Development News

Birmingham reshapes Shain Park expansion plans

Source: metromode, 1/29/2009

Birmingham city officials are just about ready to put the shovels in the ground for the Shain Park redevelopment project, but they won't be going as deep as originally planned.

The City Commission approved a revised plan for the project this week. In is an extension of the park to a vacant lot next to The Townsend Hotel. Out is the idea of building a parking structure underneath it.

The original plans called for a 210-space parking garage beneath the park. Estimates called for spending $7.5 million of the $11 million project on the parking deck.

"The prices came back and they were over budget so they got rid of the underground parking," says Jana Ecker, planning director for the city of Birmingham.

The city still plans to expand the park south onto a surface parking lot across Henrietta Street. The revamped park will include an ampitheater for performances. About two-thirds of the lot will become park, while the remaining third will be maintained as parking.

The lot currently holds space for 150 vehicles. However, city officials are engineering the remaining parking spots and those on the street so there will only be a loss of 63 spaces.

Construction is set to begin in June and wrap up by 2011.

Source: Jana Ecker, planning director for Birmingham
Writer: Jon Zemke

Birmingham

Madonna University gets $1.5 million green building grant

Source: metromode, 1/29/2009

The Kresge Foundation is showering Madonna University with quite a few greenbacks now that the Livonia-based university is pushing forward with plans to use green-building techniques for its latest structure.

The foundation is giving Madonna a $1.5 million challenge grant to fund the university's $20 million Science and Media Building. Madonna needs to make the building environmentally friendly and raise $3.25 million by January 2010 to secure the grant.

The new building will house the university's growing science program, providing space for state-of-the-art laboratories. It will also provide top-shelf space for production facilities for its broadcast and cinema arts program. Classrooms, seminar rooms, a lecture hall and a high-definition media studio will round out the building's 60,000 square feet.

The building's green virtues will include recycled materials, energy-efficient windows and lighting and a green roof. All of that and more will allow Madonna to go for LEED certification. It could be Livonia’s first LEED-certified building.

Madonna's Leading the Way Campaign is trying to find most of the funding for the project. So far it has raised more than $14 million of its $50 million goal.

Source: Madonna University
Writer: Jon Zemke

Film , Green Building , Higher Education , Sustainability , Sustainability , Wayne County

Beaumont spends big bucks renovating Grosse Pointe hospital

Source: metromode, 1/29/2009

Beaumont Hospital, Grosse Pointe is catching its second wind thanks to some timely investments in renovation.

"The building was looking tired so we did some sprucing up," says Karen LeDuc, communications manager for Beaumont Hospital, Grosse Pointe.

Beaumont has been renovating the common areas with new paint and carpeting since it bought the 289-bed hospital in late 2007. The latest investment is in newly renovated seven-chair Infusion Services Unit. Beaumont spent $225,000 on the 2,570-square-foot space.

The new unit provides a space for patients of all ages to receive intravenous medication for conditions such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn's disease. The new room comes with amenities like 32-inch flat-screen TVs and reclining chairs for patients.

The Sisters of Bon Secours founded the hospital in 1945. Today it provides medical, surgical, emergency, pediatric and critical care services. It's located at 468 Cadieux Road, just north of Jefferson Avenue and downtown Grosse Pointe.

Source: Karen LeDuc, communications manager for Beaumont Hospital, Grosse Pointe
Writer: Jon Zemke

Healthcare , Redevelopment , Wayne County

Grosse Pointe

MSU report advocates turning brownfields into energy parks

Source: metromode, 1/29/2009

Didya hear? Michigan State University has this crazy idea about turning brownfields green ...in more ways than one.

However, that notion doesn't seem so crazy anymore after the university's Land Policy Institute released a study that suggests brownfields should be turned into renewable energy parks. The study says that putting things like solar panels on Michigan's contaminated brownfield sites could produce enough electricity to power half of the state's homes, bringing in $15 billion in investment and creating 17,500 jobs.

Brownfield sites are usually parcels of land that have been contaminated by toxic materials, often in industrial areas. They can also be old buildings that have become obsolete.

Michigan's long industrial heritage have left a large number of brownfield sites, especially in southeast Michigan. MSU Land Policy Institute's study says these lands could produce as many as 5,855 megawatts of electricity, which could power 1.8 million homes.

That would go a long way toward meeting the state's new renewable portfolio standard, which calls for 10 percent of Michigan's energy to come from a combination of energy efficiency gains and renewable energy sources by the year 2015.

Source: Michigan State University Land Policy Institute
Writer: Jon Zemke

Energy , Environment , Green Building , Investment , Sustainability , Sustainability

MSU teaches rescue training at old Ford Wixom plant

Source: metromode, 1/29/2009

It's not auto manufacturing, but local officials have found a temporary use for the old Ford plant in Wixom.

