An economic development hub in Detroit's Livernois-McNichols area opened Thursday.

HomeBase debuted at 7426 W. McNichols Road on a stretch of largely vacant buildings between the University of Detroit Mercy and Marygrove College in the northwest part of the city.

The hub will serve as the base for Live6 Alliance, the nonprofit neighborhood development arm of Detroit Mercy, as well as the school's architecture and community outreach firm, Detroit Collaborative Design Center.

Mayor Mike Duggan, Detroit Mercy President Antoine Garibaldi and Kresge Foundation President Rip Rapson delivered remarks at a media event Thursday.

"What brings us together is collaboration," Rapson said. "Everything about this space says collaboration."

Described as a "first-of-its-kind storefront community space," the hub aims to spur economic development in a commercial corridor that's suffered years of neglect. It's being targeted by the city for revitalization in tandem with the Fitz Forward project — an ambitious plan to rebuild more than 100 homes in the Fitzgerald neighborhood. Progress on that project, originally slated to be complete in fall 2019, has lagged. To date, developers have sold five of the previously abandoned homes.

Build-out of the 4,000-square-foot HomeBase building began in October 2017. It was funded by grant money from the Kresge Foundation, which has given $2.8 million to support the nonprofits working out of the base.