People who live and work in Capitol Park are watching a ground-up residential construction project emerge in their neighborhood for the first time since the 1980s.
The project, which will eventually be called ’28 Grand,’ will house 218 furnished micro-lofts. Roughly half of the apartments will be for low-income residents, while the rest will be rented out at the normal market-rate.
“There’s opportunities for all Detroiters here,” said Steve Rosenthal.
Rosenthal is a Detroit native. After starting projects around the state, he said there is something special about bringing something so different to his home.
“It needs to be bright, it needs to be fun,” said Rosenthal. “I’m talking about nine foot ceilings, big windows…”
Make no mistake, the apartments are “micro,” however, the architect of the project said that no corners were cut when it comes to making the space feel bigger than it is. Instead of building out, they built up. For example, roughly half of the wall space has shelving space.
“Everyone that’s been walking in has been saying, ‘Wow, this is a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be,’ and that’s exciting,” said Jamie Witherspoon, the architect.
Each micro-loft is 260 square feet. They come equipped with furniture, a bed, appliances and an HD TV that is already connected to the high-speed internet that is included in rent.
The apartments are expected to be ready in the summer of 2017, but leasing will begin in February.
In the meantime, construction crews are busy building the 13-story structure.
Zachary Zweifler, who works at the coffee shop across the street, said it’s a welcome change.
“I think it’s pretty exciting,” said Zweifler. “I mean, before it was a burnt out strip club called ‘The Grind,” and that wasn’t doing much (business) for us. I think this new development will be good for business.”
Bedrock is also eyeing new business. The bottom floor will be used for shops. 28 Grand will be a mixed-use, mixed-income development.
It’s considered the largest ground-up residential development in the Central Business District since the 1980s. It’s one of 18 projects that earned a Low Income Housing Tax Credit from the Michigan State Housing and Development Authority in January 2016.
