Coverage of transit solutions, including public transportation, bikes, buses, light rail, commuter trains, and ferries, especially those intended to reduce congestion, improve air quality, and provide efficient movement across a metropolitan area.
Someday Ferndale will erect a statue to Chris Johnston. Or better yet, replace the police officer in Woodward Avenue's Crow's Nest with his likeness. Entrepreneur, bar owner, restaurateur, rocker and driving force behind downtown's resurgence, only one question remains: When does he sleep?
Michigan is home to some of the best hospitals in the nation. It's a booming industry in a financially strapped state. Oakland County exec, L. Brooks Patterson, wants to harness this growth and turn Michigan's OC into a healthcare Mecca. Excerpt: Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson is betting that health care can be an even greater growth engine for his county, which already has 93,000 jobs in the field in 4,300 facilities. He's trying to harness Oakland's fast-growing hospital systems into a medical branding initiative aimed at capturing more health care investment. Patterned after Automation Alley, the effort would market Oakland County as the place to go if you're looking for treatment, health care jobs, research opportunities or a medical education. "The growth in this industry is phenomenal," Patterson says. "If we leave it alone and do nothing, it will add 30,000 jobs in Oakland over the next 10 years. We think that with a little help, we can push that to 45,000 jobs at a minimum." Read the entire article here.
One of the most visible redevelopment projects in downtown Royal is getting ready to wrap up in November.The people behind the Historic Loft Building (there's an original name) plan to have two of their tenants moved in post Halloween to the structure at the corner of Harrison and Main streets on the south side of downtown. The two business, a medical group and a pharmacy, will occupy most of the ground floor space. The remaining 1,500 square feet on the ground floor is still available.The second and third floors of the 3-story building are being turned into Class A office space. Each floor has 8,600 square feet of space. The space is being built as loft-style office space with exposed brick and utility lines. "It's one of the few loft-style office spaces in the downtown area," says Mason Capitani, leasing agent for the Historic Loft Building.The structure was originally built as a Ford car dealership nearly 100 years ago. It has housed a few other businesses, including as a furniture store most recently. Source: Mason Capitani, leasing agent for the Historic Loft BuildingWriter: Jon Zemke
Work is wrapping up on another apartment building renovation by Urbane Apartments in Royal Oak – Urbane on Farnum. Six of the 16 units in the 1960s-era apartment building will be ready for residents by late October. Work on the exterior of the building is also nearly finished. The apartment building is located on the corner of Farnum and Washington streets. It is across the street from Royal Oak's old Dondero High School and a few blocks north of downtown. It had fallen into disrepair before Urbane invested $400,000 into restoring the building. The structure's 16 units are a mix of large studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments. They include a number of modern amenities, such as brand new bamboo floors, recycled carpet, efficient water fixtures, granite bar tops, black appliances, glass French doors, dual shower heads and high-speed wireless Internet. Urbane owns 14 apartment buildings in southeast Oakland County. These buildings are near vibrant downtowns, such as Royal Oak, Ferndale, Clawson and Berkely. For information on Urbane Apartments offerings, call (248) 988-7125. Source: Eric Brown, co-founder of Urbane Apartments Writer: Jon Zemke
EVIEW 360 is evolving in Farmington Hills. The design firm has gone from creating website applications before the dotcom bubble burst in 1999 to designing websites then onto branding. This transformation has caused great growth for the company with revenues increasing from $2 million in 2006 to $4 million last year to an expected $6 million this year. In the last year EVIEW has also added nine people, building its staff to 19 (along with one independent contractor and one intern). The firm has set its sights on a revenue spurt of 30-40 percent next year while adding another 4-5 new people."We've been enjoying quite a bit of growth and we hope to continue at that pace," says Melissa Centra, CEO of EVIEW 360.The company focuses its business on a number of design areas, such as website design, branding, corporate identity, branding environment and corporate environment. Centra sees the firm expanding its branded environment niche as more companies search for better ways to set themselves apart from competitors in a tough economy."That is the area we are choosing to focus on right now," Centra says.Source: Melissa Centra, CEO of EVIEW 360Writer: Jon Zemke