Michigan State University uses the sprawling facility to train first responders, like firefighters, how to free people trapped in machinery, wrecked cars, etc.. MSU will train firefighters from across the state using a similar program it developed for Ford.

Funding from the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration will pay for the training.

People trapped in machinery have resulted in more than 100 deaths over the last five years. Machinery deaths include things like printing presses, snow groomers, elevators or even copy machines.

Proper training is necessary because freeing these people isn't as easy as hitting the reverse button. Often inexperienced rescuers can cause further harm freeing people in such trouble without the proper training.

Source: Michigan State University
Writer: Jon Zemke

Education , Higher Education , Oakland County

Barclay Inn project looks for variance in Birmingham

Source: metromode, 1/29/2009

The Barclay Inn project in Birmingham is about to have its moment of truth.

Developers are asking the city for a variance in the plans. Namely they want to build a brick wall facing the street where Walgreens is supposed to be built. Local regulations call for glass. Walgreens will pull out of the development without the variance in effect, scuttling the project, according to Chris Enright, president of Birmingham-based Christopher Enright Architects - the firm that designed the plans for the new hotel.

However, city officials are not eager to grant the request, according to Jana Ecker, planning director for the city of Birmingham. The reason is that the project is supposed to go at the corner of the Maple Road and Woodward Avenue on the northwest tip of the city's Triangle District.

City planners have called for making this area a vibrant urban core area, similar to downtown on the other side of Woodward. To emphasize that, the ordinance calls for dense buildings and lots of windows at the street level to promote retail business and foot traffic.

The developers who want to rebuild the Barclay Inn have changed the plans before. Last time they shrunk the project from 8 stories to 5. However, they still plan to raze the old 1950s-era hotel and a couple of other nearby buildings to make room for the mid-rise.

The mixed-used building is supposed to feature a new Barclay Inn, a Walgreens and a bistro wrapped in a modern, contemporary exterior of glass, metal and stone. The first floor will feature room for the bistro, hotel and 14,800 square feet for Walgreens. Above that will be four floors with 119 hotel rooms.

The Triangle District is an area just east of downtown bordered by Woodward Avenue, Adams Road and Maple Road. The area, which is in the shape of a triangle, is experiencing development pressure.

Source: Jana Ecker, planning director for the city of Birmingham and Chris Enright, president of Christopher Enright Architects
Writer: Jon Zemke

Downtown Living , Oakland County , Redevelopment

Birmingham

Mass transit poised to take big step forward in 2009

Source: metromode, 1/29/2009

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

Transportation , Wayne County

Ypsilanti , Ann Arbor , Dearborn , Detroit

Ypsilanti's Riverside Arts Center - "Going up!"

Source: Concentrate, 1/29/2009

Ypsilanti's Riverside Arts Center just became bigger thanks to a new elevator.

Excerpt:

The Riverside Arts Center is going up, up and away thanks to a new elevator between it and the historic Detroit Edison structure adjacent to it.

The $570,000 project not only built the elevator and adjoining stairway in the old alley between buildings but expanded and remodeled the lobby of the arts center. The whole project has gone a long way toward breathing new life into the century-old structures along Michigan and the Huron River on the eastern edge of downtown Ypsilanti.

"We wanted all of the floors to be accessible," says Barry LaRue, secretary of the board of directors for the Riverside Arts Center Foundation. "The top floor of the building, the Masonic Temple floor, couldn’t be used because we didn't have an egress there."

Read the rest of the story here.

Arts & Culture , Downtown Living , Historic Sites , Redevelopment , The University Of Michigan

Ypsilanti

Ann Arbor Greenbelt acquires desirable land, grant

Source: Concentrate, 1/29/2009

Preserving the trees in Tree Town is a big deal for Ann Arbor resident Don Botsford.

Excerpt:

"Discrete human use is allowed by local fauna"
– sign on Don Botsford property just outside of Ann Arbor

It doesn't take long to figure out Don Botsford's politics on green space and its preservation. The lifelong Ann Arbor resident also known as Grandpa Don recently sold a 10-acre easement of woods and trails to Ann Arbor's Greenbelt. It joins a $10,000 grant to the Washtenaw Land Trust, helping further efforts to preserve green space around the college town.

Botsford's land is on Miller Road tucked away on the Scio Township side of M-14. The city of Ann Arbor and Scio Township are spending a little more than $300,000 to buy the land, but Botsford says the deal is not about the money.

"It seems like a lot of money but it's not like the offers I have received," Botsford says.

Read the rest of the story here.

Environment , Quality Of Life , Sustainability , Sustainability

Ann Arbor

Canine to Five remodeling, expanding small dog area

Source: Model D, 1/29/2009

The place where dogs are allowed, Detroit's Canine to Five, is growing in the Cass Corridor.

