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  #501  
Old Posted May 8, 2015, 3:50 AM
robk1982 robk1982 is offline
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http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/inde...elated_stories


Quote:
Atwood Stadium preserves its history, brings back high school sports

By Sarah Schuch | sschuch@mlive.com
on May 06, 2015 at 4:41 PM, updated May 06, 2015 at 4:44 PM

FLINT, MI – Flint Northwestern Varsity Football Coach Fred Jackson remembers the glory days of playing football at Atwood Stadium – the cheering fans, the almost-stadium, the excitement.

Come this fall, high school sports will return to the historic stadium thanks to more than $2 million raised for renovations and new turf.

Kettering University and city of Flint officials said they believe the use of the stadium will bring a new life and energy to that part of the city.

"Atwood's renovation is another sign of Flint's rebirth," said Flint Mayor Dayne Walling.

The 11,000-seat Atwood Stadium on West Third Avenue – now University Avenue – was dedicated on June 8, 1929. Construction began on the structure in fall 1928, according to the Atwood Stadium website, and was completed the following spring.

Over the years, the stadium has played host to high school football and baseball, a visit by Sen. John F. Kennedy during his 1960 presidential campaign, as well as boxing matches and concerts.

Last fall, high schools stopped using the stadium because the turf wasn't up to par, but through a fundraising campaign and many donations that will change this fall as Flint Southwestern Academy, Flint Northwestern High School and Powers Catholic High School return to the stadium for home games.

On top of more than $300,000 in community donations, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation announced a $1.75 million grant to bring new turf, renovations and improvements to help reopen the stadium in time for the 2015 high school football season.

Diplomat's recent gift will cover costs for the high schools to play home games there this season.

.....
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  #502  
Old Posted May 13, 2015, 4:56 PM
bobjgumby bobjgumby is offline
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They've been removing the stucco from the 50s era remodeling from the front and side of the building. Looking really good.
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  #503  
Old Posted May 14, 2015, 5:35 PM
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Wow i'm glad the definition of "improvement" has changed.
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  #504  
Old Posted May 19, 2015, 3:02 AM
bobjgumby bobjgumby is offline
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They made quite a bit of progress today.
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  #505  
Old Posted May 27, 2015, 1:36 AM
robk1982 robk1982 is offline
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Taken last weekend:

New windows in the Dryden Building

20150521_130404 by Rob K, on Flickr

20150521_130425 by Rob K, on Flickr


Woolworth Building

20150521_130441 by Rob K, on Flickr

20150521_130458 by Rob K, on Flickr


Work is progressing at Chevy Commons....Doesn't look like an industrial wasteland anymore, does it?

20150521_194841 by Rob K, on Flickr


Speaking of industrial wastelands, they are tearing down more of the old GM/Delphi complex on the east side (Robert T. Longway/Center Road)

20150523_144126 by Rob K, on Flickr

20150523_144046 by Rob K, on Flickr

20150523_144122 by Rob K, on Flickr
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  #506  
Old Posted May 28, 2015, 2:15 AM
bobjgumby bobjgumby is offline
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I am not a huge fan of the new windows in the Dryden. I am happy they are reviving it though.
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  #507  
Old Posted Jun 16, 2015, 12:58 PM
bobjgumby bobjgumby is offline
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http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/inde...l#incart_river
Quote:
New downtown Flint restaurant, Merge, will offer 'Asian fusion' menu

By Eric Dresden | edresden@mlive.com The Flint Journal

on June 16, 2015 at 5:50 AM, updated June 16, 2015 at 8:19 AM

FLINT, MI – A new taste is coming to downtown Flint.

After several months of renovation at the former Yoga Loft studio, officials announced that the newest addition to Wade Trim Building is an 'Asian-fusion' restaurant called Merge.

Phil Shaltz, a partner in the restaurant, said it will focus on being a noodle restaurant.

"We wanted to bring some diversity of menu to downtown Flint and build on the momentum," he said.

Merge General Manager Robb Klaty, who is the brain behind Table & Tap, the Flint Crepe Co. and is involved in Tenacity Brewing, confirmed the new name, although an opening date still has yet to be determined. He said more information will be available on the business' Facebook page.

