The Rise of Milwaukee Junction
Don't sleep on the Junction
The Milwaukee Junction area is loosely bound by Grand Boulevard to the North, Woodward to the West, I-75 to the East, and I-94 to the south. But like all neighborhoods, it just depends on who you ask. The area has seen some tremendous growth over the years and is uniquely situated to see expansion into all sectors including residential, industry, dining, and retail. Many of Detroit’s most exciting projects are happening within the Junction so let’s take a look at some over the past year or so.
Residential Developments
Fisher Lofts
Possibly the most highly publicized of the projects in Milwaukee Junction, this behemoth of a redevelopment looks to take one of Detroit’s most prominent “ruin porn” sites and turn it into over 400 apartments and over 40,000 square feet of commercial space. While the development team continues to build the capital stack through financing, abatements, incentives, and grants, work has already begun on remediation of the hundred plus year old six story building.
When all is said and done, the hope is to open the renovated building in 2027 with both market rate and affordable units, accompanied by amenities such as a walking track on the roof, lounge, fitness center, pool, and dedicated space for pets. The developers also envision co-working space taking up some of the commercial areas, with additional space being looked at for a market, food hall, cafe, and other retail uses. And no good Detroit development would be complete without an abundance of parking, nearly 700 spaces between the first floor and surface lots surrounding the building (which could potentially be developed later).
To make the building better suited for apartments, the development and architecture teams have devised a plan to create three atriums by opening up large holes in the roof, covered by skylights, and cutting down to the first floor of the building, thus allowing better access to outfacing windows and natural light.
While we have a few years still until this development comes online, the prospects of such a large development have definitely driven interest in the Milwaukee Junction area. Being such a prominent and visible building, the Fisher Lofts has a great opportunity to be the center piece of a thriving neighborhood for years to come.
Piquette Flats
Just down the road from Fisher Lofts, another factory to housing conversion has quietly started and finished, bringing 161 “workforce” apartments to the area. All units within the new renovation are priced below 100% AMI, with 40% of the units being below 80% AMI. Across the 108,000 square foot, four story building, is a mix of studios, one bedroom, and two-bedroom loft-style apartments with modern amenities among the historic architecture. Undertaken by Peter Cummings and The Platform, the rehabilitation again features things like a fitness center, lounge area, dedicated pet amenities, and parking.
Like many of the buildings in the area, Piquette Flats is a redevelopment of a former auto facility, this time belonging to the Studebaker Company. The building, built in 1920, served as the Detroit Service Building which supported nearby Studebaker factories (the largest of which burned down in 2005, before it could be converted to a new use). The renovation takes advantage of the brick and large windows (you can see some great interior photos from Daily Detroit) to create a unique living environment which pays homage to the Detroit of past years. While it’s unlikely that many of Detroit’s old factories will be used for an industrial purpose, converting them to a new use like housing is a great way to preserve the past history and architecture.
Cadillac Motor Co.
Across Woodward, yet another loft conversion is underway by Greatwater Opportunity Capital. This time taking the 1905 built, former headquarters of Cadillac Motor Car Company and repurposing it as 90 units of mixed incoming housing, with 20% of the units being set aside at 80% AMI. In all, the redevelopment includes a $26 million investment from Greatwater, with funding coming from private and public sources. The renovation will take the brick structure and make it a modern apartment building with AC, in-unit washer/dryers, a gym, outdoor lounge, and gated parking.
While this development is across Woodward and may not be completely within Milwaukee Junction, the additional housing will be much needed for the billions of dollars that Henry Ford Health, Detroit Pistons, and Michigan State University are putting into the New Center area around the hospital, not to mention the growing area around Wayne State University.
60 Harper Apartments
While I’m a huge fan of the reuse and redevelopment of old buildings for new residential, adding group up construction helps fill in empty lots and can often be easier and more cost effective for developers. A new apartment complex, being called 60 Harper for now, is popping up on Harper Ave near Woodward. The three-story project is being developed by MHT Housing, Inc and St. Aloysius Parish.
When done, it will consist of approximately 49 two-bedroom units which will be set at various levels of affordability, with ground floor commercial space. Obviously, this is going to be much less architecturally and historically significant as the rehabs I mentioned above, but as more and more old buildings get reused, new buildings will be needed to fill in the gaps. Additionally, there are positives that come with a new building, including modern safety features and amenities, purpose-built retail space, and new tax base.
New Industries
PBS Detroit
I always get a little bit annoyed when I see something that’s named or advertised as “Detroit X” and it’s located in Livonia or Ferndale, or really anywhere out of the city. So, I was surprised the first time I drove by on I-96 and saw that “Detroit Public TV” was headquartered in Wixom, especially when it’s supposed to be a Detroit public service. Well, all that is about to change with the announcement earlier this year that Detroit Public TV was changing its name to Detroit PBS and moving its base of operations to the Milwaukee Junction neighborhood.
