Development News

Downtown Rochester is one of three cities in America to be named a Great American Main Street.

The 2013 Great American Main Street Award given by the National Trust For Historic Preservation recognized the Oakland County city for its success at preserving history while promoting economic revitalization and a strong relationship with the community. The announcement of the award, which was given in New Orleans April 11, described the Trust's reasoning for picking Rochester out of hundreds of historic Main Streets across the country.

"The Rochester DDA has succeeded in transforming a mill town that had fallen on hard times into a thriving suburb of Detroit built around a strong sense of place and community. A robust mix of public events, creative use of social media and a broad spectrum of volunteer involvement has attracted a loyal following to downtown Rochester," it says. "The DDA's Big Bright Light Show, for example draws 1 million visitors each holiday season to enjoy 1.5 million lights-lighting up merchants' cash registers in the process"

Other winners were H Street Main Street in Washington, D.C. and Ocean Springs Main Street in Mississippi.

In picking Rochester, Valecia Crisafulli, acting director at the National Main Street Center, says, "The Rochester DDA is a true innovator in marketing and small business assistance, and has the vibrant downtown to prove it. At a time when many municipalities are losing population, Rochester has experienced a 20-percent increase in population. With a 4-percent vacancy rate downtown and 132 new businesses since adopting the Main Street Approach, the DDA can take great pride in creating an inviting place for people to live, shop and open businesses."

Kristi Trevarrow, executive director of the Rochester Downtown Development Authority, says it goes without saying that it's an honor and recognition of much hard work and devotion from volunteers, business owners and city and county officials.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Kristi Trevarrow, executive director, Rochester Downtown Development Authority and Erica Steward, spokesperson, National Trust For Historic Preservation

About 15 metro Detroit cities, schools and community groups are sharing in tree-planting grants awarded by DTE and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

A total of 34 grants were awarded statewide. The amount of grants totaled $75,610 and will lead to the planting of more than 1,000 trees. Locally, communities such as Lincoln Park, Warren, Grosse Pointe Park and Pleasant Ridge will plant trees in the fall and spring.

Schools such as Commerce Elementary in Oakland County and Romeo Community Schools in Macomb County, as well as community groups such as the International Wildlife Refuge, Jefferson East Business Association and Michigan Alliance for Environmental and Outdoor Education, all in Wayne County, are also receiving grants.

The program is intended to increase the number of proper tree species and encourage properly planted trees and to also help reverse the loss of tree canopy in urban areas.

In the 15 years since the Michigan program began more than 20 million trees have been planted throughout the state, according to the DNR.

“The trees planted through this program will help to improve public areas in communities throughout the state,” said Kevin Sayers, coordinator of the DNR’s Urban Forestry Program. “This program also helps raise awareness about the importance of planting the right tree in the right location to avoid utility and tree conflicts.”

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Scott Simons, DTE Energy and Madhu Oberoi, executive director, Lincoln Park Downtown Development Authority

The owner of the new Stefana Boutique in downtown Northville is basing her business on offering something different than mall-based stores, selling at prices that won't induce buyers' remorse and in stocking styles that are age-appropriate but still with it.

Stephanie Fermanis Stojanovski opened the boutique at 122 W. Main Street this week and is excited to be selling clothing, jewelry and other accessories she picked up at Fashion Week in Las Vegas.

"I have clothes from New York, California, sunglasses from Texas," she says. "There things that you won't find in just any store."

She chose Northville, where she moved to 13 years ago, simply because she loves the city.

"This is a really beautiful location on Main Street. There's a lot of traffic and and the historic downtown is very beautiful, very quaint," she says.

She also says Northville's events such as First Fridays, where galleries and shops stay open later and bring more visitors downtown, are expected to be good for business and good for getting to know customers, something she's already seeing as the best part of being a business owner.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Stephanie Fermanis Stojanovski, owner, Stefana Boutique

Francesca's, a women's clothing store chain with differently-themed stores around the country, will open its first on-the-street, Main Street location in Michigan in downtown Birmingham.

Francesca's is expected to open by mid-April at 115 S. Woodward Avenue and become the fifth store in metro Detroit and the 10th in Michigan. All of the others are in shopping centers and malls.