It's not immediately clear if the business will be connected with Table & Tap or if the restaurants will be separated completely.

Shaltz said the addition will continue to make downtown a destination for people.

In recent years, he said, there have been inquiries by corporate chains to come to downtown Flint, but that's not the hope for area developers.

"We don't want to bring in a chain," he said, adding it's important to have fresh ideas to bring downtown, like Merge. "It brings that diversity and a totally different audience with something that doesn't exist downtown."

Not sure why they are opposed to chains. I don't think Flint is in a position to be shutting out any type of retail. Heck the fact that there is interest from chains speaks highly for the transition downtown is seeing.

Last edited by bobjgumby; Jun 16, 2015 at 1:01 PM. Reason: add comment
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  #508  
Old Posted Jun 16, 2015, 1:16 PM
bobjgumby bobjgumby is offline
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http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/inde...l#incart_river

Quote:
Here's what's happening with seven projects driving Flint's downtown revival

By Ron Fonger | rfonger1@mlive.com The Flint Journal
on June 16, 2015 at 5:00 AM, updated June 16, 2015 at 8:35 AM

FLINT, MI -- Seven projects -- some nearly complete and some just started -- are changing the look of downtown as the city heads into summer.

Here's what's behind the blocked sidewalks, dust and hardhats tied to all that work:

•Capitol Theatre: There's plenty happening at the Capitol Theatre this summer, but the work is being done in meeting rooms rather than with bricks and mortar.
A subsidiary of Uptown Reinvestment Corp. signed a deal to buy the Capitol, located at Harrison and Second streets, and in April announced plans to spend an estimated $21 million to redevelop and reopen the landmark building.

The Friends of the Capitol Theatre is spending the coming months performing due diligence and finalizing a financial structure for the project.

"I don't anticipate that there will be any news until late summer into fall on this project," Marcus Papin, marketing, project and property manager for Uptown Reinvestment Corp., said in an email to MLive-The Flint Journal.

With renovation plans already prepared, construction is expected to move very quickly once it starts, with work expected to be completed as soon as 16 months from now.

•Harrison Street: Closed since December 2013, Harrison Street, between First and Second streets, reopened for one-way vehicle traffic late last month after having been closed since December 2013.
But the work isn't completed -- it's just a pause until the city's biggest events are finished later this summer.

The city is using a $203,800 grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation to transform Harrison into a street that encourages walking and biking from Fourth Street to the Flint River.

Among the changes: a protected two-way bicycle lane, new landscaping and on-street parking.

•Downtown park: Within days, work is expected to be completed at a new park that's been developed on the site of the old Genesee Towers building.
Sprinkler system lines were being dug Wednesday, June 10, and work to connect to water is also expected to happen this week, Papin said.

The addition of sod will finish work on the park -- something that could happen next week.

•Former Perry drug store: Located at 600 S. Saginaw St., the property could be redeveloped into multiple businesses by Uptown, which is waiting to see if Flint's Receivership Transition Advisory Board grants it a tax break.
City Administrator Natasha Henderson and Mayor Dayne Walling support freezing the taxable value of the property for 12 years, but the majority of the City Council oppose it.

Uptown has owned the property since purchasing it from Genesee County in 2006. The county had purchased the property in 2000 after a Family Dollar store that operated there nearly five years closed.

Prior to Family Dollar, the property was home to a Perry drug store, which closed in 1994.

The next meeting of the RTAB is July 15.

•Former Woolworth building: Very tentative work started earlier this spring on the exterior of 550 S. Saginaw St., but there are no short-term plans for the building, according to Papin.
The property was included in a new Obsolete Property Rehabilitation Act district approved by the city earlier this year, creating potential tax benefits for a developer.

•Riverbank Park: The first phase of work to redevelop Riverbank Park, immediately south of the Flint River, is expected to start in the next 10 days and will go on for four to six weeks, according to the city of Flint.
All work is west of Saginaw Street and east of Garland Street, and includes construction of a new launch for canoes and kayaks, filling of existing canals, restoration and reconstruction of stairs and concrete walks in areas leading into the park, and construction of a new ADA accessible ramp to provide easier and safer access to the amphitheater stage.

