How Detroit's Capitol Park went from desolation to a hot destination

A mere 10 years ago, downtown's Capitol Park district stood as a shabby and seldom used public space surrounded by mostly empty buildings.

Today, Capitol Park has emerged as one of downtown's trendiest enclaves. The wedge-shaped district just west of Woodward and north of Michigan now sports more than 500 new residential apartments in various buildings and a dozen new or recently opened storefront amenities.

There's a coffee shop, a bike store, a nail bar, a grocery and more. The latest entry: The Cannelle French pastry shop that opened a few weeks ago. Auto supplier Lear operates a design and innovation center on Capitol Park, and DIME Detroit, the Detroit Institute of Music Education, runs a for-profit school to help musical artists advance their careers.

How it happened is a case study in moving a district from desolation to destination. Capitol Park's renewal took a blend of public leadership, nonprofit money, private investment and historic preservation. Most of all, it took a vision that has remained remarkable consistent 

"It’s having a common vision and a common mission to activate that area and really grow a sense of community there," said Jennifer Skiba, vice president of leasing for businessman Dan Gilbert's Bedrock real estate arm.

How it began

The turnaround began in 2009 when the Detroit Economic Growth Corp., then headed by CEO George Jackson, purchased three empty buildings surrounding the small public park there. As Jackson explained at the time, the DEGC's purchase of the three early 20th-century buildings marked a deliberate strategy to control the redevelopment.

"By having that control, it makes it easier to make the transition happen or to provide that environment for private investors to come in," Jackson said then.

The DEGC recruited Lansing-based developer Richard Karp to take on the renovation of the three structures. Later, as downtown began to revive, Gilbert's Bedrock acquired several more buildings and began to curate the tenant mix filling up the once-vacant storefronts.

Classic architectural details enhanced the appeal of the district. Lost details like the cornices on some of the buildings, stripped away a half century ago, have been restored.

The Albert controversy

The revitalization has not been without controversy. Before suburban developer Broder & Sachse took over the building at 1214 Griswold, the structure had been a government-subsidized home to low-income seniors. Renamed The Albert and converted to market-rate housing with the seniors relocated, the project became of flashpoint in the city's increasingly hot debate over gentrification and who benefits from the downtown revival.

Mayor Mike Duggan has cited the case as a spur for the city's policy requiring all new projects getting city help to reserve at least 20 percent of their units for low-to-moderate income residents.

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'We have clients who come from Ann Arbor'

That controversy did not dent the growing popularity of Capitol Park. Today, Kelli Coleman, co-founder of the Ten Nail Bar salon, which opened there two years ago, raves about the location.

"We’ve become not only a go-to for those who work or live in the area but also a destination for those in the metro area," she said. "We have clients who come from Ann Arbor, from other surrounding suburbs, to the immediate Midtown downtown area."

She cites the growing number of shops and apartments near her salon as well as the new programming in the park itself, the holiday markets and other activities coordinated by the Downtown Detroit Partnership.

"All of those things lend itself to being a great location," Coleman said. "Obviously also being in the central downtown business district has proven to be awesome for us as well."

Skiba agreed. Capitol Park has "become our most sought after residential neighborhood," she said. "People have been drawn to the fact that we have all the amenities there."

Former turnaround spot for buses

Capitol Park got its name from the location of Michigan's first state capitol building there in the 19th Century. Long after the state capital was moved to Lansing, Capitol Park was best known as the spot downtown where buses made the turnaround for many routes. Surrounded by mostly vacant buildings, the district became unsightly and littered.

With the opening of the Rosa Parks Transit Center in 2009, the buses moved out. The opening in 2008 of newly renovated Westin Book Cadillac hotel adjacent to Capitol Park heightened the desire to clean up the park itself.

With the DEGC taking the lead, several partners contributed to the effort to buy the three buildings and relandscape the park. The Michigan State Housing Development Authority and Michigan Land Bank Authority put in $3.3 million in federal funds to buy the Farwell Building at 1249-59 Griswold.

In addition, the effort gained $2 million from the Detroit Investment Fund, a private entity; $1.7 million from the Detroit Downtown Development Authority, and $600,000 from the Wayne County Land Bank, among other investments.

Work to renovate the park included new paving, street lighting and plantings. The grave of Michigan's first state governor, Stevens T. Mason, previously at the southern end of the park, was relocated toward the middle of the park with a new monument.

With renovation work continuing today on the Farwell and other buildings there, the popularity of the district looks certain to grow.

A model for others

Lessons learned? Detroit officials, joined by private developers, set out deliberately 10 years ago to revitalize a nearly moribund part of downtown. They used all the tools available to them, including public money and private investment. And it worked.

Now the question is, will what worked in Capitol Park work elsewhere? That's what civic and business leaders are trying to do. Roughly the same game plan has been followed in districts as varied as New Center, the Livernois-Six Mile area and Jefferson Chalmers on the far east side.

The turnaround of Capitol Park is by no means done. But already it serves as a case study of an urban district rescued from oblivion.

Contact John Gallagher at313-222-5173 or gallagher@freepress.com.Follow him on Twitter@jgallagherfreep. Read more on business and sign up for our business newsletter.