replace it," says Majed Rizik, operations manager for TeamLogicIT.
It's small and it probably won't make or break downtown Dearborn. But little improvements like that do go a long way to improving downtown by showing it’s a fertile place with opportunities for entrepreneurs to set up shop.
Source: Majed Rizik, operations manager for TeamLogicIT
Writer: Jon Zemke
I've got one word for you: Logistics.
That's what Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) and freight train officials are trying to figure out to establish the much anticipated commuter rail line that will connect Detroit, Ann Arbor and Metro Airport.
SEMCOG is working with the three freight railroads (Norfolk Southern, Conrail Shared Assets and Canadian National) that own the tracks between Ann Arbor and Detroit. They are negotiating the costs and conditions of putting passenger trains on freight tracks, identifying when the tracks are needed for freight purposes, when to run passenger service and working out conflicts and associated costs.
Carmine Palombo, director of transportation for SEMCOG, wouldn't say whether the project is still on track to be up and running by the end of this year because the pending talks with the railroads will determine the timeline and costs.
"Overall, I think the project is moving along," Palombo says in an e-mail. "It is a project with a lot of moving parts. We will know more in the next month or two. Our goal continues to be to start service as soon as we can."
The demonstration line would utilize existing tracks with stops at Metro Airport, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Dearborn. It’s possible it could also be expanded to connect Royal Oak, Troy/Birmingham and Pontiac.
Source: Carmine Palombo, director of transportation for Southeast Michigan Council of Governments
Writer: Jon Zemke
The Detroit Department of Transportation is hosting a series of public
meetings to receive input on three potential alignments for rapid
transit in the four cities it services: Dearborn, Detroit, Hamtramck
and Highland Park.
Excerpt:
The options, all of which include a three-mile stretch of Woodward between downtown and New Center, are:
- Michigan Avenue to Dearborn, near Fairlane Mall and University of Michigan-Dearborn; and
These
three alignments were deemed worthy of further study for several
reasons, including public support at an earlier round of public
hearings, population, housing and employment density, major
destinations, traffic volume, bus ridership, and concentration of
car-less households. Modes being evaluated include bus rapid transit,
light rail and upgraded traditional bus service.
Read the entire article
here.
Meet new friends and keep the old.
Among the new faces in Dearborn's downtown area are a deli and a bike shop. Harley's Dearborn Deli, 24142 Michigan Ave. just west of Telegraph, recently opened. The eatery is open seven days a week and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. For information, call (313) 274-5170.
Adventure Bicycles, 3806 Monroe St., wants to sell you a carbon-neutral way of getting to Harley's with one of its bicycles. The bike shop offers a wide variety of products and services for bicycles, including whole bikes, parts, apparel and service. For information, call (313) 274-2828.
While these businesses are introducing themselves to the community, another is looking to make a good second impression. Avenue Bar & Grill, formerly the Blue Margarita at 13277 Michigan Ave., is reopening after and extensive interior redesign. It will keep its Mexican food-themed menu.
Source: Dearborn Chamber of Commerce and Michael Boettcher, executive director of the East Dearborn DDA
Writer: Jon Zemke
Progress on redeveloping the old Montgomery Ward building in downtown Dearborn could be happening soon. The 90-day deadline Southfield-based Redico has to present plans for the redevelopment is set for Wednesday.
"We could be moving ahead pretty quickly," says Michael Boettcher, executive director of the East Dearborn Downtown Development Authority.
The proposed plan is to create a 125,000-square-foot mixed use building at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Schaefer Road. A medical technology company plans to move into most of the office space. There will also be space for ground-floor retail and residential condo units. A parking deck is also planned for the site. It will take about 18 months to complete the project.
The building opened as a Montgomery Ward department store in 1937. It 94,000 square feet has been vacant since 2001.
"It's a battleship," Boettcher says. "We've had people who do historical rehabs from across the country come in and say they just love it."
Source: Michael Boettcher, executive director of the East Dearborn DDA
Writer: Jon Zemke
The East Dearborn Downtown Development Authority has opened a new storefront office looking to create a more visible presence in the local community. The DDA hopes the new location will make it easier for local residents and business owners to drop in and work with the officials. The DDA was previously located in city hall.
The DDA will hold a ribbon cutting this morning (Thursday) at its new home on 13750 Michigan Ave. The DDA is occupying 1,700 square feet of a ground-floor retail space in a two-story building at the corner of Michigan and Maple Street that dates back to the early 1920s.