Houston-based Francesca's is moving into a spot previously occupied by Ann Taylor Loft and will bring a very different approach than the Loft with its all-the-same-style stores.

At Francesca's, store managers are given creative control over store design, giving each store its own identity. One thing that carries through to all stores is a unique, "treasure hunt" feel created by offering only a few pieces of the same merchandise. Francesca's is known for an always changing, trendy, mostly affordable selection of clothing and accessories

Birmingham's Principal Shopping District recruiters are seeking out companies such as Francesca's as part of a push to attract younger shoppers to the city, says PSD spokesperson Ed Nakfoor.

"Recruiting a retailer like Francesca’s is part of the PSD tenant recruitment strategy of targeting fashion merchants reaching a younger demographic," he says. "The average age of the PSD core shopper was 39 in 2012 compared to 41 in 2006."

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Ed Nakfoor, spokesperson, Birmingham Principal Shopping District

A plan to turn a busy 27-mile, automobile-loving stretch of Woodward Avenue into a road that's safe and welcoming for all forms of transportation is rolling along with a series of public planning events to begin soon.

The changes -- part of the Complete Streets approach that's happening in cities around Michigan and across the country -- would move Woodward away from a wide-swath of auto-centered roadway to one that's inviting and safe for bicyclists, pedestrians, disabled users, bus riders -- and, if it comes to pass, light rail passengers.

The Woodward Avenue Action Association, WA3, is heading up the effort in partnership with Parsons Brinckerhoff. Working with them are reps and policy makers from 11 Wayne and Oakland county municipalities that have Woodward running through them. The Michigan Department of Transportation, M1 Rail, and the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments are also part of the project that's been in the works since August 2011 and has $752,000 in federal funding to work with.

The next step is to host five interactive public events, a design charrette, in several of the Woodward-connected communities. From those meetings could come a master plan that will determine what changes and updates are needed to accommodate public transit, pedestrians, bicyclists and, ideally, economic development.

“We want to create a street that truly works for everyone. Imagine a corridor that accommodates people of all ages and abilities, including pedestrians, bicyclists, seniors, mobility-challenged individuals, transit riders and motorists,” says Jason Fowler, WA3 and Woodward Complete Streets program manager. “By engaging the residents and businesses along the corridor, as well as industry experts in this visioning process, we can develop a wide variety of innovative solutions and create a successful master plan.”

The first meetings, a three-day event, will focus on north Woodward in Detroit from McNichols to 8 Mile and Ferndale and be held at St. James Catholic Church, 241 Pearson Street in Ferndale, April 17-19.

During the meetings in Ferndale, Dan Burden, a walkability expert from the Walkable and Livable Communities Institute, will present a walking audit of Woodward and explain what lies ahead for a re-design he says "could be the single largest Complete Streets planning effort ever undertaken in North America.”

Other meetings will be held in Birmingham/Bloomfield Hills, May 20-22; in Bloomfield Township/Pontiac, June 3-5; Pleasant Ridge through Berkley, June 10-12; and in downtown Detroit/Highland Park, June 17-19.

Click on www.transformwoodward.com for exact locations, times and topics to be discussed.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Lori Ella Miller, spokesperson, Woodward Avenue Action Association

Ferndale is showing more love to bicyclists by offering another on-street bike rack, this one on Woodward Avenue, the busiest street in town and a location that state transportation officials see as a model for other cities to follow.

The 12-bike rack will be installed by the end of May on the east side of Woodward, just north of 9 Mile, making it the city's sixth on-street bike rack but its most significant given its location on a major state road.

This same time last year, the city's first on-street rack and a piece of bike-related art were installed, and since then four others have been added to less busy streets. Over the last four years, about 35 bike racks were added to sidewalks around Ferndale.

"Many of our residents prefer the ease of riding their bike to town, enjoying an extra bit of exercise, avoiding traffic jams and reducing their carbon footprint," says Cristina Sheppard Decius, executive director of the Ferndale Downtown Development Authority. "The DDA is committed to doing what it can to make that mantra work.“

The new rack will be protected from 35-mph traffic along Woodward by Michigan Department of Transportation barriers and be bright yellow.

