Eastern Market Gateway Project

[southen]

Last week I attended a community meeting for a new development to be located at the corner of Gratiot and Russell but also bounded by Rivard and Maple. It is going to be a mix of brand new construction with some historic preservation. As of right now it looks like there will be two large buildings constructed with the possibility of what looked to be a 15-story tower in the future if all goes well. It looks as though the buildings along Maple will be preserved as well as parts of the small building with the "Welcome to Eastern Market" mural. In fact they hinted that the mural may become park of a retail or restaurant space which would be rather cool. The BusyBee warehouse building will be mostly demolished except for the wall facing Gratiot, which will help form a retail alley within the project.

Overall I am a fan of what they are looking to achieve and the fact that they have hired a powerhouse firm in Perkins + Will to do the work tells me that it will get done and be of a high quality. One other thing that caught my attention is that they are going to be making 40% of the units affordable which is double what the city typically requires. This could be a big snag for the area and a sign of what is to come in Lafayette Park and Eastern Market.