After phase one, a timeline from the city says work will restart immediately after the Crim Festival of Races and is expected to continue for another eight to 10 weeks.

•Dryden Building: No site has been more active downtown this year than the Dryden, but information about the final use of the building has been slower in coming out.
New signage on the ground level of the Dryden building hints that a convenience store could be coming to downtown Flint.

MLive-The Flint Journal could not reach owner Phil Hagerman, chief executive officer of Diplomat Pharmacy, who has said the roof of the building, which opened in 1902, has been replaced and much of the exterior work has been done.

Aframes, an eyewear company, has already moved into the building as its first new tenant.

Ron Fonger is a reporter for The Flint Journal. Contact him at rfonger1@mlive.com or 810-247-9963. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
Looking good with these developments, pretty much just need the old Genesee Bank and the buildings behind it to be redeveloped. I saw the front door of the Metropolis opened yesterday, hopefully they were checking out for possible rehab.
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  #509  
Old Posted Jun 18, 2015, 1:08 AM
robk1982 robk1982 is offline
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There's also the building next to Paul's Pipe Shop (failed Biggby's Coffee renovation) and the empty lot next to that.
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  #510  
Old Posted Jun 18, 2015, 6:40 PM
bobjgumby bobjgumby is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by robk1982 View Post
There's also the building next to Paul's Pipe Shop (failed Biggby's Coffee renovation) and the empty lot next to that.
Also Feris Furs, but I have a feeling that Hagerman will move on to that one once the Dryden is done.
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  #511  
Old Posted Jul 26, 2015, 1:10 AM
robk1982 robk1982 is offline
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Renovation Work on 600 S. Saginaw Street Set to Begin

http://www.flintandgenesee.org/renov...eet-set-begin/


Quote:
Renovation Work on 600 S. Saginaw Street Set to Begin

The effort to renovate vacant property at 600 S. Saginaw St. under the state’s Obsolete Property Rehabilitation Act (OPRA) has been given the green light. The redevelopment project, led by Uptown Reinvestment Corp., will transform the property into eight storefronts with separate entrances for small businesses.

The OPRA request, approved July 15 by Flint’s Receivership Transition Advisory Board (RTAB), will freeze property taxes at the site for 12 years. Once the renovation is completed, the project is estimated to create 10-25 jobs and generate from $1,872 to $4,617 annually in income tax revenue for the City of Flint.

The project seeks to meet a demand for smaller storefront space in downtown where there are few options available. Tenants for four of the eight storefronts have already been secured, with solid prospects for the remaining spaces. The presence of more employees and foot traffic could help boost the area’s overall attractiveness for commerce and investment. The Dryden Building directly across from 600 S. Saginaw St. is currently undergoing a major renovation as well.

....

Artist rendering – Earthwise Design
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  #512  
Old Posted Jul 27, 2015, 2:42 AM
bobjgumby bobjgumby is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by robk1982 View Post
http://www.flintandgenesee.org/renov...eet-set-begin/





Artist rendering – Earthwise Design
Here is a photo I took on Friday. The part I like best is that it says 4 of the 8 tenants have already signed up with talk with 4 others already started,

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  #513  
Old Posted Jul 27, 2015, 2:48 AM
bobjgumby bobjgumby is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bobjgumby View Post
Also Feris Furs, but I have a feeling that Hagerman will move on to that one once the Dryden is done.
Looks like I am right about this, the alley side of Feris Furs has one of those movable scaffolding things on it and they are repairing the concrete structure members. Cannot wait until these come online.
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  #514  
Old Posted Jul 28, 2015, 12:18 PM
bobjgumby bobjgumby is offline
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U of M has been painting the pavilion maize and blue. Looking pretty good. They were installing a rather large sign on the south wall yesterday.
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  #515  
Old Posted Jul 28, 2015, 1:02 PM
bobjgumby bobjgumby is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bobjgumby View Post
Looks like I am right about this, the alley side of Feris Furs has one of those movable scaffolding things on it and they are repairing the concrete structure members. Cannot wait until these come online.


You can see what they are repairing here.


