Former Piston Dave Bing and Super Bowl victor Jerome Bettis were
chosen as the developers for two parcels of the East Riverfront.
The developments, known as Chene East and Chene West, take two
different approaches. Chene West is the more modern of the two designs,
which will complement Chene Park; Chene East, a more traditional
warehouse-style building, will blend harmoniously with its neighbor to
the east, the Stroh River Place.
The Economic Development Corp. of the City of Detroit dictated that
the projects have approximately 50 residential units per acre, capped
building heights at about 5-6 stories, and required interior parking
and ground-floor retail. “The goal is to create a traditional,
walkable, good-looking, dense urban neighborhood,” says Michael
Dempsey, DEGC project manager.
Chene West is about two acres. Designed by the Kraemer Group, it
calls for a six-story residential tower built above a recessed parking
structure, three-story live-work lofts in two connected buildings along
Atwater, six single-family “marina homes” which look over the
neighboring Tricentennial Marina, and a community pavilion complete
with indoor and outdoor pools and a workout facility. The five buildings are situated on a north-south axis along an interior
pathway, with provision made for the Detroit RiverWalk to continue
across the site. Bing’s Spinarn is the developer
for the $29 million Chene West, which will bring a total of 108
residential units to the East Riverfront.
Just east of Chene Park, Bettis/Betters Development was selected to
develop a single 125,000-square-foot-building that will house 64
residential units above ground-floor retail, restaurant and small
business space. The project, designed by SDG/Howard Sims, envisions the
space between the building and the Riverwalk as outdoor café seating.
Chene East is a 1.6-acre site that will be developed at the cost of $25
million.
“These two developments were ultimately selected because of the
developers’ proven financial capacity and previous experience, plan
design, and their willingness to get started right away,” says Dempsey.
The DEGC and the developers are currently negotiating a development
agreement that will lay out the their responsibilities, project
timeline and legal liability. Construction is expected to begin as soon
as the agreements are completed.
Source: Michael Dempsey, project manager, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation