More Funding Coming to Detroit Green Spaces

Governor Rick Snyder signed a bill this week approving $102 million in grants to the Natural Resources Trust Fund.  Close to $35 million from that grant will go to William G. Milliken State Park and Harbor, Detroit Riverwalk and the Dequindre Cut.  The following acquisition projects were recommended for funding:

•  $20 million would be used to acquire three to six large private inholding parcels and trail easements along the Detroit Riverfront as additions to the William G. Milliken State Park and Harbor.

•  $9 million would be used by the DNRE to acquire 48,000 square feet of built-out space in the
  Globe Building for the William G. Milliken State Park and Harbor Adventure and Discovery
  Center in downtown Detroit.

• $5 million would be used by the DNRE to acquire public use easements and land acquisitions along the
  Detroit River from the Ambassador Bridge to the MacArthur Bridge as part of a 5-mile-long
  public greenway.

• $375,000 would be used to acquire a 0.7-mile section of abandoned rail corridor in downtown Detroit that continues the Dequindre Cut north, connecting the Detroit Riverfront to the historic Eastern Market. 

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*UPDATE* Seldom Blues Space to Host New Restaurant

An announcement is expected to be made next week regarding the vacant space in the GM Renaissance Center that was formerly occupied by the Seldom Blues restaurant. A new restaurant will take over the space and it is rumored to be linked to the Joe Muer's name as well as Andiamo.

*Joe Muer’s Seafood is slated to open inside the Renaissance Center in early September. The former Seldom Blues location won out over sites at the Compuware Building and Asian Village. Muer's will be run by Andiamo Restaurant Group. The company purchased all the original Joe Muer licensing agreements, recipes and trademarks.*

Detroit 2.0: Hudson, Lafayette Building sites to be Community Gardens

Compuware employees will tend community gardens on the sites of the Hudson building (Premier Garage) and the Lafayette Building. What a great use for an underground parking structure that was constructed to support a 15 story structure above it.  There is dumb and then there is Detroit dumb!

North Korea Edges out China in Invasion of Detroit

MGM has taken advantage of the time it spent in bankruptcy to re-brand the villains in its "Red Dawn" remake as North Koreans instead of Chinese.  An attempt to court potential distributors prompted the change.  Distributors were concerned that without changes, the portrayal could alienate the Asian superpower and affect their ability to do business in the country.  The studio will spend about one million dollars to re-edit, re-dub, and digitally alter the film to remove as many Chinese references as possible.  If MGM is unable to find a distributor the film could end up going straight to DVD.

HDR Friday: William Milliken State Park

Your "New" Cobo Center

Cobo Center officials today unveiled details of a $221 million facelift of the convention center. The plan also reconfigures Cobo’s existing spaces crating more than 100,000 square feet of extra exhibition space. View the fly-through

Imported From Detroit!

Another Brush Park Setback

The Inn at 97 Winder in Brush Park is up for sale. My only hope is that someone will buy it soon and put it to a fitting use.  I would hate to see it end up in the same situation that the Lucian Moore House restoration is in.

$2.5M price tag on Detroit mansion an eye-opener | The Detroit News

HDR Friday: The Last Days of the Lafayette

Baby Steps?

It looks like the last vacant building on 100 block Watson street in Brush Park will be saved.  The Devon building, built in 1905, is slated to be converted into four 1,300 square feet condos.  With the rehabilitation of the concrete building, the restoration of this particular block will be complete.  That's not to say that it couldn't use a few more buildings for infill.  The art deco facade will be saved, but the rear of the building will be demolished and rebuilt with floor to ceiling windows.  This will also make room for new garages to be build along the alley.

Construction is set to begin in the first quarter of 2011.  However, work will not begin until all four units are sold.  The expected price per unit will be $220,000.