The storefront, previously occupied by a mortgage company, had been vacant for several months before the DDA moved in. The DDA hopes to do some improvements to the building, such as removing a drop ceiling so the old tin ceiling can be restored.
Source: Michael Boettcher, executive director of the East Dearborn DDA
Writer: Jon Zemke
Taking a page from the "Only we can solve our problems" playbook, Southfield-based Farbman Group is starting the Michigan Now! program to attract, retain and grow new businesses in Metro Detroit.
The program is offering office and commercial space at greatly reduced rates, or even free in some cases, to businesses and entrepreneurs in growth industries both in and out of state.
"Now is the time for businesses to play a role in moving our state forward. We cannot sit by idly and place the burden solely on the shoulders of government," David Farbman, co-president of Farbman Group, says in a statement. "The old way of doing business is no longer working for Michigan and business owners have the power to make a positive impact. The state is its own greatest resource. We have creative and well educated individuals, tremendous real estate spaces and a wealth of natural resources that simply need to be connected."
The idea is that by defraying the rental costs will free up capital in start-ups, allowing them to focus their resources on improving their business. It also hopes that the reduced rates will be big enough incentives to attract out-of-state businesses to Michigan. Farbman Group hopes growing businesses like this at the grassroots level will help boost the state’s sagging economy in the short and long term.
The program will also offer to match up these companies with local banks, consulting firms and attorneys to help them grow their business. So far about a dozen such organizations have signed up to take part in the program.
Applications for the program are due by July 31. More information can be found online at michigannow.net or by calling 866-NewMich (642-4639).
Source: Farbman Group
Writer: Jon Zemke
A group of non-profits representing the interests of Michigan Avenue, from downtown Detroit, through Corktown and Southwest Detroit and into East Dearborn, have banded together to work on improving the corridor's image and physical appearance.
Excerpt:
The overall goal is to bring Michigan Avenue back to prominence as a regional destination corridor.
The
collaborative is currently seeking funds with which they will hire a
professional planner. Work will include research of the corridor's
history, an evaluation of its present conditions and the development of
potential branding, special events and economic development initiatives
to help the collaborative reach its goal.
Read the entire article
here.
The Dearborn Chamber of Commerce is taking an informal survey to see what local residents, workers and business owner want to see in their community.
The 17-question online survey asks what type of businesses people want to see come to Dearborn and what type of shopping, mall or main street-style retail, they prefer. The chamber along with the city, downtown development authority and local developers hope it will give them a better idea of what direction people want to see Dearborn head in commercially. Local officials also expect to use it to attract new developers and businesses to the area.
For information, visit dearbornchamber.org or call (313) 584-6100.
Source: Jennifer Giering, president of the Dearborn Chamber of Commerce
Dearborn's successful sushi restaurant and nightclub, Crave, is looking to open its second location in Birmingham.
Excerpt:
Attorneys Robert Harrison and Kelly Allen plan to pitch the concept to the [city] commission.
"Jim will be investing literally millions of dollars in making this a
breathtakingly beautiful place here in downtown Birmingham. It will do
a lot of things, we think, for the city," said Harrison, whose office
is located in the Plaza.
"You're going to have an owner who is committed to the city, someone
who's going to be all over this thing to make sure it works."
Harrison said the operation will create 80 new jobs and fill vacant
office space. It also provides Birmingham with a new dining venue that
currently isn't available.
Read the entire article here.
A study by the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative states upgrading passenger rail service across the Midwest could provide up to $719 million in investment, $3.5 billion in user benefits to Michigan, 6,970 new jobs, more transportation choices and a significant reduction in pollution.
Nine states from across the Midwest, including Michigan, are part of the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative, which is pushing for the creation of a 3,000-mile Midwest Regional Rail System, similar to systems on the east coast. Trains running out of a hub in Chicago would travel to nine Midwest states at speeds up to 110 mph, making travel times competitive with driving.
The proposed system would have three routes in Michigan that would connect Chicago to Metro Detroit, Port Huron and Grand Rapids. The study estimates the system would generate $23.1 in user benefits, such as time savings, and $4.9 billion in investment in the Midwest during the project's first 40 years. Of that, Metro Detroit could see as much as $315 million in user benefits.
