The Changing Landscape of Southwest Detroit: Corktown

EL CENTRAL is pleased to present this second installment in a series focusing on the changing landscape of Southwest Detroit. In this issue, we turn our spotlight on Corktown, Detroit’s oldest neighborhood. This historic neighborhood has experienced many of the same ups and downs of Detroit’s evolving economy as other sectors of the city. Nevertheless, in the case of Corktown, its proximity to the central business district combined with the resilience of the businesses and residents that remained in the area have resulted in an economic development resurgence unequalled by any neighborhood outside of downtown and Midtown.  

When the Detroit Tigers played their last game at Michigan and Trumbull in September 1999, many speculated that Corktown would never recover from the mothballing and eventual demolition of the old stadium that had been the anchor of its way of life for decades. However, as Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan noted at the recent dedication of Perennial Corktown apartments, the Corktown business community and neighborhood residents are far better off today.  

“I look across the street and I think, 25 years ago, I was the chair of the Stadium Authority that built Comerica Park and Ford Field,” Duggan said. “And I think about the gloom and doom predictions: ‘Once Tiger Stadium leaves, this neighborhood, Corktown is dead. The property values are going to decline, people have no future’ — as if a neighborhood was best served by having activities 80 days a year and 260 days a year having the entire area shut down. And if you look at where we are today, it is remarkable,” he said. 

The revitalization and reuse of land on and around the old Tiger Stadium site started in earnest nearly a decade ago with the developments of a new, mixed-use project called The Corner Ballpark which included a new home for Detroit PAL, preservation of the historic ballfield, new residential and commercial units along Michigan Ave. and townhomes on the west side of Trumbull. The Elton Park residential development was created out of the old Checker Cab garage on the east side of Trumbull. Those projects were followed by investments by Chase Bank and Citizens Bank on opposite sides of Michigan Ave. at Trumbull.  

Last summer, the neighborhood celebrated the opening of the renovated Book Depository Building adjacent to Michigan Central that is now the home of Newlab’s world-class mobility incubator. In the fall of 2023, The Godfrey Hotel opened on the south side of Michigan Ave. one block east of Trumbull. And this past January, Perennial Corktown opened with its luxury accommodations and rooftop pool one block west of Trumbull.  

All the while, local Corktown businesses that weathered the disinvestment years have finally seen their faith in the resurgence of the neighborhood commercial area rewarded with new customers and the return of their reputation as a Detroit restaurant and entertainment destination.   

Admittedly, the resurgence of the Corktown neighborhood is a two-edged sword. It is widely considered to be one of the most attractive destinations for newcomers looking to experience urban living in Detroit. The increased demand for housing has led to higher rents across the neighborhood that have forced some longtime residents to move into more affordable housing in other parts of the city or beyond the city’s borders. That is where the Choice Neighborhoods plan comes into play, too late for some, but holding the promise of affordable housing for hundreds of residents who seek to enjoy the same amenities that are offered by the historic neighborhood.  

According to the City of Detroit’s website, in May of 2021, the City received from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) a $30 million Choice Neighborhoods Implementation grant and it received another $5 million supplemental grant in April of 2023. The Choice Neighborhoods grant will preserve housing affordability and construct new affordable housing throughout Historic and North Corktown. The grant will focus on the redevelopment of Clement Kern Gardens on Bagley between Trumbull and Rosa Parks Blvd.  

As the lead developer on the Clement Kern Gardens project, American Community Developers will provide new affordable, rent-assisted units for the current residents of Clement Kern Gardens as well as additional rental units at varying levels of affordability. When all five phases of the Choice Neighborhoods plan are completed, more than 800 units of new, mixed-income housing will be made available to residents in the Corktown neighborhood.  

In this issue, we invite our readers and followers online to read up on the significant development projects that are currently underway in Corktown. The landscape is indeed changing, most notably in Corktown, and these projects are being replicated in our most resilient neighborhoods around the city of Detroit!  
Lastly, we want to hear from you, our faithful readers, about other redevelopment projects that you would like to know more about or are undertaking yourself to transform properties in Southwest Detroit. To let us know about your project, write us at info@elcentralmedia.com.