As part of plans for a sweeping redesign including 7.5 acres of new parks on Detroit’s riverfront, Detroit is getting a new beach.

“Atwater Beach” as it is named would be located along the riverfront just east of Chene street. It would be ready in 2018.

This is according to a presentation made by officials from the city of Detroit and the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy Wednesday night at the Outdoor Adventure Center in Detroit.

It’s not exactly a swimming beach, but one that’s inspired by places like Sugar Beach in Toronto that has sand, food and beverage service from the “Purple Gang Barge,” as well as kids activities. At the top of the post is an example of Sugar Beach in Toronto, one of the inspirations for the plan.

Here’s an initial design plan for the location.

Here’s a map of where Atwater Beach would be located.

This is part of a stream of stories around the plans revealed for Detroit’s riverfront.

• East Jefferson Avenue To Go From 9 Down To 5 Car Lanes, Get New Bike Lanes
• Two New Greenways To Connect Riverfront To East Side Neighborhoods Of The City
• Detroit’s Riverfront Is Planning To Be “For All Detroiters”

If you love the Dequindre Cut, you might like this development.

Two new “Dequindre Cut” style greenways will be built along the East Riverfront to connect east side residents to the RiverWalk.

The information was revealed at a presentation Wednesday night where the city of Detroit and the Riverfront Conservancy talked about plans for the future of the East Riverfront.

Let’s break it down. Below is a map of the locations of the two future paths, designed to connect the riverfront to neighborhoods on the inside of Jefferson.

The Beltline Greenway, located between Belleview and Beaufait, will connect from Kercheval Street to the Detroit River.

Construction on that project will begin in the spring of 2018.

The Joseph Campau Greenway, which already runs from the Detroit River to Vernor, will receive new lighting, furnishings, paving and landscaping.

It’s in place but needs upgrades to take it to the next level. Those improvements are planned to start in the spring of 2019.

This is part of a stream of stories around the plans revealed for Detroit’s riverfront. Learn more at the links below:

• Detroit’s Riverfront Is Getting A New Beach
• East Jefferson Avenue To Go From 9 Down To 5 Car Lanes, Get New Bike Lanes
• Detroit’s Riverfront Is Planning To Be “For All Detroiters”

Taking a look at the totality of Detroit’s new riverfront plan, it’s full of parks, public access and a focus on density.

Mark Wallace, President & CEO of the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy, Maurice D. Cox, Director of the City of Detroit Planning & Development Department and others unveiled the plan was unveiled at a presentation Wednesday night at the Outdoor Adventure Center in Detroit.

The plan focuses on accessibility with two new greenways, a beach, expanding the RiverWalk past the Uniroyal site to the Belle Isle Bridge, putting Jefferson on a road diet and adding bike lanes, and park land.

To be clear about where we’re talking about, the boundaries of the East Riverfront district are St. Antoine to the west, East Grand Boulevard to the east, Larned Street to the north and the Detroit River to the south.

Three sites south of Atwater Street which were previously slated for private development will become approximately 7.5 acres of public park space.

Milliken Park will see an expansion as well. Previously, according to the presentation, the thought was to build up more right along the riverfront but as we described in our piece about Jefferson Avenue going from nine to five lanes, the decision has made to put the denser development close to the avenue.

“The riverfront belongs to all Detroiters,” said Maurice D. Cox, director of the City of Detroit Planning & Development Department. “Thanks to the involvement of hundreds of residents, we have principles that frame an international riverfront that can be accessed and enjoyed by all.”

For more information, we covered other key developments in this story stream:

• Two New Greenways To Connect Riverfront To East Side Neighborhoods Of The City
• Detroit’s Riverfront Is Getting A New Beach
• East Jefferson Avenue To Go From 9 Down To 5 Car Lanes, Get New Bike Lanes

Tuesday night was Wayne County Executive Warren Evans State of the County speech, and it’s clear that Evans thinks the proposal from Rock Ventures to build a new jail simply isn’t there yet.

“While the Rock proposal is worth considering, that doesn’t change the fact we’re closer to building on Gratiot,” said Evans. “The Rock proposal is going to have to get better and move faster.”

We ran down the details of the Rock proposal to build a soccer stadium and more on the current site of what is colloquially called “The Fail Jail,” a partially finished criminal justice center at Gratiot and I-375 here.

