Procida Development Group, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, and other officials broke ground today on the first phase of Midtown West, a $100 million development between the Lodge Freeway and Seldon Street, and between Fourth Avenue and Tuscola Street. The site once was the home of the Wigle Recreation Center.
The first development, Fourth & Selden, will consist of 26 studio apartments, and one- and two-bedroom condominium units, together with approximately 3,000 square feet of amenity space, including a residents’ lounge, rooftop terrace, fitness center with yoga room, bike room, and a pet care station.
Fourth & Selden also will contain approximately 4,200 square feet of retail space, which Procida intends to lease in conjunction with the city of Detroit’s Motor City Match program.
Fourth & Selden is designed by Detroit-based Volume One Design Studio, in conjunction with McIntosh Poris of Birmingham. Construction is anticipated to take 18 months, with completion and occupancy scheduled for spring 2021. Sales will be co-led by Matt O’Laughlin of Alexander Real Estate and Jimmy Saros of Saros Real Estate.
“Midtown West represents one of the largest public-private partnerships in the city of Detroit,” says Mario Procida, CEO of Procida. “Once complete Midtown West neighborhood will bring over 300 new households, 100,000 square feet of co-working space and innovation hub, a 1-acre park, and more than 10,000 square feet of retail, completing the western edge of the Selden Corridor.
“It is a highly logical extension of the Midtown community,” he continues. “We are dedicated to creating a socio- and economically diverse community that adds to the neighborhood. This is a huge, ambitious project, and we are up to the challenge and thankful that the city of Detroit has chosen us to redevelop this key Midtown property.”
The second development in the first phase will be the largest residential development in Midtown West. Located across the street from the soon-to-be-redeveloped Jefferson School, the development will contain 177 rental apartments and 30,000 square feet of amenities, including a terrace, a gym, yoga room, kids play room, a dog wash station, lounge, library, on-site leasing office, and approximately 5,000 square feet of retail.
The development will feature a minimum of 10 percent affordable housing per a city council-approved community benefits agreement. This aspect of the development is designed by architect Daniel Libeskind of Studio Libeskind, most notably known for his master plan design for the 9/11 Museum and Memorial site in New York. Groundbreaking for this piece of the development is scheduled for spring 2020.
Midtown Detroit Inc., Invest Detroit, and Q Factor will be redeveloping the historic Jefferson School across the street as a co-working and incubation hub in a separate development.
“We are turning a property that has been rundown for years and turning it into a first-class development, and it’s being done in cooperation with the neighborhood, ensuring that it will benefit the entire community,” says Mayor Duggan. “This project shows what is possible when you work with and honor those already here. Redevelopment doesn’t mean moving people out, it means honoring those who are already here and bringing in others to join, not replace them.”
The second phase of the development, on Brainard between the Lodge Freeway and Third Street, is to begin in 2022. Details will be unveiled at a later date.
Midtown Detroit is one of the hottest areas of the city. The Midtown West site is located just three blocks west of Woodward Avenue and near Detroit’s greatest concentration of cultural, educational, and medical institutions, as well as a thriving entertainment district. The neighborhood’s population increased nearly 6 percent from 2016 to July 2019, and boasts a rental housing occupancy rate of 98 percent, according to Midtown Inc.
The city also announced that it will build new public roads as part of the project, the first time this has happened in many years.