Here is the finished product.
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  #516  
Old Posted Jul 28, 2015, 1:28 PM
bobjgumby bobjgumby is offline
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They can't start working on the Capitol Theatre soon enough the sidewalk at the alley have caved in.
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  #517  
Old Posted Aug 19, 2015, 7:12 PM
bobjgumby bobjgumby is offline
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http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/inde...incart_gallery

Quote:
Here's a first look at the renovation of Flint's century-old Dryden building

By Eric Dresden | edresden@mlive.com
on August 19, 2015 at 7:00 AM, updated August 19, 2015 at 10:08 AM



FLINT, MI – It was October 2013, when Phil Hagerman purchased the Dryden Building – a dilapidated, five-story building with water damage in the basement and leftover equipment throughout the building in downtown Flint.

Now, gutted on many floors, the 1902 building is set for a rebirth in the coming year as Hagerman, CEO of Diplomat Pharmacy and SkyPoint Ventures -- Phil and Jocelyn Hagerman's real estate and business investment company -- expects big announcements for the building in 2016.

"We're really just excited for the movement in downtown and want to be a part of that," said Peter Hughes of SkyPoint Ventures.

Hughes brought The Flint Journal on a tour of the building, showing how progress is going since crews began removing equipment from the building a year ago.

While still under discussion and subject to change, plans call for a variety of uses for the building on each floor including:
•Fifth Floor -- Hagerman Foundation
•Fourth Floor – SkyPoint Ventures
•Third and Second Floors – Office space and room for businesses
•First floor – Space for several retailers

History

Exposed brick along each floor show the history of a building that's had a variety of uses since it was built in 1902 by W.A. Paterson, Flint's first carriage builder, an automobile manufacturer and one-time mayor of the city.

It replaced the First Congregational Church, which stood on the site.

When Paterson died in 1921, ownership of the building passed to his son, William. The younger Paterson had to rebuild the Dryden in 1926, after it was heavily damaged by a fire.

On the fifth floor, blackened bricks are evidence of that fire.

The Dryden's interior was completely rebuilt, using the original walls only where feasible. A mezzanine floor also sits just off the first floor, although that has been hidden for decades by the U.S. Postal Service offices.

For decades, the Dryden was at the center of the downtown district's robust retail scene, boasting such high-profile tenants as J.C. Penney, Hills Bros. and Rosenthal's. In the early '40s, Penney's relocated a few blocks north and was replaced by A. Heitzner & Sons department store.

Like many downtown buildings, however, it lost retailers in the 1970s and '80s, as stores either moved to suburban shopping centers or folded in the face of mall competition.

Construction

Each floor tells a different tale of renovation, with the fifth floor the furthest along in the process.

While much of the floor is being completely redone, a room in the fifth floor features historic plaster that dates back to the beginning of the building. The room will be used as a conference room, Hughes said.

Beyond that, marble that was found in the building will be used as sills alongside brand-new windows.

"We used all the materials we could out of the building," Hughes said about the renovations.

Bryce Moe of SkyPoint Ventures said soon after Hagerman purchased the Dryden, the first few weeks were spent taking out old equipment from each floor of the building.

And while each floor will be suited to the needs of tenants, the real treat comes on the first floor.

While a U.S. Postal Service office had been there for years, what the office hid was a mezzanine and pillars.

Hughes said the mezzanine stands at about 6 feet, 9 inches, making it an interesting addition to the first floor where the company anticipates adding at least a couple of retail outlets. He said he's been getting calls almost daily inquiring about the retail space.

One retail space on the first floor has already opened with the Ground Floor Market.

The first floor could even be used for a new downtown Flint U.S. Postal Service branch, which moved out of the building last month after not responding to SkyPoint's calls to scale back the location, which took up most of the first floor.

With so much space and opportunity, Hughes said those at SkyPoint are thrilled about the opportunities this could present going forward.

"There's no space like it in Genesee County," Hughes said as he walked along the mezzanine.
Looking really good. I can't believe they covered all that up in the old post office.
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  #518  
Old Posted Sep 28, 2015, 4:53 PM
bobjgumby bobjgumby is offline
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http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/inde...art_river_home


Quote:
Grocer looks to breathe fresh life into closed Kroger store in Flint



By Dominic Adams | dadams5@mlive.com
on September 27, 2015 at 5:00 AM, updated September 28, 2015 at 8:18 AM

FLINT, MI – A woman walked into the new Fresh Choice Market Place on Flint's east side looking for a job.