The TL;DR on that is Dan Gilbert’s Rock Ventures wants to build the jail up the freeway a bit on the east side of I-375 near Warren Avenue, and work some financial deal to make that happen. In return, Rock Ventures would develop a soccer stadium (presumably for a Major League Soccer team) and some buildings and build the new jail.

This issue isn’t cut and dry. There are a variety of concerns including that the proposed new jail complex directly abuts a residential neighborhood and financially there’s not much room for error as Wayne County’s financial position, although improved, isn’t completely out of the woods yet. Taxpayer dollars are at play.

On the other side, many are concerned that the main gateway to downtown Detroit will be dominated visually by a jail, and that a jail is not the best use of land in the now hot downtown Detroit area.

The new jail started construction under former County Executive Bob Ficano in 2011 and was halted in 2013 after costs soared from an expected $300 million to $391 million. It’s been a rusting (though according to a recent report, structurally sound) hulk and source of debate since.

There is a lot of digital ink being spilled about fancy houses and top-notch lofts (as well as some high-valued shells of buildings) hitting the comparative stratosphere for rent and purchase in the city of Detroit.

An influx of money from speculators, suburbanites and out-of-towners has boosted housing prices, especially purchase prices, in the central core and some select neighborhoods. But the data shows that activity hasn’t actually raised the overall median rental rate. If you’re looking at property as an investment, you’re purchasing for yourself, not renting from someone else.

The new data from Abodo’s monthly National Apartment Report, a site that specializes in property listings and real estate, shows that in fact Detroit’s rental rates have dropped -1.6 percent for single bedrooms and -0.5 percent for two bedrooms in February of 2017.

That would put the median one bedroom in the city proper at $548 and a two bedroom $635, the second cheapest in the nation after Toledo, Ohio.

Nationally, prices stayed basically stable falling -0.03 percent. Some like to talk about Detroit being a red hot market, but when it comes to rentals compared to other cities in their totality, the data shows that is not true. New Orleans, Louisiana is the hottest in the nation with rents bumping up 9.7 percent, up from $967 to $1,055 per month.

Rents in Glendale, Arizona and Atlanta, Georgia also went up more than 6%.

Using the median as opposed to the average helps give us a better picture of what’s actually going on because the median is generally more useful when there are significant outliers in the data.

Another way to use this data is comparison to other cities. Above are the 10 most expensive cities per month in the country.

As you can see, what’s currently on the market now is rarely literally paying “Chicago prices.” And when we are, it’s very few and far between. When we set the rate to $1700+ for a one bedroom, only 22 availabilities came up within the city limits.

Starting on the Friday evening of May 12, for the first time in decades you’ll be able to take a streetcar down Woodward in Detroit.

“QLINE’s grand opening will be a historic day in Detroit,” said M-1 RAIL CEO Matt Cullen in a statement. “We’re bringing rail transit back to the heart of the city and connecting the Woodward Corridor in a way that’s already begun to transform the entire district.”

A Grand Opening event will begin with a morning press conference featuring elected officials and dignitaries. It’ll be followed by an inaugural first-ride down Woodward Avenue.

QLINE will open to the public on that Friday evening.

“Testing and training continues to go well,” said M-1 RAIL COO Paul Childs. “We’re excited for people to experience their first ride on the streetcar. Our team has done a great job building a system that will be safe, reliable and deliver a best-in-class transit experience.”

QLINE made its first test run on Woodward in December 2016 and the streetcar system according to M1-Rail has gone through more than 1,000 tests in preparation for operations.

Below is video of the first streetcar arriving.

The hours for the QLINE will be 6 a.m. – 11 p.m. Monday–Thursday,  6 a.m.- midnight on Friday, 8 a.m. -midnight on Saturday, and from 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. on Sunday, with special hours for special events.

According to QLINE officials, a detailed calendar of grand opening events is expected to be released sometime in April.

Here are some key facts about the QLINE’s streetcars:

• The three-piece, articulated cars are 66 feet long and carry 125 passengers on average.
• They will travel 35 miles per hour (the maximum speed on Woodward), and stop for traffic lights.
• There’s wi-fi.
• They will be heated and cooled as appropriate.
• The cars are powered by a 750-volt lithium ion battery, operating 60% off-wire, the highest percentage of any streetcar system in the United States.
• QLINE streetcars are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), allowing for station-level access for pedestrians, and persons who use mobility assist devices such as wheelchairs. 

One of the scourges of Detroit’s depopulation has been the empty school buildings left behind. As students continue to leave the public school district in Detroit, in the wake are left many hulks of buildings smack dab in the neighborhoods of the city.