“One on-street bike rack can accommodate the transportation of 12 or more people,” says Sheppard-Decius. “We have an ideal situation for making that kind of trade-off." 

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Cristina Sheppard-Decius, executive director, Ferndale Downtown Development Authority

Automotive supplier Faurecia will build its North American headquarters in Auburn Hills, combining some of its Oakland County offices into the new location at the Oakland Technology Park.

The 278,000-square-foot, three story building near I-75 and University Drive will bring two Auburn Hills offices and a Troy technical center into one spot, employing about as many as 700 employees once it opens in early 2014.

Another Auburn Hills office will remain open with more than 300 employees.

Faurecia, which supplies automotive seating, emission control technology, interior systems and automotive exteriors, will be neighbors to other auto-related companies that are not only surviving but thriving the auto industry lull. Faurecia employs 94,000 people in 34 countries.

Also operating from the Oakland Technology is US Farathane’s world headquarters. It makes plastic injection molding, and Henniges Automotive, a supplier of anti-vibration systems, will operate a world headquarters and research and design center.

“Auburn Hills is thrilled to add Faurecia’s North American headquarters to our roster of leading national and international manufacturers headquartered here,” says City Manger Pete Auger. “Companies like Faurecia, Henniges and USFarathane are terrific corporate citizens and bring tremendous value to Auburn Hills, solidifying our reputation as the premier global manufacturing address in the Midwest.”

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Stephanie Carroll, Pete Auger, city of Auburn Hills

The fifth-generation recipe for Holy Cannoli's cream-filled pastries has caught on so much that the downtown Rochester business has opened a second location in Berkley.

The new store is at 2752 Coolidge Highway. The first, which opened about a year ago, is at 415 South Main St. in Rochester. The business has been in the making since at least 2010, when owners Nicole Franey, her mother Cathy Schulte and grandmother Sharon Beheler decided to sell to friends, to their friends' friends, and at festivals and farmers markets, and then make the jump from family service to anonymous consumers.

Franey calls the expansion "an anniversary gift to ouselves."

Holy Cannoli's cannolis come filled with traditional creams and specialties such as key lime, pistachio, Michigan cherry, cookies and cream, and revolving choices. The creams are piped in after customers order.

Holy Cannoli's is also known for baked goods like its cassata cake.

Although it's moved into retail spaces, Holy Cannoli's hasn't abandoned farmer's markets. Every Saturday, Eastern Market shoppers will find Holy Cannoli's at Shed #5 in Eastern Market.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Nicole Franey, co-owner, Holy Cannoli's

A Lansing-based credit union is expanding into southeast Michigan, first building a $30-million headquarters near Brighton and later investing in Plymouth.

Lake Trust Credit Union will invest more than $40 million in extending its network in Michigan over the next five years, says Lori Anderson, spokesperson for the credit union.

The headquarters near Brighton is on 17 acres near US 23 and I-96 and will give employees a campus with a pond, walking trails, picnic areas and a 100,000 sq. ft. workspace that brings together employees from Lansing and Plymouth.

Lake Trust formed from a 2010 merger between NuUnion Credit Union and Detroit Edison Credit Union.

Construction on the new headquarters, which is expected to cost $30 million, is scheduled for completion by 2015. At least another $10 million will go into other improvements, such as those in Plymouth and Lansing.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Lori Anderson, spokesperson, Lake Trust Credit Union

After spending its infancy as an online business, moving into toddlerhood as a brick and mortar store in Ferndale and then another store, Modern Natural Baby is moving again, this time to a larger space and with bigger plans.

Emily Murray, who started Modern Natural Baby with her husband, John Murray, in August 2009, says the move from Modern Natural Baby's store at 224 W. 9 Mile Road -- it once was on Woodward Avenue -- will let the new store at 200 W. 9 Mile offer more products and bigger ones such as strollers and car seats and high chairs. There wasn't enough room to display such items in the prior location.

At about double the size, the new Modern Natural Baby will not only sell more products but also seek out and sell those that keep with its organic, earth-friendly, socially-responsible business model.