Owner Jerry Pattah asked her if she had any experience.

"I worked here a long time ago when it was a Hamady's," the woman said before walking to her interview.

Now, Pattah is looking to bring that same family grocery approach back to an east-side Flint neighborhood.

"We see opportunity," Pattah said. "The neighborhood needed a supermarket here."

Fresh Choice Market Place, 1916 Davison Road, will open its doors Monday, Sept. 28, at the site of a former Kroger that closed up shop in March.

The parking lot was repaved, the outside of the building was repainted and new signage was added to the store.

On the inside, all of the departments received new, bright backsplashes, additional lighting, as well as an expanded frozen foods section, a 22-foot meat counter and three new bunker freezers in the meat department, Pattah said.

The new store will employ between 40 and 60 people.

With seven other stores in the metro Detroit area, Pattah said he's spent 44 years in the grocery business.

"We know we can do business here," he said. "We're going to be the best supermarket in Flint and who knows how many we'll open in Flint."

Although Pattah said he is focusing on getting the Fresh Choice Market Place up and running, he said he has plans to expand.

"Within six months we'll probably be buying another store," he said. "We're here to expand."

Pattah did not disclose the sale price for the 30,000-square foot store.

When customers walk in to the Spartan Foods wholesaler they're going to be greeted with a bright, clean store that has a lot of specialty items and experience top-notch service, Pattah said.

"They're going to see fresh meat, fresh produce – the best prices ever," he said. "The main thing is quality."

Kroger officials said the store was closed because it wasn't profitable and had lost $3 million over the previous nine years.

When the closure was announced it shocked the community because it left few grocery stores in the city.

Nearby residents even took special bus routes offered by the MTA after the closures.
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  #519  
Old Posted Feb 10, 2016, 1:47 AM
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While the nation has been absorbed with the water crisis Flint's downtown business's and boosters who weathered the great recession are betting that while property values will take a hit in the neighborhoods downtown's resurgence will be unaffected. I wonder what if this would have happened if Snyder didn't sneak through a referendum proof version of the Emergency Manager law by attaching it to the budget in the lame duck session right after he was reelected? Being from Saginaw albeit only for the first year of my life i know about the reputation of the Saginaw River and it's tributaries. I was pretty shocked when i heard that they were going to switch to the Flint River for drinking water but as it turned out that wasn't necessarily a problem, but a whole series of bad choices culminated with the state water agency not giving the Flint Water Plant the proper permit to use anti-corrosive measures. With a lack of transparency ingrained in law for the executive branch we prolly will never know what really happened. But on a positive note if Flint's new mayor has her way new pipes will start to be laid next month, i cant believe either that the initial response from the state gov was to say we should re-coat the water mains instead of replacing them.

Quote:
How Flint businesses are treading water through lead crisis
City's biz community hopes crisis doesn't wash away downtown rebound



February 07, 2016
By Marti Benedetti
Crain's Detroit Business

The Flint water crisis is taking a toll on the city that goes beyond lead poisoning.

The Flint Cultural Center, considered a jewel with its expansive neighborhood of theaters, museums and a large public library, could be hurt by declining property values and tax collections as a result of the water crisis. At the same time, Flint business owners hope water woes won't stem the downtown renaissance of recent years.

Kay Schwartz, director of library services for the Flint Public Library in the cultural center, said the water crisis has the potential to hurt library financing, but it has weathered financial crises before. In 2009, in the midst of the recession and General Motors' bankruptcy, a library millage of 2.9 mills produced $4.7 million. The library relies on a property tax millage for 90 percent of its income.

What has happened since provides a glimpse of how much Flint property values dropped in recent years. "We are at 4 mills now because our wonderful citizens voted an increase in 2010, and again in 2015," Schwartz said. "But 4 mills now translates to just $2.7 million, meaning the library lost $2 million in funding due to falling property values. We have had to make enormous cuts."

Those declines flattened out over the past couple of years. "But people thought values would go up again," Schwartz said. "Now, no one knows what will happen."

