Videos, Internet marketing, fine art and Kwame's mug. 323 East in Royal Oak has become one-stop shopping for creative inspiration. Home to the Ohm Creative Group, this storefront firm and art gallery is an ambitious (and successful!) merger of innovative business and unbridled expression.
Lofts on the 9 will unveil its first unit Friday evening, several weeks before the project is set to wrap up.Lofts on the 9 is the little condo project that could, fighting its way through tough timing in an even tougher economy and the toughest housing market in a generation. But the developers are still optimistic, letting it be known that people are still lined up to buy their product and most of the retail space has been leased.The development's first residents are expected to begin moving in around Thanksgiving. Their new home will be one of the choice living options in downtown Ferndale. Lofts on the 9 is on East 9 Mile Road just east of Como's Restaurant and across the street from the Ferndale Public Library. The 4-story structure features units that are priced from $149,000 to the mid $400,000s. They range in size between 500 and 2,100 square feet, however, the 2,100-square-foot loft can be expanded up to 2,700 square feet by adding a rooftop deck. Each unit comes with a ground floor parking spot next to the building.The group of developers behind the Lofts on the 9 project also built the Troy, Main and Center street lofts developments in downtown Royal Oak.For information, call Adam Wolfson, sales broker for Lofts on the 9, at (248) 336-9600 or at (248) 535-4900.Source: Adam Wolfson, sales broker for Lofts on the 9Writer: Jon Zemke
Al Gore would be so proud. The ribbon has been cut and the first tours given of Lawrence Technological University's solar house in its permanent home in Troy.Lawrence Tech students and staff built the ALOeTERRA house for the Solar Decathlon in Washington, D.C., last year. They recently finished rebuilding it on Troy's Civic Center campus next to the Troy Community Center.The energy-positive house (meaning it creates more electricity than it uses) will serve as an example of how environmentally friendly building techniques can be when used in everyday construction. The Troy Chamber of Commerce bought it so it can used as a public display about sustainable building and a center for recreation activities.A team of more than 40 Lawrence Tech students called ALOeTERRA (which means "to nourish the earth") designed and built the house last year. Volunteers from the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millrights also lent a hand creating a home that harnesses the sunlight into enough electricity to power the home's utilities (along with some left over for a small electric vehicle).Team ALOeTERRA purposely used green building techniques and technologies widely available to the public so the house can serve as a showcase on how regular people can conserve energy in housing.For instance, the primary source of energy for hot water and heating is an array of evacuated tubes. The system can store a day's worth of hot water and pay for itself in energy savings in about two years. All of the home's electricity is generated by photovoltaic solar panels that cover much of the roof. When sunlight isn't available, the home's battery system will meet all the energy needs for things like heating, ventilation and air conditioning. The team utilized a number of energy conservation ideas to control the home's energy appetite to make it energy positive.The house was a part of the Solar Decathlon's "solar village" exhibition in Washington, D.C. It competed against a field of 20 universities, including MIT, Carnegie Mellon and Cornell. The solar decathlon is a prestigious international competition where universities contend to build the most attractive and energy-efficient, solar-powered home.Lawrence Tech was the smallest college in the contest and the only one from Michigan. Its house was one of the runners-up in the BP People's Choice Award competition, thanks to an architectural design many found attractive and livable.Source: Eric Pope, spokesman for Lawrence Technological UniversityWriter: Jon Zemke
The first LEED building in Birmingham is now officially as environmentally friendly as its designers intended it to be. The new AAA Michigan location in Birmingham has received its official LEED certification. A plaque recognizing this earth-friendly accomplishment will be hung on the entrance to the building later this fall. The structure sports a number of green features, such as high-efficiency mechanical systems, low-wattage light fixtures and energy efficient windows. The building's exterior is also designed with sun shades to keep it cool in the summer and light shelves to bring in more natural light. The two-story structure is at corner of Woodward Avenue and Forest Street in Birmingham's emerging Triangle District. The building feature's a distinctive 40-foot glass tower in the center of its front facade. The 9,100-square-foot full service branch will house 32 employees. Source: Jim Rink, spokesman for AAA Michigan Writer: Jon Zemke
Most people use the Chrysler headquarters as a landmark to direct people to the nearly finished Auburn Hills campus of the Thomas M. Cooley Law School. Not as easily seen is neighboring Oakland Community College's emergency response training center.A small clump of trees separates the two colleges, which are, some might say, ironically close toone another. One of those campuses trains people to respond to emergencies, such as police, firefighters and ambulance drivers. The other teaches some of its students to chase them. Lame jokes aside, an expansion of the latter (Cooley's Auburn Hills Campus) is almost complete. Students and faculty are expected to start moving into the new addition early next year, and all construction is expected to be complete by spring."It will gradually open over the winter semester," says John Nussbaumer, associate dean of Cooley's Auburn Hills CampusThe 62,000-square-foot addition will double the size of 67-acre campus' main building, a 1980s era GM/UAW building. The old-half of the enlarged structure will house meeting space, offices and a large law library. The new half will house classrooms, faculty offices and courtrooms for both practice trails and real ones."I already have one federal judge committed to bring his court up here and one circuit court judge," Nussbaumer says.The modern-looking building is also going for LEED certification