Midtown Detroit’s boom shifts into high gear!

Back in 2011, panethos.com highlighted the early stages of a boom taking place in Midtown Detroit. While so much of the national media was solely focused on the bad news coming from the Motor City, it completely missed the bright spots arising in this great, great city. Well, four years later and Midtown Detroit has become “THE” place to be.

Aside from the new construction projects, there are many exciting renovation/rehabilitation efforts, adaptive reuse of stellar historic buildings into mixed uses, trendy shopping and dining options, alternative/active transportation improvements, as well as hip art and cultural programs underway. Here are just a few examples of what’s taking place there.

• The City of Detroit’s first Whole Food Market has been so successful since opening in 2013 that the company is actively searching for a second inner-city Detroit location.
• The magnificent Detroit Institute for the Arts successfully raised more than $100 million in less than one-year assuring that its world-class collection will remain in the city.
• Grand Rapids-based Hop Cat opened the fourth of its immensely popular beer bars in Detroit’s Midtown just before Christmas 2014.
• Speaking of beer, Dexter’s Jolly Pumpkin Brewery will be opening a location in Midtown Detroit in 2015.
• Dearborn-based Carhartt will be opening its flagship retail apparel store in Detroit’s Midtown early this summer, 2015.

Carhartt’s flagship store – Source: freep.com

• The M-1 Light Rail project continues under construction along the Woodward Avenue Corridor. It will link Downtown with Midtown and the New Center, and is to be completed by 2017. Below is a conceptual image of the line in Midtown.

Source: m-1rail.com

• Wayne State’s new $93 million BioMed Building adeptly combines the new building with a 1927 Albert Kahn historic architectural design.
• Wayne State Physician’s Group is building a new 153,000 square foot building (below). It is due to be completed in 2016.

Wayne State Physician’s Group – Source: crainsdetroit.com

• A $28 million rehabilitation of the 91-year old Strathmore Hotel into a mixed-use development will be underway in the near future (see below).

Strathmore Hotel – Source: crainsdetroit.com

• A $60 million mixed use project (hotel, apartments, and retail) consisting of 410,000 square feet of floor space is expected to open in 2016 at the corner of Cass and Canfield Streets.

Source: crainsdetroit.com

• Ongoing rehab of Cass Plaza will result in the following renovated home for 39 apartments:

Cass Plaza – Source: curbeddetroit.com

• Directly next door to Cass Plaza, the 110-year old Davenport has undergone a simply stunning transformation.

The Davenport – Source: curbeddetroit.com

• The Midtown Greenway Loop is partially completed, with additional segments under construction linking Midtown to the waterfront via the Dequindre Cut Greenway.
• The Detroit Medical Center completed construction in 2014 of its new $111 million heart hospital in Midtown.
• The Green Alley Project is restoring and rehabilitation several alleys in Midtown by utilizing crowdfunding and other resources to improve stormwater control, enhance area aesthetics, and improve walkability/bikeability.
• Shinola opened its flagship retail store in Midtown during 2013 and produces high-quality watches in the historic Argonaut Building (Now the Taubman Center for Design Eduction)  in adjacent the New Center business district.
• Midtown’s iconic Hammer & Nail Building (below) will be renovated for $20 million and converted into 75 apartments with completion expected in 2016.

Source: mlive.com

Midtown Detroit sponsored a recent art competition called Midtown Viaducts. The chosen entries will add displays of public light and artistry to several active railroad viaducts in the TechTown section of Midtown.

Source: rhizome.com