Paper Street Motors opens biz incubator in Ferndale

What was once a home to Metro Detroit's old economy is about to become a breeding center for its new economy. That home is Paper Street Motors.

Andy Didorosi, 23, is turning a 20,000-square-foot warehouse into a small business incubator. The idea, started and perfected by the Russell Industrial Center in Detroit, is to provide the ground floor for entrepreneurs by providing big spaces at small prices.

"We can do things that we wouldn't be able to do normally because we have these big, hulking warehouses," Didorosi says. "And it's cheap enough that you can rent space and do something with tip money."

The Ferndale resident was looking for a new home for his race car business when he stumbled upon the vacant warehouse at 1151 Jarvis, just southeast of the inner-ring suburb's downtown. He planned to take it on with some friends and then realized he needed more friends, so he decided to turn the building into a business.

It costs $175 a month and up for office space and $300 a month and up for warehouse space. Didorosi took the name for the incubator from the movie Fight Club and plans to give the space a retro style.

"We're going for a vintage factory style," Didorosi says. "We're installing big red letters above it like in the old factories. It's sort of retro cool."

Source: Andy Didorosi, owner of Paper Street Motors
Writer: Jon Zemke
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