Passenger rail service, provided by Amtrak, ridership in Michigan has increased steadily wince 2002 from 447,000 passengers to 673,000 passengers in 2006. The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments is also moving forward with plans to create a commuter rail line connecting Detroit, Dearborn, Metro Airport, Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor by the end of this year.
For information on the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative study, visit michigan.gov/mdot/0,1607,7-151-11056---,00.html.
Source: Michigan Department of Transportation
Work on the retail portion of Dearborn Village North is complete while construction on the lofts above the development is set to finish by the end of May.
The mixed-use development at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Howard Street replaces an old building that was razed. The commercial section of the structure is occupied by a Panera Bread and Buffalo Wild Wings. Approximately 4,800 square feet of retail space is still available. That space also comes with patios in front of and behind the building.
Twenty four one-bedroom lofts are being built above the ground floor retail space. The units are rentals. So far 15 of the residences have been reserved.
Lincoln Park-based Fakhoury Ventures, LLC is behind the project. For information, call (734) 284-3549.
Source: Hakim Fakhoury, developer of Dearborn Village North
Construction on Gateway Plaza in downtown Dearborn is expected to wrap up by the end of May and the whole development is leased.
Workers only need to finish some exterior work and landscaping to complete the renovation of building at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Military Street. The project features space for both retail on the ground floor and lofts above. The 11,000 square feet of retail space is occupied by a Bora Bora Coffee Shop, Quizno’s Sub Shop, Armani store and Caliente Grille.
The lofts above the retail space come with one bedroom and a study, which can be turned into a second room. The units, which are rentals, range from 1,200 to 1,500 square feet. They have all been leased and are ready for tenants to move in.
The project is renovating a building constructed in 1929 that once was occupied by an appliance store.
Lincoln Park-based Fakhoury Ventures, LLC is behind the project. For information, call (734) 284-3549.
Source: Hakim Fakhoury, developer of Gateway Plaza
Dearborn is seeing movement on multiple large-scale developments,
including the forme Montgomery Ward's, Gateway Plaza, and Dearborn
Village North.
Excerpt:
Nearby, on Michigan and Howard, is Dearborn Village North, the lower level of which is open for business. While Buffalo Wild Wings and Panera Bread have been open for months, a neighboring retail space is still vacant. Fakhoury said he is talking to a possible tenant out of Ann Arbor, but a lease has not yet been signed.
The lofts on top of the stores are still under construction, but even without a model apartment Fakhoury has received reservations for 15 of the 24 lofts.
Reception to the lofts, which range from $1,400 to $2,400 per month, has been positive, Fakhoury said. So far, reservations have been made by people outside of Dearborn, including individuals from New York, Chicago, Royal Oak and Birmingham.
"It just goes to show that when you offer the right product, you can attract different people," he said, adding a model should be complete within 45 days.
Read the entire article
here.
$89.5 million in funding will eventually result in a network of bike
and pedestrian paths through the entire 7-county region. $15.3 million
of that total stems from the Community Foundation for Southeast
Michigan's Greenways Initiative.
Excerpt:
The project's scope could be huge. A Rails-to-Trails Conservancy study reported the potential for 2,400 miles of trails in southeast Michigan. "That's the big vision," says Anne Weekley, vice president of the community foundation. The GreenWays Initiative-funded projects will total about 100 miles — double the existing routes — when completed.
Read the entire article
here.
Large sculptures of tigers will begin appearing across Metro Detroit en masse after opening day.
The fiberglass Tigers are a fundraiser and public-art project for the Children’s Charities Coalition, which is made up of four Oakland County-based charities. At least 80 tigers will appear throughout Metro Detroit, although most of them will be in Birmingham and Bloomfield. The tigers are approximately 4 feet tall and 100 pounds and will be displayed in front of businesses between April and June.
“Our inspiration was the Detroit Tigers, but we have all sorts of tigers,” said Gigi Nichols, public relations director for The Community House, which is part of the Children’s Charities Coalition. “They’re not necessarily tigers that have something to do with baseball, although some of them do.”
Money raised from the sculptures will go toward the four charities that make up the Children’s Charities Coalition: Child Abuse and Neglect Council of Oakland County, The Community House, Orchards Children’s Services and Variety The Children’s Charity.
For information, call (248) 594-6403.
Source: Gigi Nichols, public relations director for The Community House
Work on revamping Warren Avenue in Dearborn with new infrastructure and streetscape improvements is set to begin this week.
