Building Communities

Getting Michigan cities redevelopment ready

Just over 35 cities and townships in Michigan are joining a new state program that teaches them how to prepare their communities for redevelopment and attract the kind of development they want. Of the cities accepted into the first round of training and certification in the Michigan Economic Development Corporation's Redevelopment Ready Communities program, eight are in metro Detroit. Ann Arbor is also on the list. It, along with Lathrup Village and Novi, will receive a formal Redevelopment Ready Communities evaluation that could lead to certification as a Redevelopment Ready Community. This means they either have outlined or have plans to outline their redevelopment strategies and draw development to fit their community. This designation could also make them eligible for redevelopment grants. Dearborn, Clawson, Farmington Hills, Hamtramck, Wixom, and White Lake Township will receive best practice training and assistance and could move onto the certification process later. They all will learn how to creatively re-use space, support and attract economic innovation, and devise devise plans that bring in redevelopment investment and in turn rebuild thriving communities for employees, residents and recreation. The program was originally launched by the Michigan Suburbs Alliance in 2003, and its success led to the state program. Writer: Kim North Shine Source: Kathy Fagan, spokesperson, Michigan Economic Development Corp.

Public opinion sought on revitalization of Grand River corridor

Artspace to purchase, renovate Dearborn city hall

Plans to build a working and living community for artists in Dearborn are progressing now that the city has set a sales price for the city hall building that will be renovated by the nonprofit ArtSpace. Artspace has built 32 communities around the country, all of them in cities that have seen economic potential in the creative culture and provided artists places to live, work and sell their works as well as perform. Dearborn Mayor Jack O'Reilly made the announcement that Artspace is likely to pay $1.65 million for the 1922 Georgian revival style city hall that has become too costly and wasteful for the city to keep. City hall employees will move into a smaller, more energy-efficient city building that's more centrally located while ArtspaceDearborn, in cooperation with the East Dearborn Downtown Development Authority, renovates the old city hall into the City Hall Artists Lofts at 13615 Michigan Ave. Plans call for 40-plus affordable, live/work spaces for artists, art studios and spaces for arts organizations and creative businesses to operate on the east side of the city. East Dearborn, unlike West Dearborn with its influence of Ford Motor Company and the Henry Ford museum, is a more eclectic mix of businesses and has a deep rooted Middle Eastern community. The Arab American National Museum, believed to be the first and only museum devoted to Arab art and culture, is in East Dearborn. The renovation could cost about $13.5 million, according to Artspace, and it acts as an arts and culture magnet that could attract new residents and visitors to the city. Artspace’s Mission is to create, foster, and preserve affordable space for artists and arts organizations. Its motto: Bulding Better Communities Through the Arts. The next step in the process is to apply for low-income housing credits from the state of Michigan, Artspace's Wendy Holmes says. Without those credits a nonprofit Artspace project can't happen. Tax credits typically cover 60-65 percent of the construction cost, the credits being based on the project's ability to provide affordable housing and to act as an economic stimulant. An architect is engaged and drawing up renderings of how an Artspace Dearborn would be laid out and function, she says. A decision on whether to grant the tax credits is due in August. If approved, construction would start in 2014, Holmes says. If denied, Artspace applies again, and if approved then, construction would begin in 2015, she says. One thing for certain is that the development would fill a whole city block on Michigan Avenue, where there are two matching City Hall buildings and another building in between. Housing will go into the City Hall building facing Michigan Avenue and in the one just like it around the corner. A third building between them will most likely have studio space, "It would be a whole campus of arts activity, says Holmes, who has seen the economic spark that comes from providing a gathering spot for the creative community. In Seattle, for example, ArtSpace is about to start construction on its fourth space, this one connected to transit-oriented development, she says. Along with lofts for living, places for creating or promoting all genres of arts, there would be space for art-related businesses. "The concept is that space is used by to gather organizations with art interests. It could be a theater company," Holmes says. "There could be a fabrication area for, say, a company that fabricates different forms of art. This is where creative people can come together in one place." Writer: Kim North Shine Source: Teri Deaver and Wendy Holmes, Artspace