"It'll be nice because we have a ton of gift registries, but before they had to register at other places for the strollers and car seats and larger items. Now they can register for everything here," Murray says.

The new 5,300 sq. ft. store is replacing Dollar Castle and will be the anchor of the 12,000-plus sq. ft. space that will soon be occupied by three tenants. The owner is renovating the building inside and out.

"The owner is putting a ton of money into it," Murray says. "Three businesses will be there instead of one. It's going to be one of the nicest buildings in Ferndale. This is really good for the city."

She expects to move into the new spot a few doors down from the current shop in August and be open later that month or in early September.

Though customers come from across metro Detroit and even from Canada, Murray attributes the success that started with an online business run from a home basement to a retail store to busting at the seams to Ferndale's way with attracting families and fostering progressive attitudes.

"Ferndale is definitely a place where there's a lot of nightlife…We've come from a time where families did kind of leave Ferndale…they're coming back…a lot of my customers are Ferndale customers. It's a great place for us because there are so many families, and it's a green area, it's such a hip area. It's perfect for our business."

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Emily Murray, co-owner, Modern Natural Baby

A start-up with the goal of producing an easy-riding bike with an automatic shifter that will appeal to recreational and casual bike riders has moved into a 7,000-square-foot warehouse and production facility in Troy as the company prepares to enter the mainstream marketplace.

There, AutoBike, which formed about two years ago, will build its bikes and in the process the work to carry out the motto to "Evolve the Bike." Shipping is expected to begin in late April to early May, says CEO and co-founder Sean Simpson.

The company will also work on designing and building a new commuter-style bike to complement its cruiser/comfort bikes, he says. Employees at AutoBike are re-applying their auto industry experience and engineering backgrounds to AutoBike.

Like all bikes, the AutoBike is pedal-powered but unlike others it shifts on its own so that the gear is always where it should be, whether going up a hill or riding fast. No clinking, clacking, missing gears or ignoring gears, something that makes bike riding less fun and more exhausting.

While automatic bikes have been tried before, Simpson and company have invented a promising continuous shifter, something they're refining. It's apparently catching on as sales are reaching the many states that AutoBike travels to for bike shows and special events.

AutoBike is getting a lot of press in the bike world. It was selected as one of the coolest products at the Seattle Bike Show and it took the $10,000 top prize at the University of Michigan Victors' Challenge -- a contest for the best entrepreneurial ideas -- just one of several pieces of funding it's received to get off the ground.


Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Sean Simpson, CEO, AutoBike

M-1 Studios has expanded into a studio in Ferndale as its business of video production, editing services and documentary filmmaking continues to grow.

The four-year-old company is hiring employees and adding space to keep up with the growth, says Mike Madigan, director of business operations.

The new space at 362 Hilton Road in Ferndale gives M-1 more studio and production room -- and business opportunities.
Commercials, including iMercials and social media video productions, are expected to be in high demand. In-studio and on-location interviews can be done here, with the use of green screen technology.

The editors, producers, screenwriters and video techs also work on animated productions, voiceovers and narrations, and filming training videos, documentaries. Other services, including DVD covers and labels and VHS to DVD transfers, are available as well.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Mike Madigan, operations manager, M-1 Studios

The owners of Bastone Brewery and its offshoot restaurants and bars at the corner of Fifth and Main Streets in Royal Oak are changing up, opening a new restaurant, adding a patio and reworking the nightclub -- all part of focusing on their success with Euro-inspired eats and Belgian craft beer.

The first to change will be Cafe Habana, a 40-seat Cuban spot connected to Bastone. It will become Monk: A Belgian Beer Abbey. The club, Commune, downstairs will be reworked into Craft and focus on fresh-made, home-spun spirits.

Bastone, the mostly Belgian-flavored restaurant with favorites such as mussels and frites washed down with house-made Belgian suds, will grow in size, adding a space with high top tables and TVs. It will be more of a true bar space, with spots for a quick meal and a waiting area for tables. A lounge, extra tables and a private room will be added above the bar and an extra seating area will be added to the first floor. Outside on the sidewalk along Fifth Street, 36 seats will be added.