Excerpt:

Canine to Five doggy day care is closing for a week for renovations and expansion. It will reopen on Jan. 31. Owner Liz Blondy recently purchased the building and thought it was time for a sprucing up.

"Now that I own the building, I feel a lot more comfortable investing in it," she says. "I plan to stay put, and want my customers to feel like the business not only takes great care of their dogs, but looks great too."

Read the rest of the story here.

Entrepreneurship , Green Building , Redevelopment , Wayne County

Detroit

Kresge grants $3.5M to three Detroit greenways: Conner Creek Greenway, Dequindre Cut, Midtown Loop

Source: Model D, 1/27/2009

The Kresge Foundation has granted three of Detroit's greenways projects a combined total of $3.5 million. The money will be used to extend the Dequindre Cut north to Mack, build another segment of the Conner Creek Greenway and fund construction of the Mitdown Loop's Phase 2, the part that traverses John R and Canfield.

Todd Scott of the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance says that this "challenge grant" will help the fledgling Detroit Greenways Coalition get some legs. "One of the important things we need to do is to formalize our group structure so that we can use this money to get the most bang for our buck," he says. "This money has pushed us to the next level in terms of being organized."

The Dequindre Cut is a trail that currently extends from the East Riverfront to Gratiot Avenue; this extension will take it into the heart of Eastern Market.

The Conner Creek Greenway will eventually connect the East Side from the Detroit River to Eight Mile. The Kresge grant will fumd two phases: from Jefferson to the riverfront Maheras Gentry Park and from Harper to Eight Mile. Libby Pachota of the Detroit Eastside Community Collaborative hopes to see construction begin in the summer of 2010 for both segments.

The Midtown Loop will provide a culturally stimulating route around Midtown. Phase One, which will begin construction this summer, runs along Cass and Kirby. Read more about the design of the Loop here.

Sources: Todd Scott, MTGA and Libby Pachota, DECC
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh

Environment , Green Building , Wayne County , Wayne State University

Detroit

WaterWheel Centre goes from blight to gem in downtown Northville

Source: metromode, 1/22/2009

The WaterWheel Centre is a classic example that not all old buildings are blight.

Eyesore is what a lot of local residents saw when they looked at 235 E Main St. after Ford pulled out of it. The Albert Kahn-designed building had fallen a long ways since Henry Ford commissioned it as one his last community industry buildings. This factory, which once made the valves in every Ford for the heart of the 20th Century, stood empty when Richard Cox found it in 1994.

"They actually were thinking of tearing the building down," Cox says. "I rebuild cars and when I saw the building I knew it was a diamond in the rough."

He initially kept it as manufacturing space for his company, giving the surrounding green space to the city for a park.

But the 52,000-square-foot facility was too big for just him. Luckily people were starting to take notice of his offices there, so he started to rent some of that space out. A little more than 10 years later it made the transition from brownfield industrial to edgy downtown offices.

Today six companies and a health club occupy the ground floor and basement area. HSK Architecture is moving in early this year, creating an absolutely beautiful space, according to Cox.

"They could pay more per square foot than I could for manufacturing," Cox says.

Those companies weren't the only ones taking notice. Ford officials brought in people from around the world to show off how nicely it was renovated before buying the sister buildings to it in Australia. All because of how well Cox shinned up the old structure in Northville.

Source: Richard Cox, owner and general manager of the WaterWheel Centre
Writer: Jon Zemke

Downtown Living , Historic Sites , Oakland County , Redevelopment

Northville

Strategic Energy Solutions goes green with new Berkley home

Source: metromode, 1/22/2009

Strategic Energy Solutions just finished turning its new home in an industrial brownfield green.

The building on 11 Mile in Berkley served as an industrial facility for half a century until Strategic Energy Solutions purchased it last year. The sustainability technology firm renovated it into an environmentally friendly structure that is going for silver LEED certification.

The building's 9,200 square feet of loft-like office space is heated and cooled with a geothermal system. Strategic Energy Solutions added a plethora of windows, including making the entire east side wall transparent. There is so much light that every employee has a view.

"Whether it's day or night, snowing or raining everybody can see outside," says Steve DiBerardine, president of Strategic Energy Solutions.

The 11-year-old company used to call Ferndale home before spending about $1 million reinventing its new Berkley space. It's now big enough that the company can comfortably expand for the next few years as it continues to rake in the green.

Source: Steve DiBerardine, president of Strategic Energy Solutions
Writer: Jon Zemke

Green Building , Oakland County , Sustainability , Sustainability

Berkley

New Ferndale ordinance calls for more LEED projects

Source: metromode, 1/22/2009

Ferndale already has a reputation as a city of tree huggers, but now city officials want the inner ring suburb's buildings to embrace the environment around them, too.

The City Council recently debated a new ordinance that recommends all of the structures owned or funded by Ferndale be sustainable. It plans to do that by suggesting that silver certification of LEED standards be incorporated into the city's building stock.