....

The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, headquartered in a stately high-rise in the heart of downtown Flint, is doing what it can to keep the city's image from further deterioration. The $2.7 billion foundation granted $4.9 million to the Flint Cultural Center last August.

Ridgway White, the foundation's president, said the organization "doesn't want to let the water crisis reverse the progress of the many revitalization efforts that have been taking root."

John Henry, executive director of the Flint Institute of Arts, said a third of the institute's funds come from Mott, but the rest flows in from memberships, sales and admissions, tuition from its community arts school, and endowments.

"A situation like this causes a lot of anxiety in the people in the city and outside," he said. "We are constantly testing our water as we want to protect our visitors, not just the art."

He said the water plight has had a slight impact on operations, particularly income from people who rent the facility for events.

"The media has assassinated this community. It's like we're Chernobyl," Henry said. "Water is a national (problem). Why did this small town get so much attention from it?"

....

Amid the image disaster, downtown Flint business owners are keeping their fingers crossed that downtown's momentum over the past five years will continue.

"We were having year-over-year growth with (the infrastructure improvements and loft developments) happening downtown recently," said Ron Sims, owner of The Torch Bar and Grill, a downtown fixture for 70 years. "Then we started having a slowdown in November and December."

Sims said sales were down 5 percent to 6 percent in January, although that month is typically slower, he said. "Still, people are every day, a hundred times a day, asking us about the water."

The Torch, like several downtown Flint restaurants, had a reverse osmosis filter installed in the fall and also offers patrons bottled water. Reverse osmosis allows water pressure to push tap water through a membrane, which filters out contaminants.

Sims bought The Torch in 2006 and did well even during the recession as downtown Flint saw some revitalization. Now he is not sure what will happen.

"Everybody is worried, but the flip side is we will get money for improved infrastructure like new pipes," he said.

Robert Kittel, who owns the downtown building that houses The Mad Hatter hat and sundries store, said it is hard to tell if his property has lost value.

"Not much has changed hands downtown to know," he said. "I think the city's real estate as a whole might lose value, but not the downtown. People are still upbeat on downtown."


Kathy Jackson: “I've invested in Flint's future. ... But with this water fiasco, you feel like Flint's image is falling further.”
Kathy Jackson, owner of Healthy Dollar in downtown Flint and a former reporter for Crain's Detroit Business and its sibling publication Automotive News, said her business has not been affected by the water crisis. But she fears her 8,000-square-foot, three-story retail building, where she also lives, could be losing its investment value.

She bought the property in 2008 when it was in foreclosure and has invested considerably in building improvements.

"The businesspeople down here are taking a chance and betting on the resurgence of this place," Jackson said. "I've invested in Flint's future. People have purchased property that was abandoned, but with this water fiasco, you feel like Flint's image is falling further."

....
Thinking positive

Franklin Pleasant and Erin Caudell, owners of The Local Grocer, are taking a glass-half-full view.

"Flint is our home," Pleasant said in an email. "Throughout our lives and careers, we have chosen different ways to give back to our community. Nourishing Flint with healthy food and contributing to a healthier economy is something we are both passionate about."

After running a business at the downtown Flint Farmers' Market, the couple in December opened a grocery store just outside of downtown. It sells locally produced, all-natural products. They also farm and serve ready-to-eat food at the store.

Before opening the store, the couple had a water filtration system installed for the whole building.

Tim Goodrich and Cinthia Montague, co-owners of Sutorial, a shoemaking operation downtown, opened their business in Flint three years ago.

"We certainly realize the good and the bad here," Goodrich said.

He said water issues are not impacting their business. They are not tied to the local economy, but sell their boots primarily online. "But I'm surprised at the extent of how far-reaching the water situation is," he said.

Jessica Buchanan, 27, a barista and crepe maker at Flint Crepe Co., pointed to Sutorial as one of "the many wonderful things going on in the city." She added that she grew up in the area, left for a while and came back to embrace the city's arts and culture scene. "Things are popping up here," she added. "Flint will come back."