with a strong hand of environmentally friendly features. Its green credentials include reusing the existing structure, a 20,000 square foot green roof, installing recycled materials such as carpet in the building and energy-efficient lighting, heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.The structure also incorporates skylights and expansive windows throughout. A significant outdoor terrace opens onto woodland and wildlife (a herd of deer still roam the grounds) around it.Cooley opened its Oakland Campus on Oakland University six years ago with 28 students. Today it has 680 students at its new campus in Auburn Hills campus, 2630 Featherstone Road. It is expected to hold up to 800 within the next year or two."If the demand was there we could go above 1,000," Nussbaumer says.More than 3,600 students attend the law school, founded in 1972, at its three locations in Lansing, Grand Rapids and Oakland County.Source: John Nussbaumer, associate dean of Thomas M. Cooley Law School's Auburn Hills CampusWriter: Jon Zemke
Eleven tons of old computers equipment during a mid-September Oakland County recycling drive. Excerpt: The rains came, but so did carload after carload of responsible Oakland County residents who didn't want to landfill their used computer equipment. Oakland County Waste Resource Management, in partnership with Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit, collected 22,384 pounds of used computer equipment at a one day collection event on September 13 at the Oakland County Complex in Pontiac. Computers contain lead, cadmium and mercury, which can be harmful to the environment. They also contain components which can be recycled, such as precious metals, glass and plastic. Most of the computer equipment collected at the September 13 event will be recycled. However, newer items collected may have the hard drives cleaned and be sent to local charities for reuse. For more Oakland County information go here.
The Fifth U.S. Conference on Peak Oil and Community Solutions, which will take places between Oct. 31 and Nov. 2 at Oakland University, is going to be carbon neutral. What does that mean? Well, it means that, through the help of TechTown's Carbon Credit Environmental Services, the carbons produced by the event will be offset with various alternative-energy projects.Excerpt:The Fifth U.S. Conference on Peak Oil and Community Solutions offers attendees presentations and panels with experts from around the world, a unique “Connections Café” of networking roundtables, tours of local sustainable buildings and projects, “green” entertainment, and shared meals throughout the weekend. The public is invited to the Green Living Expo on Saturday afternoon (11/1) which includes free exhibits and exhibitor presentations. Get more information here.
A raging debate in central cities and inner-ring suburbs is whether downtowns or the neighborhoods should get more attention.There's little doubt that downtowns are getting the lion's share of attention, ranging from DDAs to TIFs. Oakland County is no different with its Main Street Oakland County program which is dedicated to improving downtowns throughout the county. Now the neighborhoods are getting a little more love with the Oak Street program.The initiative, a spin-off of the Main Street program, is dedicated to revitalizing and stabilizing mature neighborhoods. It's first candidate – Hazel Park."Hazel Park has a rich heritage and established neighborhoods that make it a natural for Oak Street," says Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson. "These neighborhoods and their residents are the backbone of the county. Oak Street will help preserve the rich heritage of these wonderful areas while ensuring these neighborhoods remain desirable places to live and raise a family."Oak Street will provide education and technical assistance to the neighborhoods in an effort to preserve their history and character. One of the signature items of the program is a street fair that will be held for each participating city. The fairs, set for May, will include presentations on existing programs, sustainable rehabilitation and neighborhood heritage. The idea is to find more ways to invest in older communities.Two more participating communities for the Oak Street program will be announced later this year.Source: Oakland CountyWriter: Jon Zemke
Oakland University is set to build a new Human Health Building in Rochester now that the state will pay for $40 million of the $61 million project.The School of Health Sciences and the School of Nursing will occupy the 157,300-square-foot structure. The university plans to build the new space to facilitate the education of more medical professionals, thus helping address the looming shortages of health-care professionals. The new building will provide state-of-the-art simulation labs, media center, distance learning classrooms and a public health clinic for pre-symptom treatments. The new Human Health Building will complement the new Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine, which is set to open in 2010.The push for new and improved medical education facilities is part of the Oakland Medical Initiative. The idea is to help cement Oakland County and Oakland University as centers for the rapidly growing health-care industry.Source: Oakland UniversityWriter: Jon Zemke
Hazel Park will be the first community to participate in Oakland County's neighborhood community revitalization program called "Oak Street." Excerpt: “Hazel Park has a rich heritage and established neighborhoods that make it a natural for Oak Street,” Patterson said. “These neighborhoods and their residents are the backbone of the county. Oak Street will help preserve the rich heritage of these wonderful areas while ensuring these neighborhoods remain desirable places to live and raise a family.” Oak Street is a program unique to Oakland County. It is an outgrowth of the county’s hugely successful Main Street Oakland County economic development program, which targets traditional downtowns for preservation and improvement. Oak Street will help stabilize, maintain and improve neighborhoods through education and technical assistance provided by the county and others. The goal is to preserve the unique character of one of the county’s most valuable assets, its neighborhoods. Patterson announced the creation of Oak Street in his 2008 State of the County address. Get more Oakland County info here.
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