For the last 90 years, the building that houses Durfee Middle School has been serving the community. It would be quite a negative impact to the community for another such structure to meet the same fate.

With the elementary and middle school students being relocated to nearby Central High School (it’s going to become a K-12 school), Durfee could have become another playground for ruin photographers and scrappers.

Fortunately, if a crowdfunding campaign is successful, there’s going to a be full-fledged community innovation center ran by the nonprofit Life Remodeled, providing support programs for the surrounding community and the school next door.

So what is a “community innovation center?” Let’s look at the plans.

They include a business accelerator, makerspaces, co-working and collaborative spaces, recreation, and opportunities for creativity and resource sharing for local small businesses, entrepreneurs, students and community members. It will operate in collaboration with Central High School and the public school district, including providing guest lecturers to the high school. The center will also have various opportunities for the community as a whole to use the space.

The to-do list to make this happen is long. It involves everything from installing a new gym floor to transforming the former swimming pool and locker rooms into a maker space, where tools such as drill presses, 3D printers, laser cutters, sewing machines, table saws, screen printers and more will be available for entrepreneurs and small business owners from the community.

There will be office space as well, building office space according to the needs of nonprofit and community partners.

The Life Remodeled folks have a business plan for this space, too, so it’s not a money pit that requires dollar after charity dollar.

Their goal is for the building in the Dexter-Linwood neighborhood to be at 90 percent occupancy and financially self-sustaining within three years. The 176,000 square foot space is being leased under agreement with the Detroit Public Schools Community District for $1 per year.

“The Community Innovation Center brings together under a single roof the kind of impact we envision when we talk about remodeling lives one neighborhood at a time,” said Life Remodeled CEO Chris Lambert. “Our focus on community gathering spaces like Skinner Park in Denby last year, which benefited from Patronicity support, is what will help make a lasting change in Detroit neighborhoods.”

If they reach their goal of $50,000 from the online community through a Patronicity campaign by April 14, 2017, the project will win a matching grant with funds made possible by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s Public Spaces Community Places program.

As of this writing, the campaign has raised $5,200.

So that’s where you come in. Their crowdfunding campaign just launched, and if you’re interested, visit it here.

There is a new seafood restaurant opening in Ferndale tomorrow. Voyager is owned and operated by Eli Boyer and co-executive chefs Jennifer Jackson and Justin Tootla.

Jackson and Tootla relocated to Detroit from Chicago. However Tootla grew up in Bloomfield Hills, and Jackson grew up in Athens, Georgia.

The restaurant will have a raw bar that will offer diners a selection of ceviches, crudos, and oysters from around the country. The selection of oysters will differ each day, and they could be served on the half shell, fried, dressed or grilled.

The oysters have been procured by Jackson and Tootla from seaside shellfish farms like Island Creek in Massachusetts, Murder Point in Alabama, Taylor Shellfish and Hama Hama in Washington.

If a raw bar does not interest you there are other selections on the menu like Marrow and Mussels, Shrimp Toast, Chowder, Beef Tartare, and Steak with Crab Louie.

The duo has made a large effort to source as locally as they can, the beef will come from the Ferndale butcher Farm Field Table. The seafood will be from around the Great Lakes region (well, unless we’re talking about the oysters) and there will be sustainable options.

The restaurant will also have a bar which will feature wine, beer and cocktails that will compliment the seafood menu. There are only four house cocktails available on the menu including the Voyager Mai Tai. The Mai Tai will be made with Jamaican and navy-strength rums, homemade hazelnut orgeat syrup and tangerine liqueur.

“The name ‘Voyager’ points to a fresh frontier for seafood in metro-Detroit. I’d like our diners to be transported to a new place with our food, beverage and hospitality, says Boyer. “This restaurant is a truly a labor of love for all of us. I’m so proud and thankful to have Justin, Jennifer and our incredible opening team.”

The 1400 square foot restaurant was designed by the local firm five/eighths architecture.

The restaurant is bright and inviting with the a white interior with accents of aqua and coral. There is a 13 seat bar, and 28 seats in the dinning room.

If you are thinking that you are going to have to battle for a parking spot downtown, don’t worry. Voyager is off the beaten path on Vester and Burdette Street. If you’re having a tough time figuring out where that is, its behind the tire shop on 9 Mile right before you get to the train tracks.