The station purchased a vacant warehouse and adjacent lot on Piquette Street, just down from the Fisher Lofts and Piquette Flats. The new headquarters will allow the station to consolidate some of their operations around the city and suburbs, and act as a place to hold community events. The new headquarters will include a 300-seat theater-style studio, and several areas to hold educational events. The operation is expected to have about 100 employees at any given time and hopes to open in fall of 2026 after a $30 million renovation and build out.
Battery Plant
It’s a bit of a strange scene in today’s cities to see housing and industry being built right next to each other, but it’s happening in Milwaukee Junction and may serve as a great model for how it can be done correctly. While Fisher Lofts and Piquette Flats will be a repurposing of an industrial building, across the street at 601 Piquette will be a rehabilitation of a warehouse into the new “U.S. Advanced Manufacturing Center” for Australian company Fortescue. (Previously mentioned in “New Businesses, Big and Small - Detroit Development News”)
Fortescue, through its green tech arm Fortescue Zero, intends to put over $200 million into the purchase, renovation, and build out of the building which is projected to have 600 manufacturing and engineering jobs by 2030, although the factory may be partially up and running by the end of 2025. According to plans submitted to the city, Fortescue plans to utilize the building as a hub for “the production of automotive and heavy industry batteries, hydrogen generators, fast chargers, and electrolyzes.” It was recently reported that the first product to come out of the factory will be battery packs for high performance electric watercraft.
The project did receive some pushback from residence as it did not go through the CBO process even though it appears to fit the criteria, but there is no indication that Fortescue’s timeline is being slowed in any way. Besides the CBO issue, I think the obvious concern that residents may have is how safe and how clean is the production happening at this site being so close to future residential areas. However, with the Milwaukee Junction neighborhood having such a rich history in manufacturing, it feels appropriate for some of these sites to be repurposed. Obviously, safety and health of the residents around the site should be priority number 1, but it is great to a site in a decently dense area be used for a large job creator instead of putting it someone out on a greenfield site. If done right, it would be a great place to live and work all within the same few blocks.
Restaurant and Retail
To go along with the new residential conversions and large job sites, Milwaukee Junction has seen a not-so-slow infusion of small retail and restaurants to serve its new patrons. Storefronts have continued to fill up on the commercial corridors that surround the neighborhood, especially Woodward and Grand Boulevard. In the past few years, we’ve seen restaurants such
After spending years as a solely pop-up business, pastry chef Jonathan Peregrino finally has a brick and mortar of his own on Woodward near Baltimore. JP Makes and Bakes is Detroit’s only Filipino bakery, and it set to serve baked goods, coffee, and lunch eats to the area’s growing residential and commercial population. Peregrino spent years as a chef in various Detroit restaurants such as La Supreme and Oak and Reel, but thanks in part to a Motor City Match Grant and being a semifinalist for Hatch Detroit, he now has a full-time standalone place to sell his own creations.
After you’ve indulged in some ube baked goods, you may find yourself looking for a place to work off the extra calories. Luckily, Milwaukee Junction is also home to one of Detroit’s newest and most popular yoga studios, Hot Bones. The interesting part about Hot Bones is that it’s not just a yoga studio, but also a bone broth bar where patrons can have their order set, so their broth is ready to go when their class gets out. Also a recipient of Motor City Match, founder Lara Richli saw a gap in the market and is set to be the only bone broth bar in the city.
Just down the street from Hot Bones, an existing coffee shop was going out of business and a new one stepped in to take its place. After about four years, The Gathering coffee shop was set to close their doors on Grand Boulevard. Just as they did, another local roaster stepped in and opened up in the same location. Highland Park based Sepia Coffee Project took the space over to join their current operation on Pilgram and Hamilton. While roasting will take place on the Boulevard in the short term, this new location will eventually be primarily a cafe while their Highland Park location will serve as a future roastery and tasking room. Sepia Coffee has dozens of wholesale accounts for which they provide coffee beans and will hopefully be able to continue to grow once their Highland Park roastery is up and running.
Just recently, another coffee shop has joined the Milwaukee Junction neighborhood, this time within popular restaurant Yum Village. Another former pop-up, Hold Me Closer XX has found a home within the Afro-Caribbean restaurant and uses other local businesses, such as beans from Craig’s Coffee and bread from JP Makes and Bakes, to serve their coffee and sandwiches. Hold Me Closer XX hopes to stick out amongst the coffee crowd by serving unique drinks that give more of a “cocktail vibe”, While this spot may not be the permanent home for Hold Me Closer XX, it just goes to show that businesses thrive off each other and putting your roots in Milwaukee Junction seems to be a recipe for success.
It seems to be all gas no brakes for the Milwaukee Junction area, along with its surrounding neighborhoods like New Center and the North End. As I was writing this is continued to find more and more new places that were opening up, so this definitely is not an exhaustive list. If you find yourself looking for a new area to live, work, eat, or drink, definitely check out Milwaukee Junction as it seems to be doing all of the right things to be one of the most popular areas in the city for years to come.
Good read. Thanks.