Gilbert plans 337 new townhouses and apartments for Brush Park

A large swath of Detroit's Brush Park neighborhood next to downtown would be transformed into a high-density arrangement of mostly market-rate housing under a plan unveiled this afternoon by a development partnership that includes billionaire Dan Gilbert's Bedrock Development Co.

The $70-million project, as first reported Tuesday on freep.com, compasses 8.4 acres and calls for 337 units of new housing in a likely mix of row houses and three- to four-story apartment buildings.

The project also will rehab four mid-19th Century mansions that are currently empty and boarded up. There has been speculation that Nicole Curtis, the host of "Rehab Addict" on the HGTV cable network, would tackle these fixer-uppers, although Bedrock officials said Wednesday that no such plans have been finalized.

The new housing would be divided up into rental apartments and for-sale units. Prices for the units have yet to be established. But to ensure affordability, 20% of them will be reserved for those with incomes at or below 80% of the area's median income, which calculates to about $21,000.

The Brush Park development will be Bedrock's first major project outside of downtown, where nearly all of the 70-some buildings it owns or controls are for commercial tenants.

Many longtime Detroiters have recently been pointing to the lack of exciting development projects within the city's neighborhoods, outside of the greater downtown and Midtown areas.

"For Detroit to be economically successful, there needs to be revitalization and investment in the neighborhoods as well," Steve Rosenthal, a principal of Bedrock Development Co., said at Wednesday's project announcement.

Bedrock plans to start rehabbing the mansions immediately and begin construction of the new residential buildings this fall. The project could be completed in 2017, although some residents could move in by late 2016.

The project, on the east side of Woodward, is only a few blocks from where the Ilitch family's Olympia Development is building the new Red Wings hockey arena, on the west side of Woodward. It is also a short distance from the forthcoming M-1 Rail transit line.

Bedrock has the lead role in the project's development team: Brush Park Development Partners. The other partners include Pam Rodgers of Rodgers Chevrolet, former Detroit Deputy Mayor Freman Hendrix and developers Marvin Beatty and Sam Thomas.

"Many of us have driven past this place for some many years and wondered when, what, and how this community could redevelop," Beatty said. "Well, today is the day. This is what we've all been hoping for."

Mayor Mike Duggan said the Bedrock-led group was chosen from among nine applicants who submitted redevelopment proposals. Their Brush Park plan is still subject to Detroit City Council approval, which could happen next month.

The project's details and investment team were unveiled at a news conference held on a grassy lot between two of the boarded-up mansions. The neighborhood, now sparsely populated, once had 70 such mansions.

It was the Duggan administration's second major development announcement this spring for the Brush Park area. Last month, developers presented projects that would turn the old Brewster Wheeler recreation center where Joe Louis trained into a restaurant and, nearby, construct 150 units of housing with retail and community space.

Another recently announced project, The Scott at Brush Park, would build 201 mostly market-rate apartments at the corner of Erskine and Woodward, next to the former Ye Olde Butcher Shoppe.

Previous efforts at revitalizing Brush Park failed to weather economic downturns and lack of demand. The neighborhood fell into decline and many of its old homes were lost to neglect, fire and demolition.

Duggan noted that Brush Park is in a prime location -- close to Woodward between downtown and the Detroit Medical Center -- making it "long overdue" for revitalization.

"We're building a neighborhood that's going to be available to everybody," Duggan said.

Architectural renderings showed a blend of three- to four-story buildings with a mix of ground-floor commercial space. The look was thoroughly modern, and Rosenthal said these initial renderings are likely to change amid forthcoming discussions with the area's residents.

Some longtime residents of Brush Park have been hoping for a more traditional design that blends in with the Gilded Age homes that once belonged to some of Detroit's wealthiest families.

"Where else in Detroit do you have a neighborhood of homes from the 1860s and 1870s," said Brush Park resident Jeffrey Cowin 34, who hopes to see more historic references in the final designs.

Officials said that 51% of the work hours for constructing the project will be reserved for Detroiters.

Contact Matt Helms: 313-222-1450 or mhelms@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @matthelms.