DETROIT – More affordable housing is coming to Detroit, and a development company is set to transform a historic industrial building in Milwaukee Junction.
The Platform, a development company, has been renovating several historic buildings throughout Wayne County. The company announced on Tuesday that they are redeveloping 411 Piquette Avenue, next door to the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant Museum. The building will be renamed to Piquette Flats.
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The 108,000-square-foot Albert Kahn designed building will be transformed into 161 residential units with 192 parking spaces. The early 1900′s building is considered one of the most significant automotive sites in the nation, and according to The Platform, it has been vacant for several years.
Some of the history of the building includes that it was initially known as the Studebaker Detroit Service Building and manufactured vehicles from 1920 to 1933. The building has been in the hands of many other companies, and The Platform acquired the Detroit site in the spring of 2017. According to The Historical Marker Database, Studebaker was one of the world’s largest companies building horse-drawn wagons during the late 1800′s. In 1902, the company started to produce powered vehicles. The Studebaker company was initially based out of South Bend in Indiana, and moved to the Motor City in 1910.
“As a Detroit history museum, we could not be more excited about the activation of our city’s historic structures. The automakers and suppliers in Milwaukee Junction represent the very beginning of The Motor City, so these sites give people a shared sense of our identity. The Platform is developing this former factory in a way that pays tribute to that.”
Jill Woodward, Ford Piquette Avenue Plant Museum
The Piquette Flats are set to be priced between 60% - 120% area median income (AMI), with 60% of units priced below 80% AMI. Within the 161 apartments, The Platform stated that 71 of them will be made into studios and 87 into one and three bedroom loft-style apartments.
During the redevelopment, the building will replace the electrical, mechanical, plumbing systems, add new elevators, and a new roof. Some amenities included in the building will be a fitness center, laundry rooms on each floor, a lobby lounge, and community rooms. The Platform stated that the apartment complex will be pet friendly and have an interior pet wash and an adjacent dog run.
“Adding workforce housing is critical for creating a Detroit where residents can get good-paying middle-class jobs and afford quality housing,” said Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan in a statement. “We are grateful that developers like The Platform continue to show their commitment to building housing that many Detroiters can afford to call home.”
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Besides the redevelopment in Milwaukee Junction, the other sites that The Platform is redeveloping for living spaces are Woodward West in Midtown, The Obama Building in Old Redford, The Boulevard in New Center, Baltimore Station in Milwaukee Junction, and 3rd and Charlotte in Midtown. You can learn more about those developments, here.
Related: Redevelopment project to bring affordable housing, businesses to Southwest Detroit