DETROIT (WXYZ) — Detroit's historic Chinatown is moving closer to revival after final design concepts were released for the Peterboro Streetscape Project — a more than $1 million effort to restore the cultural hub along the city's Cass Corridor.
Midtown Detroit Inc. unveiled the designs Monday, outlining plans to bring improved sidewalks, murals, lighting and plants to Peterboro Street between Second and Cass avenues, honoring the neighborhood's history.
Watch Demetrios Sanders' video report below:
"It's so important that as we experience growth and redevelopment in our community that we really look to the cultural identity of that community," Melanie Markowicz, executive director of Midtown Detroit Inc., said.
Detroit's first Chinatown was located at Third Avenue and Porter Street before urban renewal forced it to relocate in the 1960s. The city's second Chinatown was near Peterboro and Cass, but faded over time.
Lisa Yee-Litzenberg, whose father Henry was known as the unofficial mayor of Detroit's Chinatown, has fond memories of working in the neighborhood.
"There were actually two Chinatowns. My dad had restaurants in both," Yee-Litzenberg said. "I rolled a lot of egg rolls, spent a lot of time getting to know the customers as a young kid," she said.
For Yee-Litzenberg, the area represented more than just a place to grow up.
"It was really fantastic as a place where I could feel safe and at home, and a place where I could proud of my culture," she said.
Markowicz said the streetscape project will help connect the neighborhood with other surrounding ones.
"This is going to be an exciting place that's going to connect downtown, Brush Park and the Cass Corridor and serve as an anchor that has vibrancy and cultural identity," Markowicz said.
State Sen. Stephanie Chang helped secure a $1 million state grant for the Chinatown revival.
"Whether it's the improved streetscape or the incorporation of Asian cultural elements, I think it's going to be a big difference for the business owners here, for residents around this area," Chang said.
Over the next year, Midtown Detroit Inc. will fundraise to raise an additional $1.4 million for the project.
Nearby businesses say they are looking forward to what the investment will bring.
"We're the last thing that's been built here in the last eight years, so to see investment coming in the community and putting more focus on this is going to bring more people that actually help support the community," Jonathan Hartzell, owner of Detroit Shipping Company, said.
Watch our February 2025 report about the revival below:
If all goes well, construction is expected to begin next spring, with a potential completion in fall 2027.
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