New Businesses, Big and Small
What new businesses are coming to Detroit...
With new buildings, come new businesses. For every rehab or new construction project I post about, there has to be new businesses to fill up their commercial spaces. Both big and small, Detroit needs plenty of new business to open over the next few years if it wants to continue to grow, so here are some new places coming our way, from small family businesses to multinational corporations.
EV Businesses
It’s no secret that Detroit and the region are pushing for new EV businesses too set up shop, hoping to capitalize on the new era in automobile sector. The Big 3 all seem to be developing their EV base and including Detroit in their future plans, but attracting new EV businesses is definitely on the mind of the City and State.
June 6, 2024 is the date being given for the grand opening of the refurbished and reimagined Michigan Central Station, now called “Michigan Central”. I mentioned a bit in previous posts that a hotel is being planned at Michigan Central, but first and foremost the building (and adjacent Book Depository) represents a new hub for electric, autonomous, and mobility research, startups, and testing. While Ford putting offices and facilities in the building is great, it wouldn’t have nearly the impact the City hopes it does if it didn’t attract other business to build up around it.
Just last month, it was announced that German based EcoG GmbH would plant its North American roots in the Book Depository, bring with it 45 new jobs that pay an average of $145,000 per year. This facility will serve as its North American Headquarters and house R&D, marketing, and administrative jobs for its computer hardware and software work on EV charging stations. EcoG states that it has a 15% market share in the EU and hopes to expand into the US market, with this facility being the start.
Newlab has already had a notable positive influence on the site, boasting as many as 80 firms and 450 workers, but bringing in an established foreign company to plant itself in the facility and hopefully one day expand out to their own building is something that should be looked as as extremely positive.
Also announced a few weeks back was Australian based Fortescue Metals Group and their plan to renovate a 410,000 square foot facility in Milwaukee Junction to serve as a new battery assembly plant. The former Fisher Body Plant 23 (not to be confused with Fisher Body 21 across the street) will house the Advanced Manufacturing Center and a workforce of up to 600. This project fuses the past of the mobility industry with what is inevitably part of the future. Fisher began as a wooden body manufacturer for carriages in the late 1800’s and transitioned into automobiles, and now their former plants will produce batteries that may power automobiles, autonomous vehicles, or whatever the future of mobility has to offer.
The new Fortescue plant not only offers another avenue for Detroit to continue to be a leader in vehicles and mobility, but the rehabilitation of the vacant building adds another renovation to an area that’s seen a lot of growth already, with more on the way. Across from the planned Fortescue plant is the aforementioned Fisher Body 21, which has grand plans for a mixed use renovation, with over 400 units of housing. There are also plans for 411 Piquette, a former Studebaker building, to be converted into 161 apartments.
Motor City Match
It’s often lamented that the City and State give money to large businesses with deep pockets, but not enough to small businesses who really need to money. While I’m not here to compare dollar to dollar, there is programs within the City that are designed specifically to help small businesses, including Motor City Match. Starting in 2015, Motor City Match has awarded small business money, services, and support for their goals of opening up new brick and mortar locations, or improving upon existing locations. To date, the program has given out of $14 million to over 1,800 small businesses within the City.
The 25th round of Motor City Match funding was announced a few weeks ago, which distributed $1.2 million to 27 different businesses around the City, including 19 new brick and mortar locations across 16 neighborhoods. You can see the location and description of all the businesses awarded grants on this Google Map using this link.
Winners include both new and existing businesses, including eight”restore” grants for existing businesses, at least one year old, looking to expand or renovate. There’s a healthy mix of business types and locations, but there are a few that I think will be particularly interest to watch.
Two new restaurants are opening on Woodward in New Center, and both focus on international food which adds to the array of food choices in that small stretch. JP Makes and Bakes is opening their first physical location 6529 Woodward offers Asian and Filipino bakery food, while a few doors down at 6513 Woodward, Little Liberia will be shedding it’s pop-up only status and serving Liberian Cuisine in a brick and mortar location. This few block area already has the original location of popular Afro-Jamaican cuisine establishment Yum Village (also an awardee of a “Restore” grant), and Baobab Fare, which serves up East African food. These new additions made possible with Motor City Match (and other programs like Hatch Detroit) should make this area an even more popular dining destination.
Near Eastern Market, Louisiana Creole Gumbo received money to help with their expansion (as I highlighted back in December), and new establishments are poised to open on East Warren and Kercheval (both areas I mentioned as places to watch in 2024). Also, just as the new renovated Harmonie Club building downtown loses a tenant in Lighthouse Immersive, it gains a restaurant in Motor City Match awardee Enomah 1985, an “elevated Asian American dining experience”.
Be sure to check out these places when they open! You’ll see from the Motor City Match website, not every new business makes it in the long term, so help these places out as much as you can when they finally open their doors.