Tom and Peggy Brennan, owners of Midtown's
Green Garage (located at 4444 Second Avenue) have almost recognized their hard-earned dream -- opening a sustainable business center in the city of Detroit.
After finishing the exterior renovations, a healing and cooling system is all that holds back the Brennans from applying for a certificate of occupancy from the City of Detroit. They anticipate officially opening the building to at least half-a-dozen green-friendly businesses in late August.
"The bathrooms are done, the kitchen will be done, the library will be done. And then we have to decide how to divide the individual work spaces," says Peggy Brennan.
Currently, they are designing office furniture with the help of
Chad Dickinson, who will create the pieces from sustainable materials.
It's been a long, but rewarding process transforming the former Model T showroom into office and workshop space for green businesses, while committing themselves to historic and green renovation practices. "We bought the building on Dec. 31, 2007 and, by 2009, we started construction," Brennan says."It'll be almost two years that we've been working on it. We've been very true to the foundational principles of this project. We make sure we are held accountable that we are achieving what we set out to do."
In addition to restoring the building, they've added a "park-like lot" for parking and meeting space, as well as an Annex for physical projects.
Brennan also confirmed that she and her husband have purchased the Elmoore, located on the west side of Second Avenue at Alexandrine, and plan to next embark on a green residential renovation of the four-story building. She says they were inspired by visiting environmentally-friendly live-work situations on a trip through England and Wales.
"It's going to be a matching component to the Green Garage," she says. "It's going to be a living situation, whereas the Green Garage is more of a work situation." However, Brennan notes that the Elmoore renovation is at least three years away.
Source: Peggy Brennan, co-owner, Green Garage
Writer: Ashley C. Woods
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