Vinotecca, the intimate wine bar also connected to Bastone, will remain the same.

"With a concept like ours where we have moveable parts, we can keep it fresh, change it up," says David Ritchie, operating partner. "People have asked if sales were good. They don't believe sales were good if we're closing Cafe Habana. For us, this suits us so we streamline and focus on our core business, the European aspect of what we do. And we have a beer guy right here who's won many awards."

The changes will happen in phases, but quickly, and lead to at least five new full-time jobs, Ritchie says. All parts of the latest iteration are expected to be complete by mid-May and open slowly and completely by June 1 so that kinks can be worked out, he says.

Café Habana has already closed and is under construction. As Monk, it will have about five more tables and open by about April 15, Ritchie says.

It'll be almost nine years to the day since Union Brewery LLC, which operates all the establishments, opened, he says.

Next will come Bastone, and the transition from Commune to Craft will start after that and be complete by the middle to the end of May. The club first opened nine years ago as Cinq. With nightclubs, it's probably wise to change it up at least every five years, he says.

"We want to move away from the mass market drinks and serve craft cocktails," Ritchie says. We'll use fresh ingredients, make our own infusions and syrups. It flows right into the craft beer."

Craft will have a retro look, decorated with big stereo speakers and other details that "give you the feeling you're hanging out in your friend's basement."

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: David Ritchie, operating partner, Union Brewery LLC

The nearly 100-year-old Chapman House in Rochester is in the process of a renovation that will make the former family home turned longtime home furnishings store into a restaurant and elegant event site.

For now the renovation is overshadowing what the Chapman House as a restaurant will be. Besides the painstaking daily details of preserving the historic structure itself, all sorts of historic keepsakes and fun finds are being uncovered.

A decades old Hershey's candy bar wrapper. A 1917 newspaper. Photographs. Original tile. A 200-plus-year-old gas light fixture.

The grand home was built in 1917 by William Clark Chapman, a prominent business owner and politiican, and remained in the Chapman family until 1973, according to the Rochester-Avon Historical Society. Several businesses operated there, most recently a furniture and interior design store. The home also survived two fires.

The renovation could be complete by spring, but developer Geoff Dancik can't yet announce a date. Historic renovation is an uncertain, windy road.

What is known is that a French-inspired restaurant will take up much of the first floor and most of the second floor of the Italian Renaissance-style mansion.

A terrace overlooking Walnut Street, just a few blocks from downtown Rochester, will offer outdoor seating as will part of the grounds behind the home.

The grounds and formal gardens will be available for private events.

As the renovations inside and outside continue, parts of the home such as the iron balconies have been sent away for proper restoration. A centerpiece of one patio, a five-burner gas fixture that dates back to the reign of King George IV during the mid to early 1830s, is also being restored.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Geoff and Brenden Dancik, Chapman House

Mead may be the next frontier in the world of craft -- craft beer, craft food, craft wine -- and Ferndale will soon be home to two meaderies.

The latest, Schramm's Mead, is under construction at 327 W. 9 Mile and will open in May. It's just a couple of miles from B. Nektar Meadery, which opened a production facility and tasting room several weeks ago.

Schramm's is owned by Ken Schramm, a connoisseur of mead and go-to guy in honey wine circles that are buzzing as mead finds its niche.

Schramm authored The Compleat Meadmaker, the Bible for mead-makers, and founded The Mazer Cup international mead competition.

His meads, often fruity or spiced, will be produced and sold at the new store in downtown Ferndale. There will be a tasting room and food menu. Schramm and his family will run the business and hire several employees.

During a presentation before the Ferndale City Council, when Schramm requested a small winery license, he said he and his family are carrying on a family tradition that goes back to ancestors who came here from Germany, fought for the union in the Civil War, and are still in possession of family farms that go back 100 years in their family.

"The Schramm family has a 160-year history of providing food and drink to metro Detroiters," Schramm says, pointing out that his mother came from Ferndale. "We are thrilled at the opportunity to do business in Ferndale."

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Ken Schramm, founder, Schramm's Mead