Plans for downtown Royal Oak movie theater go public
Source: metromode, 11/12/2009
Plans for a movie theater in downtown
Royal Oak are moving forward after the city's Planning Commission
recommended approving the project Tuesday night. The plans are expected
to go before the Royal Oak City Commission later this fall.
"I
have no question that a well-run, first-class movie theater has a place
in downtown Royal Oak," says Paul Glantz, founder and chairman of Emagine Entertainment.
The plans to build a 2-story, 10-screen theater in the vacant lot on 11 Mile Road behind the Main Art Theatre
have been refined. The 73,000-square-foot building will look like
Emagine Entertainment's theaters in Novi and Canton, clad in brick and
limestone. It will show first-run movies and is not expected to provide
direct competition with an indie-and-foreign movie house like the Main
Art Theatre.
The new cinema's entrance will face the back of the
Main Art Theatre while the section facing 11 Mile will have windows
similar to a traditional storefront but will otherwise be an inactive
space. Traffic will be routed off of 11 Mile around the theater and
then out onto Troy Street.
The $14 million project will house
1,680 seats and a 16-lane bowling alley and bar that are meant to
complement the movie-going experience. There will also be a private
party area/meeting room on a second-floor mezzanine area over the main
entrance. The developer will reconfigure the parking lot between the
Main Art Theatre and the new cinema to accommodate a few more cars
along with landscaping and traffic islands.
The theater is
expected to create 40 new full-time jobs and another 60 part-time
positions. Although smaller than the industry standard for a multiplex
of 18 screens, it is not expected to ever reach full capacity. A study
of comparable theaters show they only reached above 70 percent capacity
five nights a year, mainly on the weekends. The highest daily average
attendance is about 40 percent on Friday evenings and a little over 50
percent on Saturday evenings.
Source: Paul Glantz, founder and chairman of the Emagine Entertainment and city of Royal Oak
Writer: Jon Zemke
U.S. DOT names Woodward an All-American Road
Source: metromode, 10/22/2009
Woodward Avenue has always been known as
Michigan's Main Street, so it should be a no-brainer that it's now an
All-American Road. That's the conclusion the U.S. Dept. of
Transportation came to this week.
Woodward is now one of 37
byways in the U.S. that is designated as an All-American Road, part of
the U.S. Dept of Transportation's National Scenic Byways Program.
Staff at the Woodward Avenue Action Association expect the new
designation to bump up tourism and investment dollars along the
corridor.
"It raises the profile of Woodward Avenue not only in
America but around the world," says Nicole Brown, outreach and
promotions coordinator with the Woodward Avenue Action Association.
What
sets Woodward apart is its heritage as the home to the U.S. automotive
industry. Historic places like the Ford Piquette Plant (where the first
Model Ts were made) in Highland Park show the area's importance in the
story of the United States. New signage describing this history and the
new designation are expected to be erected along Woodward next summer.
"It's always the story the road tells that can't be duplicated anywhere else that sets it apart," Brown says.
Source: Nicole Brown, outreach and promotions coordinator with the Woodward Avenue Action Association
Writer: Jon Zemke
Saab eyes Royal Oak rehab for North American HQ
Source: metromode, 10/15/2009
Saab is looking at moving its North
American headquarters to a small industrial-turned-chic-office building
on the north side of Royal Oak.
The Swedish automaker is in
negotiations to move into the home of Ronnisch Construction Group, 4327
Delemere Court between 14 Mile and Normandy Roads. It is trying to
negotiate a tax credit for the move and the lease for the
13,300-square-foot building.
This building wasn't always in such
demand. It was a dumpy, single-story industrial structure with a
beautiful view of railroad tracks before Ronnisch took it over three
years ago.
"It's a unique building in that it was an abandoned
industrial building," says Janet Gekiere, business development and
marketing manager for Ronnisch Construction Group. "It was a mess, to say the least."
Ronnisch rehabbed it into an edgy, modern office building to show its clients the possibilities. Impressed Saab officials from Sweden,
seeing the same potential that Ronnisch saw years ago in what most
people consider a tear down, requested to move in.Similar industrial-to-office conversion projects are being done by other developers near downtown Royal Oak and in Ferndale.
"Some people can't see beyond what they see," Gekiere says. "They can't see the structure."
Ronnisch plans to move its 15 employees into a new space in the Royal Oak area once the deal is struck.
Source: Janet Gekiere, business development and marketing manager for Ronnisch Construction Group
Writer: Jon Zemke
i3 Detroit creative center opens in downtown Royal Oak
Source: metromode, 9/24/2009
i3 Detroit, a new space for creatively inclined people, is about to open in downtown Royal Oak.
The
cooperative is a communal space for makers, inventors,
and entrepreneurs. The 1,500-square-foot location at 322 E Fourth St.
has room for heavy tools, electronics, and a studio/lounge. It's comparable to Detroit's Russell Industrial Center, but
members don't have individual work areas.
"We're more like a locker, less like a small office," says Nick Britsky, director at large for i3 Detroit.
Right
now, i3 Detroit has 13 paid members and a five-member executive board.
It needs 24 members to break even. Additional members would allow the
cooperative to buy bigger and better equipment, maybe even a bigger
space. Britsky and his partners chose downtown Royal Oak for its
central location in southeast Oakland County. They plan to hold an open
house on Oct. 3.
i3 is an national non-profit that got its
start in New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. It encompasses a
wide range of interests and professions, such as machinists,
programmers, artists, and electrical engineers. It also hosts public
classes and workshops on woodworking, Linux, amateur radio, telecom
architecture, computer programming, and automobile repair.
Source: Nick Britsky, director at large for i3 Detroit
Writer: Jon Zemke
Oakland Comm College plans $5.2M in upgrades
Source: metromode, 9/24/2009
More improvements are coming to Oakland
Community College after its Board of Trustees approved $5.19 million in
renovations to its Auburn Hills, Orchard Ridge, and Royal Oak
campuses.
