Plans for St Aubin Village

[hybridy]

Parishioners of a historic church in Detroit want to develop eight vacant blocks with missing middle housing to build a church-centered community.

Many thousands of churches are being abandoned in North America as worship communities become geographically dissipated, often spread over large metropolitan areas. Some parishioners of St. Joseph Shrine, a historic Catholic Church just northeast of downtown Detroit, believe that outcome is not inevitable.

“The intent is to offer homes for the members of its congregation who currently drive from far flung suburbs into Detroit to worship, thus transforming the existing commuter community of worshipers into a community every day of the week, not just on Sundays,”

More here

@

The goal of Saint Aubin village is to build a God-fearing village within the City of Detroit, composed of long-lasting, quality homes where residents can call their friends and fellow parishioners “neighbor.”

[Jimaz]

It needs a moat and a drawbridge

Seriously though, is there a precedent for this kind of development outside of Salt Lake City?

[Zacha341]

Interesting renderings per the link sent:

https://www.cnu.org/publicsquare/202...e-congregation


....Opps! My bad -- The 'images' portion above did not initially pop up within thread on my browser.

[dtowncitylover]

It needs a moat and a drawbridge

Seriously though, is there a precedent for this kind of development outside of Salt Lake City?

Ava Maria, Florida probably? I wonder how they're doing...

[K-slice]

More power to them, that's some prime land to develop as it's basically a blank slate with easy access to everything.

[401don]

Very nice indeed. Is there a machine gun nest in the steeple?

[Ryve999]

A rendering by a group that doesn't really exist for land they don't own, on property that is zoned for something else, composed of a group of people who will never move into the city, with financing they don't have, all for building a neighborhood in a city they don't understand.

Color me skeptical.

[hybridy]

It needs a moat and a drawbridge

Seriously though, is there a precedent for this kind of development outside of Salt Lake City?

any development with an HOA

[Danny]

You had to be a Christian and a member a church for buy or rent a home at St. Aubin Village.

No sinners allowed.

What does the anti-discrimination organizations say about this?

[Wesley Mouch]

You had to be a Christian and a member a church for buy or rent a home at St. Aubin Village.

No sinners allowed.

What does the anti-discrimination organizations say about this?

They say: 'We don't like anyone with high standards'. That's quite predictable.

[louis]

So the corporation, bindwood Ave LLC, they were established in December of 2021 and their registered address is across the street in a mom-and-pop workshare space called Hunt Street Station. Hunt Street doesn't list Bindwood as a tenant on their website, so either it hasnt been updated, they have left the space, or they are simply renting a postbox in Detroit for authenticity.
The fellow to whom the LLC is listed is Daniel. Danny's day job is marketing for a small business consultant group and seems to be an enthusiastic parishioners of St. Joes.
Note that while the website says the community will be under the care of the church, he later writes a little disclaimer at the bottom of the site that says the church is in no way affiliated with this development.
The land this plan is centered on is also slated to be turned into distribution centers, per the Eastern Market 2025 masterplan.
This seems to be the passion project of a man who is enthusiastic about the city and his church, but I really would not bank on this ever going anywhere.

[Henry Whalley]

The fellow to whom the LLC is listed is Daniel. Danny's day job is marketing for a small business consultant group and seems to be an enthusiastic parishioners of St. Joes.

Note that while the website says the community will be under the care of the church, he later writes a little disclaimer at the bottom of the site that says the church is in no way affiliated with this development.

A magnet to recreate a Catholic parish. Once upon a time churches anchored ethnic neighborhoods. IIRC St. Joe's was German-America. But this has zero chance of coming to fruition without capital from the Vatican -- which is the wealthiest institution in the world. Also, incentives for people who make the move. Let's face it, suburban churches are charmless shacks in charmless communities. Lastly, this community would draw residents if it had a superior parochial school system, moat, drawbridges, etc.

[Henry Whalley]

No sinners allowed.

Ghost town?

[Danny]

Here comes Jonestown

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

“A God-fearing Village….” How appealing to have a community based on fear.

[canuck]

“A God-fearing Village….” How appealing to have a community based on fear.

Not much change in that department.

[401don]

Here comes Jonestown

Good one. Or at the least another Tom Monaghan village.

[Zacha341]

Hah! As it stands we already have our share of 'fear' based, crime-filled', no-go zones, within segments of zip coded communities.

Not much change in that department.

“A God-fearing Village….” How appealing to have a community based on fear.

[dtowncitylover]

“A God-fearing Village….” How appealing to have a community based on fear.

That's not what fear means in God-fearing but you probably already know that.

[detmsp]

That's not what fear means in God-fearing but you probably already know that.

LOL it's like stockholm syndrome.

[K-slice]

I can never tell who's more obnoxious, religious zealots, or anti-religion zealots.

[401don]

That's not what fear means in God-fearing but you probably already know that.

I always thought that was a strange expression. Nowadays it just means to be devout but I assume it goes back to the olden days where people really believed you should fear "the wrath of god".

[kuuma]

It doesn't seem to say this anywhere but from the drawings, the proposal is for the square of mostly empty land between St. Aubin, Scott, Chene, and Wilkins. That's only walkable to St. Joseph Shrine if there are significant improvements to the Gratiot corridor that's supposed to be part of the 375 redev plan.

But I'm more curious about how this would reconcile with the Eastern Market Framework for which that land was all cleared in the first place. This land is already accounted for with an eye toward expanding the the district as with more food production facilities in a live/work layout, and in my secular mind I rather like this better.

[Henry Whalley]

I can never tell who's more obnoxious, religious zealots, or anti-religion zealots.

It's a tie. Prolly the church project won't happen. But IMHO it's not a bad idea. And there are more than a few communities like this in the south built by evangelists.

[dtowncitylover]

I always thought that was a strange expression. Nowadays it just means to be devout but I assume it goes back to the olden days where people really believed you should fear "the wrath of god".

It really means to understand the awesomeness of God's power in His creation and to humble ourselves before it, that is, that to know we are not God and have limits.