Tales from the Commission
You can find interesting things if you know where to look...
I appreciate everyone who subscribed to my first newsletter! I plan on doing one at least once a month to keep everyone updated on what’s going on around Detroit. But there’s also a bunch of other things floating around in my mind, so every now and then I’ll do some extra posts, like this one.
One of my favorite things to check out for new information about Detroit Developments is the city website. When a new development project is announced to the public, it’s often been in the works for years. By the time the development team is ready to release a nice rendering and have a press conference, they’ve already gone through plenty of steps laying the groundwork. Sometimes, that groundwork involves getting approvals from the City in the form of permits, tax incentives, and approvals from various boards.
Almost all of these board approvals happen during public meetings, and you can often find the information published online. This can give you a sneak peek into developments long before the first rendering is released. I started writing this with the intention of touching on multiple commissions and boards, but there’s too much to discuss so I’ll just focus on one at a time. First up is the Historic District Commission…
Historic District Commission
Within the City of Detroit lies dozens of designated areas called “Local Historic District” that encompass areas of historic significance. Many of these districts are close to the downtown and midtown area, including Lafayette Park, Brush Park, and Corktown areas. There are also neighborhoods such as Indian Village, Boston-Edison, and Rosedale Park. (Map of all Historic Districts). When a development within one of these districts wants to make changes that would affect the historic nature of a building, they must get sign-off from the Historic District Commission (HDC). This usually means they will submit design plans, renderings, write ups, and a a whole bunch of good information that the HDC publishes to their website.
For better or worse, the Historic District Commission yields quite a bit of power to approve, deny, or change parts of a development within its districts. The goal of going in front of the HDC is to obtain approval, showing that you have preserved historic aspects or have designed a new building with the historic district in mind. Below are some of the projects that went in front of the HDC over the past two months. Some of the projects passed through the HDC’s scrutiny with little issue, while others were faced with directives on what must be changed going forward.
Higginbotham School
Back at the October monthly meeting, the Higginbotham School redevelopment was in front of the board, proposing the transformation of a former elementary school into apartments, complemented by a ground up construction apartment building on the same site. Overall, the project will bring 40 units to the former school building, revitalizing the auditorium, and building out a fitness center. The new building will house 60 units. This project was actually reported on over the summer, so the HDC presentation wasn’t a surprise, but it still provided some great renderings and information on the make-up of the restoration and new construction.
This project obtained approval from the HDC with nearly zero issue. The development preserved the historic aspects of the school and repurposed them with great attention to detail. The HDC did not have any issues with the additional building, and mentioned how it allowed the developer to make the entire project feasible. It’s honestly a bit rare for a project to get through the HDC will almost no comments on what to change, so hats off to this development group and their architects.
Mexicantown Bakery
A less exciting project, but one that displays the duties (for better or worse) of the HDC is a project going on at an 1894 built, three-story brick building within the Hubbard Farms Historic District, that currently houses the Mexicantown Bakery.
Sidenote, this building once housed the Odd Fellows Hall, Riverside Lodge. Another building that shows the inscription of the Odd Fellows is the Buffalo Wild Wings Downtown. I’m not sure what the Odd Fellows did back in the day, but they had some cool buildings and if anyone wants to restart the Odd Fellows Hall with me, I’m down. Here’s cool blog I found written about this building and its history with the Odd Fellows. Check it out!
The ask of the building owner seems fairly simple, remove part of an exterior wall to add a window as to allow more light and visibility into the building. Seems like a pretty simple renovation, but within a Historic District, these types of exterior alterations come under intense scrutiny. The Commission noted the vertical pilasters that would be cut by the placement of this window and described it as “not compatible with the vertical emphasis of the building.”1
Ultimately, the HDC issued a Certificate of Appropriateness meaning the proposed renovations could continue, but only if it met conditions such as changing the material and location of the window. I think many people would see this as frustrating, an unelected board telling people what they can and cannot do with their property. However, many would also say that preserving historic buildings and areas is for the greater good of the whole community, and we shouldn’t let individual property owners ruin historic buildings that predate anyone alive today. In the end, it seems that the HDC usually comes to a sensible compromise that balances both positions, but it certainly opens up interesting discussions. You can watch their meetings in person or on Zoom and certain projects are even open for public comment!
Schapp Center
Within the November HDC meeting, we see another project that’s not new, but is certainly continuing to stir up controversy. Situated directly on the border of Grosse Pointe and Detroit, the Schapp Performance Art Center is set to serve the Pointes as well as nearby Detroit neighborhoods such as Jefferson Chalmers. The center itself will sit on the Grosse Pointe side of the border, as well as face directly towards Grosse Pointe Park (instead of Jefferson Ave. which would seem to make more sense). The building itself will be mostly on the Grosse Pointe side of the border, but what makes this very interesting is that it would appear the border runs directly through buildings that the City of Grosse Pointe Park, but not the City of Detroit, gave the group permission to demolish.
According to the staff report, demolition of the buildings began earlier this year and continued until a stop work order was issued by the City of Detroit, attempting to compel the developer to get permission from the City to do any work on the part of the project with Detroit. Due to demolition before and after the legal action by the City, the buildings were left half standing, essentially cut down the middle along the border. The developer and their attorney’s described these buildings as dilapidated and abandoned, which may have been caused by the fact that they cut them in half. Alternatively, it could have been the previous owners who neglected these properties. In their application to the HDC, the developer described the building as having suffered from a lack of maintenance over the years, presumably by the previous owner, and it had become a nuisance and the site of “vandalism, drug use, and other immoral acts". Interestingly, the previous owner of the building was none other than the City of Grosse Pointe Park.
The City of Grosse Pointe Park was also the owner of buildings at that site that were sought to be demolished nearly a decade ago, denied by the Historic District Commission, and eventually gained emergency approval from the City of Detroit’s Buildings, Safety Engineering and Environmental Department (BSEED). They have remained an empty lot since.
Despite all of this, the HDC ultimately issues a notice to proceed, likely because what’s done is done and the project signifies significant investment into the area and to the arts. The buildings currently being demolished has been extensively changed from their original design and were designated as non-conforming.
The point of discussing this is not necessarily to point fingers at certain cities or developers, but more to highlight the intricacies and challenges that can come with preserving historic buildings, and the challenges that groups like the HDC have with actually enforcing their rules on property owners. I do think, however, there is some validity to the sentiment that this project could have made some small changes to show greater respect to the historic block and treat both cities it sits on equally, instead orienting itself the way it did, with the front facing one city and the back facing another.
Sister Pie
Enough with the legal mumbo jumbo and rivalries between cities, let’s talk pie. Long story short, Sister Pie went in front of the HDC in November to request permission to alter their building, over doubling the size of their operation and expanding to the whole building. Like any HDC staff report, there were a few issues that needed to be changed up or considered, but ultimately the request was approved and the work on the building can proceed. Even Historic Preservationist know not to mess with the City’s supply of pie.
December Meeting
Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings about the Historic District Commission! You will really find some interesting stuff in here if you take a look every month. And like I mentioned above, some of the projects have a public comment period so if you feel passionately for or against it,