Next year is "pivotal" for East Warren revitalization

Along East Warren Avenue, a local nonprofit leader expects a "domino effect" of real estate development as revitalization work continues to ramp up.

Why it matters: East Warren is one of many neighborhood business corridors in Detroit that suffered from a lack of investment for decades, but now it's seeing more shops open, generating more public hype from officials about its future.

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State of play: "I think next year is going to be a pivotal year, because that's when East Warren goes from being a retail corridor that meets everyone's needs to being one of the best food destinations in the city," E. Warren Development Corp. (EWDC) executive director Joe Rashid tells Axios.

• He points to celebrated restaurant Baobab Fare , which expects to open a second location on East Warren — and plans from Saffron De Twah's chef and Southwest's La Jalisciense Supermercado Y Taqueria to open new locations.

The latest: Sixty residential units and 35,000 square feet of new retail are in the pipeline around East Warren, according to Rashid.

• Last week, officials broke ground on a $5.5 million public market for local businesses and an office for EWDC.

Context: The East Warren corridor is a target for the city's Strategic Neighborhood Fund , through which 10 areas outside downtown receive public-private investment aimed at revitalization.

• The city finished a streetscape redesign there last year and the corridor has seen recent progress on a major mixed-use building for the area — the Ribbon — among other milestones.

Ultreia, a planned mixed-use redevelopment in a building built in 1927 at 16131 E. Warren Ave. Photo: Annalise Frank/Axios

Case in point: Ultreia, a $3 million rehab project in a long-vacant, nearly century-old brick-and-masonry building, is among development plans along the corridor. It's the first major project from architects Marc Maxey and Ellen Donnelly, per a statement sent to Axios.

• They're seeking $722,000 in public financing from the city.
• They plan four commercial spaces with retail and potentially food and beverage, plus three apartment units on the second floor with a rooftop solar array and backup power for outages.

What they're saying: "Every single day I drive through this area … and I see the continued improvement," City Council member Latisha Johnson, a nearby resident, said at the public market groundbreaking. "I can remember over a decade ago, the neighbors were all coming together really advocating for various buildings on this corridor."

• Marcia Spivey, who grew up nearby and is EWDC's board chair, also weighed in at the event: "Guess what? Development is back … on the east side. And it's back with inclusiveness, it's back with equity."