Hours: Tuesday through Thursday 4:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m and Friday and Saturday 4:00 p.m.-11:00 p.m. Voyager is located at 600 Vester in Ferndale.

What kind of future do you want for the city of Detroit? That’s a complicated question, but one factor of many to consider is population density.

When we talk about Detroit coming back, adding population, losing population — density is a key part of this equation as denser cities encourage use of mass transit vs. cars, for instance.

It’s often the case that controversial urban planning debates boil down to density. In short, whether a neighborhood should become more dense or less. What happens to people and the land.

What you don’t often hear in these debates is the level of density a city should aim for, and there’s often no context of what other cities are really like.

Do we want grocery stores that are walkable in distance, or is drivable like in the suburbs good enough? The mayor’s office has talked about 20 minute neighborhoods, where the essential goods and services are within 20 minutes walking distance. That’s a much denser plan than you’d find in most suburbs.

This is an interesting question and to help inform the debate, the folks at SpareFoot created and shared with us a series of maps showing how large Detroit would be if its population lived as densely (or less densely) than other cities.

Let us set a baseline. First, we’re going to use the Detroit population figure of 677,116. That gives us 4,878 people per square mile in the city proper across 139 square miles.

So take a look at the maps of how large Detroit would be if our population was the same, but our population density was adjusted to match these 12 cites in the United States and the rest of the world. The adjusted land area in these examples is the dark red.

1. New York City, New York

If Detroit were as dense as New York City, the whole population of the city would only cover 24 square miles, or 17 percent of it’s current size. According to SpareFoot, the density of people per square mile is 28,256.

2. Washington, D.C.

Let’s look at the nation’s capital. If Detroit had the same density of 11,020 people per square mile, it’d be 55 percent the current land area.

3. Amsterdam, Netherlands

Detroit would be 49 percent of the size, or about half, if it had the same population density of Amsterdam at 9,975 people per square mile.

4. Los Angeles, California

At 8,474 people per square mile, if Detroit were like the “City of Angels” it would be 57 percent of it’s current size with our current population.

5. Chicago, Illinois

At 11,953 people per square mile, Chicago is more dense than Detroit. A Detroit with the density of Chicago would cover 57 square miles, or 41 percent of it’s current size.

6. San Francisco, California

San Francisco, California is a very dense city by American standards, at 18,440 people per square mile. Detroit would be just over a quarter the land area if we had the same population density.

7. Paris, France

Detroit has been called the “Paris of the Midwest.” So how big would our city be if we had the same population but the density of Paris? Quite small, at just 12 square miles. The SpareFoot rendering put the city from the riverfront to about I-94.

8. Manila, Philippines

This one kind of blows your mind, as we’re just not used to seeing this kind of density in the United States. Imagine if all 670,000+ people were packed from I-75 to the riverfront to Warren to I-96. That’s 4 percent of the current land area at 107,467 people per square mile.

9. Dhaka, Bangladesh

Another tight fit, but roomy compared to Manila. 59,593 people per square mile.

10. Houston, Texas

Ok, we’re back stateside with the city on the list that is the most similar to Detroit as far population density goes, with Houston’s density meaning we’d be just a touch larger. This might be a good measuring stick going forward for discussion. It’s interesting to note that Houston has three light rail lines and 23.8 miles of light rail with a similar population density of 3,830 per square mile, though their total population is 2,296,224 people.

11. Jacksonville, Florida

If Detroit were spread out like Jacksonville, you’d be in Birmingham or Livonia and still be in the city limits as it would be four times the size. Jacksonville also has a population under 1 million people (868,031) but their population density is 1,162 per square mile.

12. Anchorage, Alaska

In Michigan we have the up north, but Anchorage is really the up up north. It’s also very spread out. According to SpareFoot, Detroit would be larger than the state of Delaware in land area with just 175 people per square mile.

It’s wasn’t a building for the architectural ages, but it is a sign of activity at some prime real estate along Woodward and Mack Avenue in Midtown.

An old Tuffy auto service center that has been vacant for years has been demolished in preparation for a retail development that will break ground in 2018 or 2019, Howard Schwartz Commercial Management confirmed Wednesday to Daily Detroit.

The tenants of the new complex have not been confirmed at this point and we’re told it’s still very early stages.

Previously, speculation swirled among local media that a small format Target was going into what could be one of the most desirable corners in the city.

It is a prime location for development across the street from the busy Whole Foods, down a short way from the new Little Caesars Arena, and on the same block as a QLINE stop.

