Elevator Building developer shifts gears, moves forward with business incubator concept

Model D, 8/13/2009

Another small business incubator, not TechTown or the Russell Industrial Center, is opening in Detroit.

Excerpt:

The last time Model D covered the E. Riverfront's Elevator Building, back in April 2007, things were different in the world of development. After the, um, downturn in the real estate market, the condominiums planned for the building stopped making sense.

But developer Randy Lewarchik regrouped, and construction has begun to convert the building into a small business incubator with 24 units averaging about 1,000-square-feet in size -- plus common areas including a kitchen and showering facilities.

Why the 180-degree-shift? "We had this slated for residential loft development -- a for-sale product, along with Watermark and @water and Globe Trading," says Lewarchik. "After [the housing market] collapsed, we closed the books, and are trying to make it a benefit to the city, a functioning property with a positive cash flow."

Read the rest of the story here.

Detroit