The Auburn Hills campus is getting the lion's share
of improvements, including replacing $4.8 million worth of 40-year-old
boilers and other equipment. It will also spend almost $170,000 to
repair the roof of Building A and make Building F compatible with the
Americans with the Disabilities Act.
"We're dealing with
30-40-year-old systems that were built in a different era," says George
Cartsonis, director of college communications for Oakland Community
College. "They have reached the end of their lifetimes."
The
Orchard Ridge Campus will spend $185,000 to catch up on deferred
maintenance and repairing its sanitary sewer. The Royal Oak campus will
get $91,000 in upgrades to its Lila Jones Johnson Theater.
Oakland County voters in 2001 approved a 0.8-mill property tax to pay for these projects.
Source: George Cartsonis, director of college communications for Oakland Community College
Writer: Jon Zemke
More Metro Detroit concert venues go smoke free
Source: metromode, 9/24/2009
More and more venues across Metro Detroit are going smoke free.
Classy
stalwarts like the Fox Theater in downtown Detroit and Hill Auditorium
in downtown Ann Arbor have been on that list for a while. Joining them
are smaller venues, like the Magic Bag in downtown Ferndale and now the
Royal Oak Music Theatre.
"It's overdue," says Justin Miller,
general manager of the Royal Oak Music Theatre. "It's obviously just
the right thing to do with everything we know today about smoking."
A
growing number of bars, coffee shops, eateries, and performance venues
in Metro Detroit have been kicking out smokers in recent years. There
are at least 5,889 licensed dining places in Michigan that prohibit
smoking as of today.
Ontario has already outlawed smoking in
public establishments. Michigan has been wrestling with similar
legislation in recent years. It came close last year, when both the
state House and Senate passed different smoking ban bills, but it died
after the two legislative bodies couldn't reach a compromise.
"Sooner or later we're going to see this across the board," Miller says. "We're just trying to get ahead of the curve."
Source: Justin Miller, general manager of the Royal Oak Music Theatre and SmokeFreeMichigan.com
Writer: Jon Zemke
Downtown Royal Oak theater/entertainment complex moves ahead
Source: metromode, 9/17/2009
The proposal to build a new movie theater
in downtown Royal Oak took a big step forward earlier this week when
the City Commission passed a resolution committing the city to
approving the project's liquor license application.
That means
plans to build a 10-screen theater in the parking lot behind the Main
Art Theater can go forward. The developer behind the Main North building and
Paul Glantz, founder and chairman of Emagine Entertainment, want to
build a combination first-run movie theater complex, bowling alley, and
bar. The theater would be similar to the Emagine theaters in Novi,
Canton, Birch Run, and Woodhaven.
The theater would show
first-run movies and offer 16 bowling lanes. In contrast, the Main Art
shows independent and foreign film house-style movies.
""We
don't think we'll be competing with the Main Art in any way, shape, or
form," Glantz says. "In fact we think we'll help because it brings more
movie goers to the area."
The $14 million entertainment complex is proposed for the large empty lot at Troy Street and 11 Mile Road. It
will feature 1,700 seats, with theaters holding from 86 to 395 viewers.
There will be some bowling lanes set aside for the general public, and
a private party room with four bowling lanes on the mezzanine level.
The
bowling alleys will be more drop-in bowlers, as opposed to leagues. The
complex will give a free pair of socks to bowlers who rent shoes and
wipes to clean bowling balls.
"It will be all about people who come out and to socialize and have fun," Glantz says.
Preliminary
designs call for a one-story building, similar to modern-day cinemas
and in contrast to the multi-story theaters in downtown Birmingham. As
of yet, nothing is planned to be built above the screens.
Source: Paul Glantz, founder and chairman of Emagine Entertainment
Writer: Jon Zemke
Red River Artist Center opens doors in River Rouge
Source: metromode, 9/3/2009
Which comes first, a mature community's
rebirth or the artists? Rick Manore believes it's the artists, and he
thinks they will serve a big part in breathing new life into downtown
River Rouge.
It's why he is opening the Red River Artist Center
in the downriver suburb this month. The center is based on the same
idea as the Russell Industrial Center,
which is to provide space with maximum freedom at a minimum price.
Manore thinks it will also serve as the spark that will turn downtown
River Rouge into Metro Detroit's newest Bohemia.
"It's not just an arts incubator," Manore says. "It's the first step in revitalizing the community."
Manore should know. He started the C Pop
art gallery in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood in the 1990s and watched
the area blossom into a haven for the creatively inclined. Midtown is
now Detroit's premier neighborhood for investment and attracting young
creatives.
Manore says River Rouge reminds him of an early
Midtown, and also when downtown Royal Oak started to come into its own
in the 1970s. He thinks River Rouge's central location, historic area,
and cheap, established housing stock makes it ripe to follow in those
footsteps.
The Red River Artist Center is in the former home of
U.S. Steel Information Systems. The 1960s building was vacant for a
decade before the city offered to work with Manore and cut him a deal
that would make the center work.
"They understand the proposal," Manore says. "When it comes to urban transformation you need artists."
Some
have already taken up residence in the 2-story building's 25,000 square
feet, including two photographers. The office section of the building
includes more than a dozen 15-by-15-feet spaces that Manore plans to
rent out at $155 a pop, including free utilities and Wi-Fi.
"This
is a great place for two guys who have a business to go to and not have
to take a customer to their rec room," Manore says.
The Red River Artist Center plans to hold an open house next weekend. The center is located at 10750 W Jefferson Ave.
Source: Rick Manore, coordinator and founder of Red River Artist Center
Writer: Jon Zemke