Here’s how the brokers describe it:

In the shadow of Whole Foods, Howard Schwartz Commercial Real Estate, LLC. is pleased to present a unique retail leasing opportunity on a in Midtown Detroit. The redevelopment of this 9 Acre city block will  provide up to 50,000 SF of retail space with onsite parking.

While home to some of the nation’s finest independent restaurants and retailers, Midtown is anchored by Whole Foods, Detroit Medical Center, Wayne State University, and the soon to be finished Arena District which will be home to the Red Wings NHL team and Detroit Pistons NBA team.

The development opportunity, per a listing on their website, contains nine acres with spaces up to 50,000 square feet. To give you an idea of scale, that’s double and then some the 21,000 square foot Whole Foods across the street.

Included in their red box of development on their website is Wayne State’s Bonstelle Theater. For reference, 9 acres is, give or take the size of the block, three city blocks.

Looking at the plot on Loveland, you can see that both the University of Michigan and Wayne State University own property in the red square, so it might not be so cut and dry. U of M owns the little house like structure in the middle, and the Bonstelle Theatre is the building with the circle dome near the bottom. The large structure near the top is the American Red Cross Michigan Region headquarters.

With all of the activity in the surrounding areas, including being next to the recently completed The Scott and all of what Dan Gilbert and partners are doing in Brush Park, it’s going to be interesting to see what actually ends up happening here, especially with that kind of possible large footprint.

More photos of the demo:

It’s amazing what some seats and pouring a floor can do to take something that was looking a little sparse to looking like there’s actually going to be hockey and basketball played in it.

Last week the cement floor that will support the ice rink and the basketball court (depending on the night) poured, and this week seats started to get put in.

And good news, sports fans – they have cup holders.

According to the District Detroit, the seats were manufactured by Grand Rapids-based Irwin Seating. They have been based in Michigan for more than 100 years.

The seats are installed in three parts. First the standards (which affix the precast concrete risers), then the seat backs and finally the cushions.

If you’re looking for something fancier, there will be 60 corporate suites.

The arena that will have about 20,000 seats is on track to be finished by this September.

If you have driven through Brush Park lately you can already see the City Modern development taking shape.

City Modern is Bedrock’s answer to creating a complete urban environment, with mixed use and walkability across 8.4 acres of land in the Brush Park neighborhood of Detroit.

City Modern offers residents five different styles of homes; Historic Homes, Townhomes, Carriage Homes, The Duplettes, and The Flats.

Thursday, I was able to get a look at the five different models that developers Bedrock and Hunter Pasteur Homes are offering and check in on how the Townhomes and Carriage Homes are selling.

First, demand has been strong. Out of 39 units that have been made available, 16 have already been purchased. They expect seven more deals to be finalized this week.

The townhomes range anywhere from 1,835-2,680 square feet and will run between $536,450 and $761,960.

Construction will begin on May 1, and is estimated to be finished by the end of 2017 or early 2018.

While reservations for apartments inside the Flats will begin in early 2018, those looking to purchase inside City Modern have some options now. City Modern will eventually have 104 units available for purchase.

“I think it’s more than the purchase of a home. I think people feel like they are contributing to the regeneration of Detroit,” says Seth Herkowitz of Hunter Pasteur Homes.

The carriage homes are made up of 1, 2, and 3 bedroom units. Each of the carriage homes will also have a one car garage. Some of these units also offer a rooftop terrace and a central courtyard.

The carriage homes range anywhere from 730 square feet up to 2,005 square feet and cost between $250,000 and $645,860.

Just a note, there are only four of the one bedroom carriage homes and those are already spoken for. There is a crazy long waiting list for those units.

The townhomes have 2, 3, and 4 bedroom units. The units are three floors with a 4th floor terrace option. Depending on the model the terrace would be a bonus space or an additional bed and bathroom. The townhomes are designed to offer owners a ton of natural light with all of those windows.

The Presentation Center is filled with a wealth of information for those interested in living inside this community. There are renderings of the five different models that will be built in the City Modern development, and a scale model of the 8.4 acre development (shown above).

If you’re interested for yourself, the City Modern Presentation Center is open every day (except Wednesday) from 11:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

Woodward Avenue between Campus Martius and Grand Circus Park is shaping up with a variety of food and retail options, and one of them is the new Avalon Bakery location that’s scheduled to open later this year.