The crepe restaurant is one of four downtown businesses in which Robb Klaty is a managing partner. A Flint native, he started the crepe restaurant in 2011 and has since opened in the same downtown building as Merge, a bar with Asian-inspired fare; Table & Tap, serving Michigan beers and barbecue; and Tenacity Brewing, a microbrewery and restaurant. He lives above the crepe shop with his wife and six children.

"I want to be part of bringing Flint's core back," Klaty said.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...gh-lead-crisis

Quote:
New farmers market, MSU medical school growing Flint's downtown redevelopment

January 09, 2016
By Amy Lane
Crain's Detroit Business



Even as Flint is embroiled in a state of emergency and federal investigation over its water quality, there are other, more encouraging reinvestments in health and wellness in the city.

Case in point: When Hurley Medical Center opened a children's clinic in downtown Flint in August, it was significant for more than just for an expanded ability to serve patients.

The location, above the recently relocated Flint Farmers' Market, married health care with access to fresh food. And it marked one of the newest pieces of an emerging downtown Flint redevelopment — a health and wellness district that has grown to three city blocks and some $36 million in investment.

Some of the anticipated side benefits of the district include helping with health education and decreasing the number of local people with chronic diseases.

And even as a U.S. attorney investigates concerns over lingering water-quality issues, there is plenty of evidence of fruitful public health investments by nonprofit, medical and educational sources.

Once-vacant buildings now house medical students and faculty, researchers, loft dwellers, physicians and patients, and staff and seniors at a new elderly care center — outcomes of projects propelled by Uptown Reinvestment Corp., a nonprofit formed in 1999 to redevelop downtown Flint.


Photo by Natalie BrodaTim Herman (left) and Ridgway White: Spearheaded health and wellness district redevelopment in downtown Flint.
URC-commissioned studies of the downtown, and potential new uses for buildings that URC purchased, led to pieces of the district coming together, said URC President Tim Herman, who with Ridgway White of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, has spearheaded the district redevelopment.

....

The farmers market, moving downtown in June 2014 from a location about a mile away by the Flint River, expanded in size and more than doubled its inside vendors. Foot traffic in its first year tripled, to some 750,000 visitors that included downtown professionals and college students, said White, on loan to URC for several years and now president at Mott, the foundation begun by his great-grandfather.


Above the market, 10,300 square feet attracted Hurley, which had been looking for more space for one of its three children's clinics. The new center brought resident and supervising physicians and pediatric specialists downtown and will treat about 9,000 patients annually. And proximity to a bus station and the farmers market are key plusses, said Annette Napier, Hurley senior administrator for ambulatory services.

Appointment no-show rates have dropped, Napier said, and patients can shop at the market, where vendors participate in programs like Double Up Food Bucks, which assists low-income consumers and doubles the value of federal nutrition assistance they spend. The market also houses classes for healthy eating and Flint Food Works, a commercial incubator kitchen operation.

It's the kind of activity that the state, whose community revitalization program assisted the redevelopment, hopes to see.

"We're trying to get multiple things to happen in areas, so that every dollar that we put in is leveraged four to five times and gets many more things and gets much more activity in an area," said Mark Morante, senior vice president of community development at the Michigan Economic Development Corp. "One thing leads to another. That's why catalyst projects are so very important to get done."

....

The district's footprint began with URC's January 2012 purchases of The Flint Journal's former printing building and the Journal's headquarters, and the March 2013 purchase of the long-vacant, 19-story Genesee Towers office building.

That paved the way for three projects: the $3 million demolition of Genesee Towers to create an urban plaza; the $7 million relocation of the farmers market to the Journal's printing building; and the $22 million renovation of the Albert Kahn-designed Journal headquarters building to house a Michigan State University College of Human Medicine expansion and public health research operation.

Backing the projects were multiple pieces of financing. They included about $10.7 million in grants from the Mott Foundation; $5.9 million in federal New Market Tax Credits; a $5.6 million equity investment by the Michigan Strategic Fund, through the community revitalization program; $1.5 million from an anonymous donor; a $1 million loan from the Local Initiatives Support Corp. organization; and an $880,000 Flint community development block grant.

