Southwest Housing granted $300K to redevelop former cigar factory on Michigan Ave.

Southwest Housing Solutions is capping off a busy 2008 with two more accomplishments: the receipt of $200,000 in unrestricted operating funds from Bank of America and another $300,000 from the Michigan Housing and Community Development Fund that will be used towards the redevelopment of a historic warehouse on Michigan Avenue east of Livernois.

The four-story building, originally the San Telmo Cigar Factory, was designed by Albert Kahn in 1910. SWHS aims to complete construction by the end of 2010 or the beginning of 2011, just in time for its 100th anniversary. Steve Palackdharry, the organization's communications manager, says their development team was impressed with its condition, including the original hardwood floors and wood columns.

Final plans for tenants and floor plans are still being worked out, but it will likely be mixed-use. Although the credit crunch impacts the project's financing, Palackdharry says the building is worth the effort. "It's going to be a spectacular historic renovation," he says.

Source: Steve Palackdharry, SWHS
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh