DETROIT | Development & Construction: Motown Lowdown

[DetroitMan]

Nearly 200 mixed-income homes planned for Corktown as part of Clement Kern Gardens redevelopment

Three new developments will bring nearly 200 mixed-income housing units to Corktown, including more than 150 affordable homes, as Detroit continues redeveloping the former Clement Kern Gardens site.

Mayor Mary Sheffield joined development partners, residents and community leaders to announce the projects, which include Bagley Townhomes & Flats, West of 10th Apartments and Trumbull Apartments.

Together, the developments will add 188 housing units to one of Detroit’s fastest-growing neighborhoods. The city is using a portion of its $35 million federal Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant to support the projects. Fifth Third Bank, formerly Comerica Bank, and Citizens Bank are also providing funding.

The developments are part of a larger effort to replace the former Clement Kern Gardens public housing development with new mixed-income housing, outdoor play space and a reconnected 10th Street between Bagley and Labrosse. City officials said the restored street grid will eventually connect to a larger initiative to provide pedestrian and bike access from the neighborhood to the riverfront.

“Corktown is growing as fast as any neighborhood in the city, which is a good thing, but it also means more rent pressures for longtime residents,” Sheffield said. “That’s why we have made it a priority to invest heavily in new and more affordable housing so working families and seniors in Corktown can continue to live here and benefit from that progress.”

https://www.metrotimes.com/news/nearly-2...t-of-clement-kern-gardens-redevelopment/

[DetroitMan]

Michigan Central Station lures big office tenant from downtown Detroit

One of the largest accounting firms in the region is getting new digs in an historic building.

KPMG LLP is moving its offices from the 150 West Jefferson high-rise in downtown Detroit into Michigan Central Station in the second quarter of next year. The firm is taking almost 45,000 square feet on floors 11 and 12 in the Corktown train station, which reopened following years of abandonment and decay in 2024, following six years of renovations. Approximately 420 KPMG employees are moving from 150 West Jefferson to Michigan Central Station.

“Michigan Central Station allows us to intentionally design an environment that reflects how we work and serve clients today, with advanced technology and purpose-built spaces for collaboration, connection, and focused work,” Kevin Voigt, managing partner of the New York City-based firm’s Detroit office, said in an emailed statement. “We’re excited about the unique opportunity to be part of the resurgence of one of Detroit’s most iconic landmarks and our new space that will inspire our people and enhance how we innovate and solve problems for clients.”

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/real-estate/commercial/cdb-kpmg-move-michigan-central-20260601/

[airforceguy]

Rooftop bar and restaurant proposed for historic downtown building

Another rooftop bar and restaurant could be coming to downtown Detroit.

Method Development LLC, which is redeveloping the Merchants Building at East Grand River and Broadway Street into a 121-key hotel, has filed an application with the city’s Historic District Commission to install an enclosure on top of the building for the new venue. It would join new places like Topa atop the AC Hotel Detroit at the Bonstelle, straddling Detroit’s Brush Park and Midtown neighborhoods, the Monarch Club atop the Element hotel downtown, Kamper’s Rooftop Lounge at the Book Tower/Book Building on Washington Boulevard and the upcoming Pine Hall bar at the Hudson’s Detroit building.

Amelia Patt-Zamir, co-founder and principal of the Detroit-based developer, said the overall hotel project, which also includes two ground-level food and beverage offerings, is expected to be completed by the end of 2027 or early 2028.

An existing rooftop mural by the Canadian artist birdO will be retained and incorporated into the new bar and restaurant, which would have capacity for about 100 people.

“This is the ethos of how we are approaching design, keeping the birdO mural,” Patt-Zamir said. “The rooftop has been dreamed up to incorporate this existing piece of public art and will remain ... part of the building.”

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/real-estate/commercial/cdb-rooftop-bar-merchants-building-20260602/

[airforceguy]

Detroit Public Media prepares to break ground on new $40M headquarters

Detroit Public Media is making plans to break ground on its new headquarters in the city’s Milwaukee Junction neighborhood as soon as next month.

The plan is moving forward with 70% of its $40 million campaign goal met and financing lined up to complete the project as the nonprofit continues to fundraise for it. “This is the next step in building out the position of service and partnership with Detroit to serve as a backbone and as a partner in education and journalism in Detroit,” President and CEO Rich Homberg told Crain’s.

The new campus will enable Detroit Public Media to bring Detroit PBS, classical-jazz station 90.9 WRCJ, the Michigan Learning Channel, the PBS Books program and 85 employees under the same roof.

Currently, the radio station and Detroit PBS journalism staff are embedded in the Detroit School of Arts, and additional employees are operating from leased space in Wixom, Homberg said.

Detroit Public Media has $28 million of the $40 million cost for the new headquarters in hand and secured financing to move forward, Homberg said. The project’s price tag has increased from an earlier projection of $30 million due to rising construction costs.

