After about a year of really hard work, we just closed on our first mixed-use property in our favorite Detroit neighborhood, very close to 7 Mile and Livernois, in Bagley.
Our commitment to this community and to raising up Detroit's neighborhoods is expanding substantially, and our small team succeeded against many odds to achieve this.
The hardest parts of this past year's journey have been quite rough for a multitude of reasons: Our business name was stolen, environmental reports on the buildings were not exactly ideal, title issues prevented us from closing multiple times, and Detroit did what it does best—throwing us unpredictable challenges.
The building(s): The brick building has 4 residential units and 2 commercial units. (We actually found a 3rd commercial unit but were likely keeping it as 2 units.) There's a (currently grey) "white boxed" building to the right of it we were also able to purchase, and a 21-car parking lot!
Because we are committed to doing hard things, the brick building had a pretty major fire in 2013. It was a dentist's office. A car ran into it, starting a fire. (Don't worry, we have the car's headlight to display.) Thankfully, due to the poor construction methods used by the team who remodeled it into a dentist's office, the fire did not spread far or reach the second floor. We are blessed with a basement in this part of the building, and the fire damage removed about 30 feet of flooring where the Make Detroit Home Headquarters will be. Good news: almost all of the original plaster is in great shape. The brick is doing its job, and we have been blessed with multiple amazing original tin ceilings! We will definitely be able to restore the majority of the building, minus the missing floor, of course.
Over the past week and a half, my homies and I have already removed 4x 30-yard, 4000 lb dumpsters of fire debris, floating walls, and old materials that unfortunately can't be saved. The amount of old dental records we found was insane! We've already removed about 10 truck/trailer loads of scrap metal, helping the local economy and hopefully the environment.
We've got about one more dumpster to go.
I'm sure you're asking yourself, what's next?
We've got some pretty big plans, and we definitely need help accomplishing them.
Immediately, we are looking for a breakfast (and late-night breakfast 👀) restaurant to open in the grey building. This area needs more food for normal working people (and maybe a Make Detroit Home hot dog special? 🌭). We have utilities on, the parking lot is ready to hold customers' cars, and the space is fully ready to be built out. Please tell us who you know that would be qualified and interested in opening this up!
Next to it, our dream is to give this area a really awesome coffee shop. We are hoping whoever operates the restaurant can also provide prepared sandwiches, etc., to the coffee shop. There is an absolutely unbelievable tin ceiling that I am (VERY) dedicated to restoring, and the build-out for this space is not expected to be very complex. We are totally open to the restaurant and coffee owner being the same person. The demand is very much here.
Make Detroit Home's headquarters intended to be more than just an office space for all of our madness, but we are planning on designing it as the 3rd space this community needs, which I am affectionately calling "Detroit's living room." We are excited to host lion games, craft nights, and any other events that the community brings to the table!
Of the 4 residential units, 3 are very large (over 1000 sq ft each), and we promise not to use any flipper grey to bring these badboys back to life. We might consider using the smaller unit for Airbnb or keeping it for any of our clients with unique housing needs. It will be an ADA-accessible unit, so that's pretty cool!
Our location is right at the intersection of the University of Detroit Mercy, Marygrove, and U of D Jesuit High School. We are directly across the street from the Sherwood Forest Library and plan to support their programming and kids' literacy activities. We will be supporting the economy of the largest Black-owned business district in the country, which is primarily composed of small business owners who could always use more foot traffic.
We want to be a part of helping this neighborhood thrive, which is why we are committed to bringing this building back from the dead.
I welcome advice, questions, and suggestions!
We really appreciate all of you continuing to support us by choosing us for your real estate, construction, and plumbing needs, and we are really looking forward to being able to serve this community better!