The cafe at State and Woodward was originally announced back in 2015 for the summer of 2016, but as projects often do, it’s taken awhile longer for the dough to rise on this one.

The project open is now slated for spring of this year, and they’ve starting taking job applications at 1001 Woodward down the street.

On Friday awnings and were being installed, adding a touch that’s a good sign opening is on the horizon. The plan on this location is to offer food options all day, including breakfast, lunch and dinner and have sidewalk seating in warmer weather.

Avalon recently won an award from PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) for one of the best vegan desserts in America for their carrot cake, and is known for their community involvement hiring Detroiters for their operations and building a bakery facility on the east side of the city.

The downtown Detroit Avalon location is at 1049 Woodward Avenue.

Ferndale is hopping on the development front. One of the latest is the redevelopment of the Wing Hing Inn at 1820 East 9 Mile Road, just west of I-75.

The space is going to become “Detroit Fleat,” a food truck park that also will have a bar that they’re calling a “boozery.”

They bill themselves as Metro Detroit’s first food truck park, and pulled tried and true ideas from other cities for the concept.

“One of our partners has family members who lives in Portland where Food truck Parks and Pods are everywhere,” said entrepreneur Aaron Tye. “There is also a great well known food truck park called the Little Fleet in Traverse City that we drew inspiration from.”

The idea was born in a way out of necessity. Outside of food-truck friendly events like what is held often in Campus Martius that’s orchestrated by Bedrock and Campus Martius, there’s no regular place in the Detroit region to find food trucks.

“Three years ago we started a food truck here in the metro Detroit area and we quickly realized that to grow the food truck scene we needed to find a permanent location where customers could always find us,” said Tye.

They’re shooting to open this summer, and as our friends over at the 8 Wood Blog have already reported, they’re official and have city approval.

It seems like Ferndale is moving quicker in opening doors for food trucks in ways that the city of Detroit’s government, who has debated food truck pods and an ordinance for awhile with little action, won’t.

If you have a food truck and would like to get in on the action, Detroit Fleat has a form on their website to be considered. Also, their Facebook page is here.

The idea of turning an old school into something else is a bar conversation many dreamers and developers have had, but the chances to do it with a building that isn’t too far gone are few and far between.

Today, Daily Detroit had the chance to check out the old Transfiguration School Building that opened in 1926 in Detroit’s Banglatown neighborhood.

If you’re not familiar with Banglatown, think up Mound Road, and just north of Hamtramck. It’s a neighborhood that has different demographics than most of the city of Detroit, with more than half of the 5,000 residents identified as Asian (mostly Bangladeshi), 30% as African-American, and nearly 10% as two or more races according to the last U.S. Census.

The 21,500 square foot school at 13300 Syracuse still has some of its details left and is in visually decent condition.

Here are some outdoor photos, including a detailed flag base.

The city of Detroit has partnered with the building’s owners, the Archdiocese of Detroit, to offer and RFP (Request for Proposals) to redevelop the school itself into multifamily housing. This allows for more tools to be available to a prospective developer, like incentives and grants.

Per the proposal, they’re looking for the developer to create 15 – 25 multifamily residential units, of which at least 20% shall be affordable to those households at 80% of area median income (AMI) or lower. Two-thirds of the surrounding neighborhood is at or below the poverty line.

As part of the RFP, there are additional lots that the Detroit Land Bank (for the most part) owns kitty corner to the church that could be part of the project.

Let’s step inside with some photos.

So what about a timeline? A city official shared that they’d like to have people living in the building in a couple of years.

“Bids (are) out now. It’s on the website. Then select somebody in the fall and complete negotiations with them in that same timeframe,” said Detroit’s director of housing and revitalization, Arthur Jemison. “This time next year we’d like to have a developer mobilizing to turn this into residential units.”

The lot the school sits on will be split away from the rest of what’s owned by the archdiocese, so you’re not getting a grotto as part of your project but it will be your next door neighbor along with the Blessed John Paul II Parish across the street.

As part of that setup, next door there are beautiful carvings in the fountains you’ll be able to walk out the door to enjoy.

RFP proposals are due by May 22, 2017. The exact details are all on the city website.

Plan for Banglatown to be released in 30 days

Another interesting piece of information from today’s event is that the city’s planning department is going to release a draft plan for the future of the area, so the area is getting additional attention from the city.

It’s the kind of thing that one might dream of doing. Opening up an arcade with food and drinks, and being surrounded by your favorite video games in the heart of a major downtown.