The $4.9-million project, in its second phase, will rebuild Warren Avenue east of Schaefer to the city limit. The improvements will include new sewers, pavement, curbs and multitude of streetscape improvements, such as 40 new street lights with pedestrian lamps, about 90 new planting areas complete with trees and daylilies and new sidewalks with stamped colored patterns.
Warren Avenue, home of one of the largest Arab enclaves in America, will be reduced to one lane of traffic in each direction. Work is expected to last through October.
Source: Mary Laundroche, director of Dearborn’s Department of Public Information
Ypsilanti is being considered as a additional stop on the Ann
Arbor-Detroit commuter rail line that official hope to have up and
running by the end of the year, with initial stops in Detroit, Dearborn
and Ann Arbor.
Excerpt:
Gerald Rowe, manager of transportation programs for the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, confirmed Ypsilanti as a possible stop for a commuter rail system in southeast Michigan.
The project - which has been in discussion for years - is seeking additional funding from Congress and the Michigan Department of Transportation, among other sources. Rowe said officials would like to see the system incorporating stops in places like Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Detroit by the end of the calendar year. But he said that timeline is tentative and would depend on funding.
"What we're trying to do with the project is get service to start as soon as possible," he said.
Read the entire article
here.
More and more people are catching rides on Metro Detroit’s mass transit systems, which saw significant jumps in ridership in 2006.
The Detroit Department of Transportation,
Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation,
The People Mover and the
Ann Arbor Transportation Authority all saw ridership increases between 5 to 50 percent.
The number of people riding the People Mover jumped 50 percent, while SMART and DDOT each registered 10.5-percent and 5-percent increases, respectively. AATA ridership jumped 13 percent.
DDOT 2005 = 34,724,028 2006 = 36,488,952 (+5%)
SMART 2005 = 10,176,391 2006 = 11,251,836 (+10.5%)
People Mover 2005 = 1,558,646 2006 = 2,340,511 (+50%)
AATA 2005 = 4,856,895 2006 = 5,488,317 (+13%)
"They’re all fairly significant climbs," said Janet Foran, a spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Transportation.
Overall, people riding mass transit in Michigan jumped 8.4 percent in 2006 to 93.1 million rides. The state’s seven urban transportation systems accounted for 78 million rides. DDOT and SMART provided slightly more than half of the total number of rides in the state, or 47.9 million.
"Public transportation is a critical factor in providing mobility to Michigan residents," says Kirk T. Steudle, the state’s transportation director. "We attribute the rising numbers to several factors, including the ever-present issue of higher (and fluctuating) gas prices and effective local marketing efforts in larger, urban areas such as Detroit, Lansing, Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor."
Southeast Michigan, long dependent solely on buses for mass transit, is also working on two projects to diversify mass transit options by the end of the year.
The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments is planning to establish a commuter train line connecting Detroit, Dearborn, Metro Airport, Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor by the end of year. Ann Arbor-area leaders are also working to get another commuter rail line up and running north from the city into Livingston County along the U.S. 23 corridor by June.
Source: Janet Foran, spokeswoman for MDOT
Transportation Riders United, a Metro Detroit non-profit mass transit advocacy group, is holding a design contest on what the future of mass transit in Metro Detroit could look like in 2025.
"Detroit in Transit: Visions of a Region on the Move" is looking for drawings and designs of what Detroit’s future transit and transit-oriented neighborhoods would look like with convenient, high-quality rapid transit.
"What we’re really hoping to do is launch a public conversation about what rapid transit can do to revitalize a city like Detroit," says Megan Owens, executive director of TRU.
TRU is looking for artists, designers, urban planners, architects, students and others to submit designs and drawings. The contest has three categories. The first is to design transit vehicles on a streetscape. The second is looking for architectural designs of transit stations incorporated into a streetscape. The third is for designing vibrant neighborhoods and intersections around transit stops.
Submissions are due by April 30. Finalists will be revealed and displayed during a gala event during National Transportation Week, between May 13 and 18. For information on the contest, visit detroittransit.org/design-contest.php or call (313) 963-8872.
Source: Megan Owens, executive director of Transportation Riders United
Michigan Suburbs Alliance
will host its annual Regional Redevelopment Summit on March 23 at the
Fairlane Club in Dearborn. The keynote speaker will be Paul Schutt,
Issue Media Group's publisher and co-founder.