Decisions have been made but details still need to be ironed out for the Lot 9 development in downtown Pontiac.The Pontiac Downtown Development Authority choose the plan from West Investments (headed up by Kyle Westberg, owner of Pontiac-based West Construction) for the 6.7 acre parcel at the northeast corner of Saginaw and Pike streets. The property is currently a surface parking lot at the knot end of the Woodward Avenue loop that surrounds downtown.The development calls for building a 4-story, mixed-use structure. The building will feature ground floor retail space with a yet-to-be-named anchor tenant. Above that will be three floors of residential space. The number of units and whether they will be rentals or for-sale has also not been determined.Sandy McDonald, executive director of the Pontiac Downtown Development Authority, says the units will play a key role in creating a critical mass of residents in a downtown dominated by business space."Both projects were excellent mixed-use developments," McDonald says.The project is far from a done deal, though. The DDA still has to take the project to the mayor’s office for approval and must still iron out other development details with the developer. An update is expected by mid October, which is why details remain scarce."We don’t want to say too much, too fast," McDonald says.Source: Sandy McDonald, executive director of the Pontiac Downtown Development AuthorityWriter: Jon Zemke
Dan Kosmalski, CEO of Pyramid Solutions, sees his company as a survivor of nearly 20 years of the ups and downs in the Michigan economy.Even though the Bingham Farms-based firm has had to weather these turbulent times, it's still managed to add another 3-4 people to its payroll. Kosmalski is still confident enough in his company's prospects that he sees hiring yet another 3-4 people to his staff of 43 within the next year."We are hiring," Kosmalski says. "We're trying to find computer science people that are interested in software."The software engineering firm specializes in three distinct areas: enterprise content management, plant floor automation and network communications in real-time."The nice thing is we have that diversity," Kosmalski says. "But it's tough to have them all firing on all cylinders."The tough economy might cause that, but Kosmalski sees opportunities, too. For instance, the consolidation of the auto suppliers may mean more chances to create new communications networks between industrial sites.Source: Dan Kosmalski, CEO of Pyramid SolutionsWriter: Jon Zemke
Wall Street might not be getting any federal bailout (for now) to deal with bad mortgages but Oakland County has received $26 million to do just that. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) new Neighborhood Stabilization Program has awarded $26 million to help stabilize neighborhoods hit hard by foreclosures. The winners are Pontiac ($3.5 million), Southfield ($3.2 million) and Waterford (a little more than $2 million). Oakland County received almost $17.4 million. That money is meant to help local communities acquire and redevelop foreclosed properties in danger of becoming (or remaining) blight. Some of the money can be used to raze structures redevelop vacant properties. Twenty-five percent (at least) of that money must be used to buy and redevelop buildings into housing for families with incomes that are less than 50 percent of the neighborhood's median income. Homes put back on the market must be listed at 20 percent under the current market value and can only be sold to people who will use them as their primary residences. Oakland County Community & Home Improvement division will release guidelines and application procedures in the near future. For information, click here or call (248) 858-0493. Source: Oakland County Economic Development & Community Affairs Writer: Jon Zemke
The five people who started Grid4 Communications began the telecommunications service provider with the same idea many entrepreneurs begin with."It just didn't look overwhelming," says Chris Hopkins, president and CEO of Grid4 Communications. "We thought we could do it better."And with that realization, the quintet started the Troy-based business seven years ago. Today it employs 25 people and about 100 subcontractors. It's also looking into starting an internship program. Grid4 Communications is now one of the top 5 communications carriers in Michigan, providing phone and Internet services. It counts AT&T and Comcast among its competitors. It's revenues measure about $8 million today but Hopkins expects those numbers to hit $20 million within two years."We expect to double the size of the company next year in both revenue and employees," Hopkins says.To accommodate this Grid4 Communications plans to build a new corporate headquarters and data center next year. The building's 35,000 square feet is expected to house the growing firm for years to come.Source: Chris Hopkins, president and CEO of Grid4 CommunicationsWriter: Jon Zemke
Main Street Oakland County already includes the county's big names in downtown development, such as Ferndale, Farmington and Rochester. Now it's welcoming some smaller names into the fold, namely Clawson, Clarkston, Hazel Park and Franklin. The first three cities are joining Main Street Oakland County's Mentoring Program while Franklin becomes a member of the Downtown Development Program. Other members of Main Street Oakland County include Highland, Holly, Keego Harbor, Lake Orion, Ortonville, Oxford, Pontiac and Walled Lake. Main Street Oakland County uses a four point approach to spur economic development and job creation in these city centers. Those include fine tuning organization, design, promotion and economic restructuring. These techniques have helped land $451 million in investment, create 2,782 new jobs and 344 new businesses since 2000. Oakland County's 32 downtown include some of Michigan's most vibrant urban centers, including Royal Oak and Birmingham. Main Street Oakland County is the first county organization to work with the National Trust Main Street Center, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Source: Oakland County Writer: Jon Zemke
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