Elwell Grill to join emerging downtown in Auburn Hills

A downtown in progress in Auburn Hills has a restaurant joining the mix of the businesses that are a part of an economic development plan to provide a walkable, community-event centered central gathering place for local families, students and visitors. Elwell Grill, run by a restaurateur who came out of retirement at age 76, opened in December and is now serving lunch and dinner from a modern American menu in a cozy urban setting. Patrick Elwell has a nearly 50-year history in restaurants in Auburn Hills. The city's Tax Increment Financing Authority, which is investing in the emerging downtown area around Auburn and Squirrel roads, provided funding so that the restaurant would contribute to a Main Street feel. Originally the entrance would have been at the rear of the Elwell Grill, but with the help of TIFA it was moved to the front and additional doors and windows were added. The push to create a downtown and attract more businesses is in large part connected to the opening next year of an Oakland University graduate student housing and retail complex that will attract hundreds of residents. Writer: Kim North Shine Source: Tom Tanghe, Auburn Hills assistant city manager

Unearthing the Clinton River as economic development in Pontiac

The vision is to have a river running through downtown Pontiac, one with restaurants, offices and shops alongside and perhaps small boats bringing in people and, ideally, ripples of prosperity. The Clinton River is currently covered up, piped underground beneath a parking lot and the Phoenix Center, a deteriorating city-owned structure that could come down if the vision to daylight the Clinton River is actually pursued. The river opens up on either side of downtown. As it is now, the Phoenix Center is used only occasionally. "By daylighting the Clinton River, if it winds up with a river walk along it, it's going to be something that can be used everyday," says Bill Watch, chairman of the Urban Land Institute Michigan. The idea of daylighting the river, something done in other cities, including Kalamazoo, is being explored with a feasibility study in a partnership between the Urban Land Institute, Oakland County and the city of Pontiac. In June, students from the institute's Larson Center for Leadership, 34 of them considered business leaders, will come up with a document that outlines what it would take as far as a process, expenses and time to uncover the river. The student leaders work in real estate, development, planning and other areas and will complete the "Daylighting the Clinton River" feasibility study in order to graduate from Larson. In part they will determine if the benefits of uncovering the river outweigh the costs. One cost barrier is out of the way as the county has agreed to pay for the demolition of the Phoenix Center, which has seen better days. "Oakland County had come to us in the fall and they wanted ULI's help to study this," Watch says. "This is something they've been thinking about.The county wants to do something for downtown Pontiac. It's a sort of legacy project." Uncovering the river, if approved, wouldn't take all that long, he says. It's bringing the investors and companies and residents in to build there, work, and live there. "It's not going to happen tomorrow. It will be years or even decades," he says. "But this is going to be something that could provide an attraction. It will give Pontiac a feature to bring people in." The Clinton River was once a scenic gathering place for downtown Pontiac, but it also came with flood issues. It was paved over, built on and covered with drainage projects in an era when the economic draw of having a town on a river -- if well designed -- was less appreciated. San Antonio's Riverwalk was a flood control project turned top tourist attraction for the Texas city. "On a smaller scale this is what the Clinton River could become," Watch says. "Kalamazoo daylighted the river there and we'll be looking to them to learn about their experience." Oakland County  Executive L. Brooks Patterson has called for daylighting the river for several months now, telling the Oakland Press in June, "Every city would love to have a river running through it, and the ones that do use it very well. The river becomes a focal point....I think that's in Pontiac's future." Writer: Kim North Shine Source: Bill Watch, Michigan chairman, Urban Land Institute

New homes, lofts, less blight in downtown Pontiac

A $13.7-million government program meant to stabilize struggling cities by targeting crumbling neighborhoods and re-building their decaying urban centers is complete in Pontiac. And, while still in the early stages, it appears to be achieving its mission. The two-year-old Neighborhood Stabilization Program targeted Pontiac and about 10 other Michigan cities. It has led to the removal of dozens of blighted properties and building of new homes in Pontiac's Unity Park neighborhood, as well as two residential loft developments including the $20 million Lafayette Place Lofts, which sit atop the Lafayette Market and an Anytime Fitness, and the 10 West Lofts. Lafayette Place Lofts, a project of West Construction Services, is the city's largest development in 30 years or more. The federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program was administered by the Michigan State Housing Development Authority in partnership with the Michigan Land Bank, Oakland County, and the city of Pontiac. Funds from the program covered the demolition of 50 blighted homes in the Unity Park Neighborhood and the construction of 18 new single family homes there. All have been sold. Local members of the Michigan Association of Home Builders, Michigan Association of Realtors, lenders and developers marketed the homes. Downtown, the 46 units at Lafayette Place Lofts in the former Sears & Roebuck Store, which opened to residents in December, are expected to be fully occupied within weeks and the Lafayette Market, a speciality grocer and coffee house, is filling the void of a fresh food source and take-out prepared meals for the city. The market and neighbor 24-hour Anytime Fitness, both on the ground floor of Lafayette Place Lofts, are generating traffic downtown. Also downtown there is 10 West Lofts, another multi-use development in the downtown that has a skyline of historic buildings and a history of struggles. Altogether, at least 300 construction jobs and 75 full-time jobshave been created. Several other projects, though not a part of the stabilization program, are ongoing and more development is expected as a number of other initiatives roll out. One, the reconstruction of the main road leading into downtown, will direct motorists into the city instead of around it. Another, the opening of a new transit station, is for now a stop for Amtrak and local buses, but could function as a stop on a commuter light rail line between Detroit and Pontiac -- a proposal that is very preliminary and probably years away. It all adds up to what may be an economic tide-turner for a city that has gone into bankruptcy, been taken over by an emergency financial manager and held back by the crime, hardship, and poor educational system that come with poverty.   Writer: Kim North Shine Source: Michigan State Housing Development Authority

