Entrepreneur plans to rejuvenate derelict rail line in Detroit by building boutique hotel made from metal shipping containers

An ambitious plan to transform a derelict railway yard in Detroit into a boutique 36 room hotel using old shipping containers is close to being realised.



The $4 million project is planned for a part of the Dequindre Cut, an old rail line in the decaying city that was has already been renovated into a bike and walking path.



The ambitious plan to regenerate a large swathe of the city whose descent has signified America's industrial decline has attracted the attention of the City of Detroit who are keen to see any type of urban investment.

The planned hotel in the Eastern Market area of Detroit would be constructed from shipping containers, and would also include a 3,000-square-foot event space

The firm behind the project, Collision Works wants to create the 16,000 square-foot hotel near Division Street in the Michigan city to have 3,000 square feet of event space and a large outdoor courtyard.

'It's a boutique hotel and community work space built around storytelling,' said Shel Kimen, founder & CEO of Collision Works, who left New York City to help transform a decrepit part of Detroit.

Wanting to create a meeting space in addition to the hotel, the hotel will also have a communal working space that will be big enough to accommodate between 15-20 people

'It's a place to let people tell their stories and to give these stories a home. The idea is when people of different perspectives and backgrounds come together interesting things happen.'



Wanting to create a meeting space in addition to the hotel, the hotel will also have a communal working space that will be big enough to accommodate between 15-20 people.



'I came here because this city is perfect for me,' said Kimen.



'I can't think of a city that's more exciting -- so many people who are trying different things. It's the art. It's the freedom and the space. It's that there's something different happening.'



Kimen has traveled the world working in Chicago, San Francisco, London, Portland and New York, including stints at Saatchi and Saatchi.



'I believe business has a responsibility to contribute to the community -- that products have to be meaningful and valuable,' she said.



'One day I realized, I'm an entrepreneur and what am I going to invent?'

The Dequindre Cut derelict rail line as it stands today - where Shel Kimen plans to build their 16,000 square foot hotel made from shipping containers

Shel Kimen wants to transform a barren piece of land surrounded by vacant, graffiti-marked buildings just blocks from the vibrancy of Detroit's Eastern Market

Kimen's has always felt an affinity for Detroit - her father was born in the Motor City and her grandfather worked for Cadillac.



She graduated from Michigan State Univeristy and has many friends in the state from Grand Rapids across to the home of Motown.



Kimen hatched the idea for the hotel in mid-2011 and has been working on the project since. Once the land has been purchased, the actual financing of the hotel will begin. “It would be great to do ground breaking in the spring,” Kimen says. If that happens, the hotel could open as early as fall 2013.

The hotel will be built by locally sourced containers that used to ship goods through the Great Lakes to the city from the Atlantic

Having moved across the world before settling in New York, Shel Kimen returned to Detroit - where her father and grandfather worked in the motor industry

Kimen hatched the idea for the hotel in mid-2011 and has been working on the project since

Kimen is currently negotiating with a builder for the containers. By using shipping containers, she says, one can accelerate the construction process.



'Shipping containers are considerably more durable than standard construction, can cost less, and most importantly are about 30 percent faster to build,' Kimen says on her blog.



'We’ll be using this project as an opportunity to teach local builders and designers about the process. So as we get to building in the spring, expect to hear about public workshops for people interested.'