Excerpt:
In southeast Michigan’s current real estate market, many cities are struggling to get the word out about their viable redevelopment opportunities. They need new, innovative strategies for communicating to potential investors. At the 2007 Regional Redevelopment Summit, cities, developers, realtors and communications professionals will come together to explore innovative solutions to this region-wide barrier to redevelopment.
Find out more
here.
How do we create demand for cities and regions?
Michigan Suburbs Alliance will host its annual Regional Redevelopment Summit on March 23 at the Fairlane Club in Dearborn. The keynote speaker will be Paul Schutt, co-founder and co-CEO of Issue Media Group (IMG).
In Paul Schutt's presentation, he will discuss how media is providing "alternative narratives" for neighborhoods, cities and metropolitan areas. The discussion will focus on models that support a virtuous cycle by focusing on growth, investment, sense of place and thought leaders for the new economy.
Excerpt:
In southeast Michigan’s current real estate market, many cities are struggling to get the word out about their viable redevelopment opportunities. They need new, innovative strategies for communicating to potential investors. At the 2007 Regional Redevelopment Summit, cities, developers, realtors and communications professionals will come together to explore innovative solutions to this region-wide barrier to redevelopment.
Find out more
here.
*IMG is a Detroit-based media company has created online magazines such as
ModelD and
metromode in Detroit,
Pop City in Pittsburgh and
Rapid Growth in Grand Rapids.
Plans to establish a commuter rail line between Detroit and Ann Arbor are still on track and a demonstration line is expected to be up and running by later this year.
The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) is in negotiations to establish the line that would connect Detroit and Ann Arbor to Metro Airport. Details about the line, such as the number of trains and when they’ll run, are still being determined.
“A lot of that is going to depend on the negotiations with the freight railroads that own the tracks,” said Carmine Palombo, director of transportation for SEMCOG.
The starter line would utilize existing tracks with stops at Metro Airport, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Dearborn. It’s possible it could also be expanded to connect Royal Oak, Troy/Birmingham and Pontiac.
Transit Riders United, a non-profit mass transit advocacy group, has been hosting informational meetings about the proposal this month. The fourth and final meeting is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Livonia Senior Center at Farmington and Five Mile roads.
For information, visit detroittransit.org or call (313) 963-8872.
Source: Carmine Palombo, director of transportation for Southeast Michigan Council of Governments
Dearborn city council is expected to approve developments planned for
both the east and west ends of Michigan Avenue. The former Montgomery
Ward's building at Schaefer is pegged for a mixed-use development
anchored by corporate headquarters for a not-yet named corporation. On
the west end two parking decks - one
topped by a boutique hotel - a residential tower, a movie theater and
22,000 square feet of retail space are being proposed.
Excerpts:
In addition to the office space, the 125,000-square-foot [Montgomery Ward] development would also have space for four retailers and would be four-stories high — about the same size as the existing building. It also calls for row housing as opposed to lofts over the commercial space and a 624-space parking deck.
The [west-end] proposal calls for a parking structure behind the Oakwood-Muirhead building, near the new home of Buffalo Wild Wings and Panera Bread. Another parking deck is proposed to be built behind La Shish, with a 120-room boutique hotel on top of it.
In the same block as Buffalo Wild Wings, there are plans for a six-screen, two-story movie theater in addition to residential towers and 22,000 square-feet of retail space.
Read the entire article
here.
Dearborn City Council was presented with four possible developments for the former Mongomery Ward site last week. One scenario calls for an office/commercial complex at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Schaefer with housing built on the south end of the site; the other three options called for ground floor retail topped with housing.
Excerpt:
The BK/REDICO proposal — as it is known — is different from the other proposals received by the city because it calls for row housing to be built separately from the central facility — on the other side of Calhoun Street. In addition to office space, the 125,000 square-foot development would also have space for four retailers and would be four-stories high — about the same size as the existing building.
"The other three are all similar in nature to the projects we did in West Dearborn," [Economic and Community Development Director Barry Murray] said.
Read the entire article
here.
Dearborn is working to keep new office and retail development on track.
Excerpt:
Like most of Michigan, Dearborn is looking to diversify and become less dependent on the auto industry.
City officials say they want to offer tax abatements and incentives to keep Ford workers in Dearborn and help the automaker consolidate more of its operations in the city.
Click for full story.