Well, Wael Gharbie and Mohamed Badaoui are doing just that with “Ready Player One,” opening in a former tobacco factory in downtown Detroit (if you didn’t know, it used to be a big industry here).

We talked to Gharbie about their venture that mixes video games, booze and fun that is aiming to open in late May or early April of this year. The below was lightly edited for clarity. Some of the pieces are still going into place, but they’re getting there.

Daily Detroit: So how did this idea for a bar arcade come together?

Wael Gharbie: Mo and I are huge gamers and have been friends since high school. After high school I went and became a firefighter and he went to Iowa and opened up a few pizzerias. When he moved back Michigan a few years ago we linked back up and discussed opening something here together. He had a successful business running and my father owned a small business his entire life. We shot around a few ideas and both of us over the years had visited bar/arcades and thought it was a no brainer. Video games are a passion ours and it just fit us so well. Also, Detroit still did not have a fulltime bar/arcade which lead us even further to jump on the idea. Every major city around the country has at least one and why not Detroit and why not us?

Daily Detroit: So what is the plan when it comes to games?

Gharbie: We are a bar/arcade/restaurant. We have approximately 40 units (arcades and pinball machines). The games will run on tokens – however, if you are in the bar and eating or drinking you will be playing for free. No cover.

Daily Detroit: So let’s talk about the food?

Gharbie: The menu has not been finalized but it is a chef-inspired menu focusing on fresh and local choice products. We will have blue collar craft cocktails and Michigan beers on tap.

Ready Player One will be located in the lower level of 407 East Fort Street in Detroit, right next to Greektown.

It looks like we officially have an opening date for the new Under Armour Detroit Brand House located downtown.

We reported about the new location back in November of 2016:

Under Armour often sells at other retailers, but this Brand House concept is region-specific (expect a lot of local sports team gear) and has a lot more than the training apparel they’re known for. Brand Houses in other cities also include fishing and hunting gear, running and basketball sneakers, and, according to the Baltimore Sun, a fitness tracker “wearables bar.”

Daily Detroit confirmed the two story store located at 1201 Woodward Avenue (Woodward and State) will open on Thursday, April 13.

The store will be located across from the new Avalon Bakery and Cafe.

Today marks the official beginning of the end of the Pontiac Silverdome.

No exact timeline has been set, but there has been a consent agreement struck between Pontiac Mayor Deirde Waterman and the owners of the stadium to tear down the former home of the Detroit Lions, Detroit Pistons and many other events.

“We have reached a point where we must say goodbye to what was once one of the world’s greatest venues,” said Andreas Apostolopoulos, the CEO of Triple Investment Group (that also owns the Penobscot Building in Detroit) in a statement. “The Silverdome was not only the proud home of the Lions and the Pistons, but also served as host facility for the Pope, the Super Bowl, the World Cup, the original Wrestlemania and countless other events. As we say goodbye to an iconic place that was the setting for so many great memories, we put in place new development opportunities for one of the most unique properties in our nation.”

There are some basic dates in place. Triple Investment Group must get a demolition contractor in place by May 12 with a scope of work to be presented to the city of Pontiac by June 9.

In 2009, TIG bought the Silverdome for $583,000. It cost $55.7 million to build in 1975.

The structure and surrounding property has been falling into major disrepair. It has in the meantime been used by urban adventurers for everything from golf swings to a BMX playground.

Here’s a clip of Wrestlemania III – chosen because unlike old football games, it actually shows off the stadium itself as well as the iconic roof better.

Will you miss the Silverdome?

The investment and activity on the east side of the city of Detroit along Jefferson continues to heat up.

The latest is that the Big Boy at the corner of East Jefferson and East Grand Boulevard at the foot of the bridge to Belle Isle has been purchased by The Platform, an investment group that includes Peter Cummings.

If you remember, Cummings was behind the Whole Foods in Midtown and also is part of the team that recently purchased the iconic Fisher Building. The Platform is also doing projects in Old Redford and New Center.

There are a few parts to this, so let’s walk through them.

The Big Boy is going to be demolished after Easter Sunday, as it’s been purchased by The Platform from property developer and restaurant company Curis Enterprises.

“I’d like to thank all of our customers and employees for their support and service over the 50 years that we’ve been in business,” said Michael Curis, president of the company, in a release. “We are going to do everything we can to look out for our Big Boy family and make sure they find work elsewhere.”

