Mt. Clemens Oxford Building begins life anew after $1.2 million renovation

Shakespeare once wrote, “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” 

A sentiment you’ll regret if ever you find yourself on the wrong side of the law. 

To wit, officers of the court need a place to ply their trade and for Macomb County attorneys that place is the newly refurbished Oxford Building in downtown Mt. Clemens.

Clinton Township-based Sunshine Homes and Development gutted the building at 48 S. Main, across the street from the Macomb County Courthouse, creating 6,000 square feet of office space for law firms. So far 2,000 square feet of space is leased to two firms, Aloia & Associates and Viviano & Viviano, and the developer is close to inking a deal with another law firm for the remaining space.

“I know Mt. Clemens is an up-and-coming city,” says Lorenzo Garrisi, president of Sunshine Homes. “With the court there, I knew this would turn into a nice little home for attorneys. Plus, Main Street is coming along, too, sort of like Royal Oak.”

The building, originally opened in 1926 as the Lawyers Title Building, eventually fell into disrepair and was underutilized until Lorenzo’s company bought it and started the structure’s first significant improvements. Lorenzo compares the nearly eight month renovation process to the story of the ugly duckling. The result being a $1.2 million swan.

The investment will focus on returning the building’s exterior to its Roaring 20s grandeur while turning the interior into a fully modern office space.

“It was a very strong structure so we gutted it out and gave it a real nice interior,” Lorenzo says, pointing out its walls were 18-inch thick concrete. “It was sort of an extreme makeover.”

Sunshine Homes sees a lot of potential in downtown Mt. Clemens. He says it has the potential to become Macomb County‘s equivalent of Royal Oak or Ann Arbor with a dynamic downtown that becomes a 24-hour destination. He likes the city’s future so much that his company is working on a deal to rehab another unnamed structure.

“I think there is a future here in Mt. Clemens,” Lorenzo says. “Mt. Clemens was quite the city a while ago and it has the chance to reclaim that glory in the near future.”

Source: Lorenzo Garrisi, president of Sunshine Homes and Development
Writer: Jon Zemke