City officials believe this policy will help encourage new construction or redevelopment projects to include sustainable design and building practices in buildings that are environmentally responsible, energy efficient and healthy places to work.

City officials quoted statistics that say that buildings consume approximately 70 percent of the electricity produced in the U.S. while creating 30 percent of the country's greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. The hope is that such policies will help curb building-energy consumption and emissions.

Source: City of Ferndale
Writer: Jon Zemke

Green Building , Oakland County , Redevelopment , Sustainability , Sustainability

Ferndale

RMT finishes Michigan wind farm construction

Source: metromode, 1/22/2009

RMT has wrapped up construction on the largest wind farm in Michigan.

Michigan Wind 1 contains 46 wind turbines near Ubly toward the tip of the thumb. That's enough to produce 69 megawatts of electricity or enough power for 20,000 homes annually. That translates to nearly 124,000 tons of CO2 that won't go into the atmosphere each year.

The project also included building the support infrastructure for the wind farm, such as the substation, collector system, access roads, crane pads, crane paths and tower foundations. This is set amidst rural farmland a few miles from Lake Huron.

RMT is based in Madison, Wisc., but also has an office in Ann Arbor. It has taken on projects all across Michigan, including in Detroit.

Source RMT
Writer: Jon Zemke

Alternative Energy , Energy , Environment , Green Building , Sustainability , Sustainability , Wayne County

Ann Arbor

Oakland U adds new café in Rochester campus

Source: metromode, 1/22/2009

Oakland University's Kresge Library is in line to receive a $10,000 refresher course in student comfort.

The university's Student Congress is paying the first installment to build a café and renovate the lounge area in the library. Most of the money will go toward new furniture, work tables and vending machines in the building on the Rochester Hills campus.

The students and university officials are working to raise another $75,000 to finish funding for the rest of the project. For information on the project, contact Alysa Hunton at hunton@oakland.edu or (248) 364-6106.

Source: Oakland University
Writer: Jon Zemke

Higher Education , Oakland County , Oakland University , Redevelopment

Rochester

Dearborn's Environment Mich sees future in green projects

Source: metromode, 1/22/2009

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

Alternative Energy , Energy , Environment , Green Building , Redevelopment , Sustainability , Sustainability , Wayne County , Wind Energy

Dearborn

Macomb Co Green Task Team builds sustainability at home

Source: metromode, 1/22/2009

Harnessing the power of the green economy to jump start our economy is a call that has gone out across the U.S. That notion is starting to resonate in some of the more unlikely parts of the country, like Macomb County.

A group of local businesses, non-profits and citizens have formed the Macomb County Green Task Team with the idea of creating more local awareness and action toward a sustainable economy.

The group, with the help of the Central Macomb Chamber of Commerce, is promoting awareness of things like green building, recycling and alternative energy with local businesses and families. The idea is that getting more of these projects, both commercial and personal, to take on green philosophies will help maximize the overall economic benefit.

"We're really looking at all of these different areas," says Susan Zaffarano, chair of the Macomb County Green Task Team. "We hope we can help drive policy at the Macomb County and state level."

So far the group has attracted the likes of the Macomb Community College, Professional Engineering Associates and Media One.

"It's all about cultivating the green economy here in Macomb County," Zaffarano says.

Source: Susan Zaffarano, chair of the Macomb County Green Task Team
Writer: Jon Zemke

Alternative Energy , Environment , Green Building , Sustainability , Sustainability

Mt. Clemens

TechTown nets $750,000 construction grant from Wayne County Land Bank

Source: Model D, 1/22/2009

Detroit's TechTown is growing, this time thanks to a $750,000 grant.

Excerpt:

The Wayne County Land Bank gave WSU's TechTown business incubator a $750,000 grant for construction at its TechOne facility.

The funds will be used to build out 10,000 square feet of office and laboratory space on the third floor, enough space for approximately six new tenants -- and there is a waiting list. Construction is expected to begin immediately.

Read the rest of the story here.

Entrepreneurship , Entrepreneurship , Investment , Wayne County , Wayne State University

Detroit

U-M proposes adding 50,000 square feet to Crisler Arena

Source: Concentrate, 1/22/2009

The University of Michigan is getting ready to add some space to Crisler Arena just as its basketball teams are starting to add up some wins.

Excerpt:

Expanding the University of Michigan's Crisler Arena never seemed to make much sense since the words Ed Martin entered into university vocabulary. Things have changed now that Wolverine fans have their first basketball team to get excited about in a long time.

Coincidence or not, U-M officials are making plans to add a "player development center" to the home of Cazzie Russell, the Fab Five and the 1989 National Champions. That 50,000-square-foot addition to the back of the arena comes with a $23.2 million price tag.

Read the rest of the story here.

Higher Education , Redevelopment , The University Of Michigan

Ann Arbor