DETROIT – Millions of dollars are going to revitalize old Detroit buildings.
The Michigan Economic Development Corporation awarded the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC) $14.5 million in grants through the Revitalization and Placemaking (RAP) 2.0 program. The money is being split between five different projects across Detroit.
“What we need is to take the vacant commercial buildings and put them back to work,” said Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan. “Some of them, like the Packard Plant, we have to knock down, but there’s a whole lot of other buildings that we can save, and with the RAP program, what the state has done to help us is remarkable.”
The city of Detroit lists the projects in detail:
- Broadway Lofts – The Broadway Lofts development will convert three buildings at 1322, 1326, and 1332 Broadway Street into a mixed-use property with 80 residential units and ground-floor retail space. Led by Roger Basmajian, the nine-story building will feature mainly studio and one-bedroom apartments, with at least 20% offered at affordable rates for those earning 60% of Wayne County’s Area Median Income (AMI). The project will receive $4.275 million in RAP grant funding to construct approximately 50,934 rentable square feet of housing and 6,626 square feet of retail space.
- Fisher 21 Lofts – The Fisher 21 Lofts project will convert a 600,000-square-foot building into 433 residential units with a mix of studios, one-bedrooms, and two-bedrooms, plus 26,700 square feet of retail space and 17,685 square feet of co-working space. Led by developers Gregory Jackson and Richard Hosey, 63 units will be income-restricted affordable housing, with 60 at 80% AMI and three two-bedrooms at 50% AMI. The development will receive $4.750 million in RAP grant funding.
- The Arthur Murray Building – The Arthur Murray Building at 16621-16653 E. Warren Ave. has historical significance as the first franchise location of the Arthur Murray Dance Studio, founded in the early 1950s by pioneering female entrepreneur Doris Eaton Travis. The $14.9 million mixed-use development led by developer Emery Matthews will convert the abandoned 25,242 square-foot building into 32 residential apartments with 7,900 square feet of ground-floor retail space. The project will receive $2.128 million in RAP grant funding for redevelopment efforts.
- Jefferson Intermediate School – In 2018, Midtown Detroit, Inc. (MDI) and Invest Detroit purchased the Jefferson Intermediate School located at 950 Selden Street and 960 Frank Street with plans to renovate the building into a multi-tenant office and innovation/co-working space. The $44.4 million project will serve as the new headquarters for Invest Detroit and provide space for additional tenants interested in a creative office environment in Midtown. The development will receive $1.425 million in RAP grant funding.
- The Deco – The development at 16703 E. Warren is an 8,000-square-foot, two-story commercial building that has been vacant for several decades along a high-profile Detroit commercial corridor. Led by developers Brandon Hodges and Damon Dickerson, the $4 million renovation aligns with neighborhood priorities around vacancy reduction, design aesthetics, and small business opportunities. The project will receive $1.197 million in RAP grant funding to activate the long-vacant structure into six new rental apartments and a ground-floor restaurant to be occupied by La Jalisciense Taqueria.
“Programs like rap are not just about economic benefits, they’re about knitting communities back together,” said Emery Matthews, managing principal of Real Estate Interest LLC, that is developing the old Arthur Murray building.
Matthews’ said they wouldn’t be able to do this project without the grant.
“Essentially, because of the cost associated with taking this wonderful building that’s been empty for a long time and is unfortunately deteriorated, it becomes an expensive process to renovate that, and we want to renovate it in a high-quality renovation but still be able to rent the apartments at an affordable level,” Matthews said.
Matthews said he grew up in Detroit, not far from Jefferson Intermediate School, and believes all of those projects are meaningful.
“I know how that feels when you’re walking down the street,” Matthews said. “You internalize the decay you see around you, and it makes you question your value and how others view you. I do it because I don’t want other people to feel that way.”