MSU's College of Human Medicine, which operates in seven community campuses through affiliations with local hospitals, physicians and other providers, had since the early 1970s been training third- and fourth-year medical students at Flint hospitals and outpatient clinics. But it had more student demand in Flint than available slots, said Aron Sousa, the college's interim dean.


Aron Sousa, interim dean, MSU College of Human Medicine
The college, hospitals and physicians wanted to accommodate more students. That led to added faculty, expanded training, and MSU's move into the former Journal building.


"We were able to increase our teaching capacity. And some of that is having a building and places to teach, some of that is hospitals and physicians teaching more of the year … and some of that is more staff," Sousa said.

Medical student counts have doubled from about 50 to 100, and the approximately 40,000 square feet MSU occupies in its new downtown home includes classrooms, study space, clinical skills examination rooms, a lecture hall and and conference rooms.

....

The renovation also included 16 loft apartments, now occupied and with a waiting list, said URC's Herman.

The district's latest major piece has been the $3.9 million Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, or PACE, center operated by Genesys Health System. The center, which opened in August, provides comprehensive medical and social care for people ages 55 and older who are Medicare/Medicaid dual eligible and who qualify for skilled nursing home care but want to stay in their own homes.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...lints-downtown

Quote:
Water crisis strikes just as Flint begins to shed negative images

January 27, 2016
By Matt Sednesky
Associated Press National Writer
Crain's Detroit Business

FLINT — In a city long stereotyped for despair, some began seeing reasons for hope: A smattering of just-opened restaurants, students filling new college classrooms, fields of green growing where abandoned houses had stood.

The red-brick streets of downtown Flint became lined with once-unlikely businesses like a crepe shop and wine bar, and nearby, hundreds did the previously unthinkable, moving into new apartments at the city's core.

A sprawling new farmers market began drawing hundreds of thousands for everything from mango ginger stilton at a cheese shop to thick, fresh-cut pork loins at a butcher. New programs lured students from around the globe to the city's campuses, an ice-skating rink opened, the planetarium got a state-of-the-art upgrade and performances such as "Blue Man Group" put Flint on their schedule.

Even some signs of blight were beginning to fall, with hundreds of abandoned homes cleared away.

"It felt different," said Kimberly Roberson, a Flint native who directs grant-making in the city for the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, "until we hit lead."

A water crisis that has flooded homes with fear and toxins has taken a tandem swipe at the city's psyche, returning it to the negative headlines it was working hard to escape, drawing a new spotlight to poverty and other wounds it never was able to fix, and bringing a renewed sense of insecurity about what the future holds for a place that's been through so much.

From its founding, Flint's fortunes essentially were entwined with a single industry.

First it was the fur trade, which shifted to lumber, which gave way to the horse carriages, leading to its being called Vehicle City. It was a fitting moniker for its next, most important role, as a powerhouse of auto manufacturing and the original home of General Motors.

Chevrolets and Buicks and lesser-known cars rolled off Flint's production lines, making the city a magnet for workers and ancillary businesses. At its peak in the early 1970s, GM employed 80,000 people in Flint who cashed paychecks strengthened by the United Auto Workers union born in the city. Some 200,000 people lived within the city limits, alongside sprawling factories, booming commerce, model schools and thriving arts.

"This was the most beautiful place on earth," said Pamela Copeland, 72, who was a teenager when she arrived in Flint in its heyday.

No one says that anymore. The oil crisis of the 1970s and corporate cost-cutting in the 1980s and beyond led to the decimation of manufacturing jobs in the city. Its population plummeted; crime soared along with unemployment. The stately Tudors and colonials that were symbols of middle-class prosperity became run-down emblems of urban decline.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...egative-images
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Old Posted Jul 19, 2016, 5:01 PM
robk1982 robk1982 is offline
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Hagerman Foundation donates $4M for Flint’s Capitol Theatre renovation

http://grandblancview.mihomepaper.co..._Capitol_.html

Quote:
Hagerman Foundation donates $4M for Flint’s Capitol Theatre renovation

FLINT — In a little more than a year, Flint’s historic Capitol Theatre should be re-opening its doors to the public, thanks in part to a $4 million grant from the Hagerman Foundation. Also, residents will be able to tour the theater during a special event scheduled for July 21 at 4:30 p.m. under the theater marquee.


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