Lincoln Park to take part in MSHDA Main Street training program

Lincoln Park is one of six Michigan cities learning how to take their downtowns to the next level through the Michigan Main Street Associate program of the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, or MSHDA, Lincoln Park officials will receive special training during the next year. The training will focus on the basics of Main Street planning, including organization, promotion, economic restructuring and design. Staff from the Michigan Main Street Center and representatives from successful Main Street communities will provide the training. Madhu Oberoi, executive director of the Lincoln Park Downtown Development Authority, applied for the training and designation as an associate member of Main Street associate member. "I'd like the training outcome to be that we receive some economic development tools and strategies to revitalize the downtown area. We need direction and assistance on facade improvements, historic preservation and business recruiting," says Leslie Lynch wilson, board member of the Lincoln Park DDA. "The Main Street program is beneficial for Lincoln Park because if we can successfully revitalize our downtown area…it will help improve other parts of the city through improved property values." In a statement announcing the training recipients, Scott Woosley, executive director of MSHDA, says “Michigan’s economy cannot thrive without vibrant downtowns. The Michigan Main Street program creates opportunities for new development and economic growth in downtowns across our state.” The Michigan Main Street Associate program is part of Governor Rick Snyder’s Placemaking initiative and downtown development efforts in Michigan, which are based on research that shows investment in downtowns leads to healthy communities and a more economically successful state. The other recipients of the Main Street training are the cities of Flat Rock, Alpena, Grayling, Port Huron, and the village of Middleville. Writer: Kim North Shine Sources: Michigan State Housing Development Authority and Leslie Lynch Wilson, board member, Lincoln Park Downtown Development Authority

Downtown living options moving up in Rochester

A new residential living option for downtown Rochester is in the planning stages with a 62-unit, 5-7 story building for the corner of Walnut Boulevard and First Street. The 112 Walnut residence would be designed in a cantilevered building giving each floor different views of the the city. The bottom two floors would be for parking, and the four floors above would each have 14 apartments. A penthouse floor would be devoted to six apartments. The city's planning commission is working with Joe Latozas and Joe Lochirco with Designhaus Architects on the project that is seen as a way to up the urban living aspect of downtown Rochester, which recently underwent a major reconstruction of Main Street. Writer: Kim North Shine Source: Nik Banda, economic development directory and deputy city manager, City of Rochester

West Nine Mile streetscape continues downtown Ferndale’s make over

Ferndale is embarking on a major overhaul of West 9 Mile in downtown, part of a project that will take care of maintenance, such as updating underground infrastructure. The investment will also address a neglected part of downtown by creating a place that's inviting, walkable, safe and ready for economic development. The project, affectionately dubbed "How The West Was One," is expected to run from April to September 2013 and give attention to the stretch of West 9 Mile from Planavon to Pinecrest. The finished product will be a new road that's narrowed from five lanes to three and that's painted with bike friendly sharrows (sharing arrows). There will be wider sidewalks, a new water main, a streetscape with benches, trash and recycling containers, 60 trees and perennial beds and sidewalk and on-street bike corrals, new lighting and more crosswalks. The $1.1 million construction project is a cooperative effort between the Ferndale Downtown Development Authority and the City of Ferndale. The streetscape portion of the project was developed by the DDA and has been a work in progress for more than ten years. Last summer, the DDA won a Transportation Enhancement grant to cover nearly half of the cost. In October, the Ferndale City Council voted to match the grant. “This project, and the city’s investment in it, is critical to the improvement of a long-neglected section of our Downtown,” said Cristina Sheppard-Decius, executive director of the Ferndale DDA. “Private redevelopment follows public investment. The City Council’s commitment is exactly the kind of leadership that will kick start a great future for that end of town and all of Ferndale." Writer: Kim North Shine Source: Chris Hughes, Ferndale Downtown Development Authority