Lead gifts in the campaign include a $7.5 million challenge grant from the Fred and Barbara Erb Family Foundation, with Detroit Public Media recently raising the full match to secure it.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/nonprofits...um=email&utm_campaign=20260605&utm_term=

[airforceguy]

Detroit Housing Commission seeks developer partners for $500M+ in public housing upgrades

The quasi-governmental organization that administers federal housing vouchers, as well as a large portfolio of affordable housing around the region, has long faced pressures around living conditions in its aging housing stock of around 4,000 units. As such, the DHC last month issued a Request for Qualifications for ideas from the development and construction community for rehabilitation and redevelopment work at 10 of its properties around Detroit, totaling more than 1,300 units. What’s needed, essentially, is some outside eyes to look at the properties, which DHC Executive Director Arthur Jemison said fall into a few buckets ranging from high-rise buildings with elevators to some smaller courtyard-style developments geared more toward families.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/real-estat...it-public-housing-500m-updates-20260605/

[seabee1526]

Was grand circus park supposed to get a transformative makeover?

[deja vu]

JW Marriott - from June 9 - signage going up -






Source: Facebook | Huntington Place

[DetroitMan]

I can't say I'm surprised the opening was pushed back to Spring 2028. I though the 2027 opening timeline was a bit too aggressive, especially considering the delays they had with demolishing the old Southwest Hospital.


Detroit soccer team’s new stadium completion delayed to spring 2028

The projected opening of the Detroit City FC’s new stadium in southwest Detroit has been pushed back to spring 2028, a year later than previously anticipated.

The $153 million project, slated to house 15,000 fans and anchor a broader nearly $200 million effort, encountered a variety of roadblocks, including delays tearing down the dilapidated former Southwest Detroit Hospital building that the stadium will end up replacing at Michigan Avenue and 20th Street. In a Tuesday news release, the team said “the adjusted timeline is intended to ensure Detroit City FC and its partners deliver the strongest possible fan experience, matchday environment and long-term community impact.”

“We always knew we were following an aggressive timeline,” a DCFC spokesperson told Crain’s. “With all our partners and design in place, we are resetting our timeline to open for the 2028 USL season.”

In addition to revealing the updated timeline, the team also released new interior renderings of AlumniFi Field, the stadium’s formal name, and said a groundbreaking on the project is expected in July. Demolition on the hospital began in December.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/real-estate/commercial/cdb-alumnifi-field-delayed-20260616/

[DetroitMan]

Derelict parking garage delays revamp of Detroit's cultural district

A derelict underground parking garage next to the Detroit Institute of Arts has become a roadblock to redesigning 10 blocks of the city's cultural district into a unified public space.

Officials unveiled a plan eight years ago called the Cultural Center Planning Initiative, aiming to transform 83 acres of streets in Detroit's culturally rich Midtown area and open spaces around a dozen of the city's art, cultural and educational institutions into a connected campus. The plan would link the DIA, Wayne State University, the Michigan Science Center, the College for Creative Studies, the Scarab Club and the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. But the problem is the DIA's closed parking structure on Farnsworth between Woodward Avenue and John R Street. It's been shuttered since 2011 after the city deemed it too dangerous to use, and officials said it would cost an estimated $49 million to fix.

That's more than half of the original estimate for the development plan, which has received international and local acclaim.

"It seems kind of unbelievable, but renovating the garage is the cornerstone for the entire ... initiative," said Elliott Broom, the DIA's chief operating officer, during a Detroit City Council budget hearing earlier this year. The cultural campus plan was publicly unveiled in 2018 by the nonprofit Midtown Detroit Inc., along with the participating institutions. At the time, organizers said it could take up to 15 years to achieve, and early cost estimates for the project were between $75 million and $85 million. The effort to raise money through philanthropic foundations and other sources was already underway when the project was first announced.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/l...-cultural-district/90050340007/?tbref=hp

[airforceguy]

Former Busy Bee hardware property in Eastern Market targeted for $12.5M redevelopment

Detroit-based Basco of Michigan Inc., run by Roger Basmajian, is asking for $2.22 million in reimbursements that would help create 17 apartments and 6,100 square feet of retail space in the vacant properties at Gratiot Avenue and Russell Street, one of the main gateways to the city’s historic food district east of downtown. Construction would start in the fall and wrap up in the winter 2028, according to a copy of the brownfield reimbursement plan. The Brownfield Redevelopment Authority and City Council need to sign off on the reimbursement.

Basmajian said City Council is expected to consider the request later this month. The 17 units would consist of three studios, 12 one-bedrooms and two two-bedroom units. Of those, four — one studio, two one-bedrooms and one two-bedroom — would be considered affordable at 80% of the Area Median Income.

That figure amounts to $58,700 for a one-person household, $67,100 for two people, $75,500 for three and $83,850 for four, according to the Michigan State Housing Development Authority.

As for the others, studios would be about $1,100, one-bedrooms would be about $1,300 and the two-bedrooms would be about $2,600, Basmajian said.

“We are going to restore the building back to its original glory,” Basmajian said. “Anything that was modified, or poorly modified, over the years is going to be ripped out to look like it did in the late 1800s and early 1900s. All the artists that put murals on the building, once we do the tuck-pointing, we are going to ask them to come back and touch them up, if we can locate them.”

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/real-estate/commercial/cdb-busy-bee-redevelopment-20260618/