Curis Enterprises is also offering all employees at the location am undisclosed bonus as a thank you for their service to Big Boy and their customers.

The soon to be demolished restaurant sits on roughly a one acre site that’s in a prime position considering all the activity that’s starting to happen, including the completion of the RiverFront walkway connecting Gabriel Richard Park and Belle Isle.

Now let’s get into the historic places. A former nursing home and a couple of houses are on the five lots. We went and checked them out, so the pictures you see that go with this are from today.

The former nursing home at 130 E. Grand Blvd. was built in 1898 and designed by Louis Kamper. He’s the architect of the Book-Cadillac Hotel, Book and Broderick towers.

Three other historic properties will also see rehabilitation, and there will also be new construction.

The Platform has entered into an agreement with intention to acquire five parcels from the Detroit Land Bank Authority on East Grand Boulevard between East Jefferson Avenue and Congress Street.

“The Islandview neighborhood is poised for great things. The Platform is committed to equitable development and ensuring that all Detroiters are included in the city’s future,” said Peter Cummings, co-principal of The Platform, noting that affordable housing is included in the plans.

For the developers, this project is personal as one is a parishoner of a church that’s just down the street, Church of the Messiah Episcopal Church.

Dietrich Knoer, co-principal of The Platform, also chairs the board of “BLVD Harambee,” the neighborhood youth organization of the church.

“Islandview is a beautiful neighborhood located around the important intersection of Jefferson and Grand Boulevard and surrounded by amazing public amenities, such as Belle Isle, Gabriel Richard Park, and soon the RiverWalk, when it is extended to Belle Isle,” Knoer said. “We care about the community that we work in and remain committed to celebrating Detroit neighborhoods by making them the great places to live that they deserve to be.”

Detroit-based Hamilton Anderson Associates is the architect on the project.

For more background on the east side, check out:

Jefferson-Chalmers gets named a national treasure

A photo look inside the Vanity Ballroom

Jefferson Avenue is getting a major redesign, going down to five lanes of vehicle traffic with the addition of bike lanes

The old Honest?Johns off East Jefferson is demolished

A two year project was announced by Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan on Wednesday to help revitalize the Fitzgerald neighborhood in the city of Detroit.

We talked about it before when foundations set up a $4 million matching grant. Now, the project is in motion.

It’s the latest in a series of developments in Detroit’s neighborhoods that are worth paying attention to.

This is also interesting because this project is about rehabilitation instead of new construction. Many revitalization projects lean heavily, if you haven’t noticed, on new construction.

Although most of the media attention is focused on downtown Detroit since many readers on the local area internet are most familiar themselves with it, it’s what’s happening on a house-by-house basis that you should care about if you truly want Detroit to turn around. So we’re going to spend a little time on it.

Where is the Fitzgerald neighborhood?

So it’s within these streets outlined in the box below.

Yeah, the above is pretty specific. To get wider context of where it is in the city or compared to where you live, try this Google map. You can zoom in and out and drag it. The red box is what Google considers the entire Fitzgerald neighborhood.

Who are the key players?

• The City of Detroit
• Development firm Century Partners, co-founded by Andrew Colom and David Alade.
• Development firm The Platform, with co-principals are Peter Cummings and Dietrich Knoer. They’re busy in the city – for instance, The Platform just last week announced a project over on Jefferson and Grand Boulevard. You can read about it here.
• The Kresge Foundation, Knight Foundation, JPB Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation will invest more than $4 million in the Fitzgerald Revitalization Project through the Reimagining the Civic Commons grant via the Strategic Neighborhood Fund Initiative, according to the city. It’s a matching funds grant.

What’s happening:

• 115 Vacant homes will be rehabilitated over two years. The plan is that they will be a mixture of rental properties and homes for purchased priced at the neighborhood market rate. As is now usual with projects that get city support, 20% will be set aside as affordable for Detroit families making 80 percent or less of the area median income.
• 192 vacant lots will be landscaped
• A new two acre park, the “Ella Fitzgerald Park and Greenway” will be created and should be finished by the end of 2017

Council still has to approve:

The Detroit City Council has to approve a bunch of land transfers from the Detroit Land Bank to the developers, the City of Detroit and the city’s recreation department. This is going in front of them April 11, 2017.

Commercial Development Is Next:

Once this is done, the city says there will be a phase two with an additional $5 million investment from the city and Strategic Neighborhood Fund partners for commercial development.