This post was authored by Alexis Zimberg.
Love him or hate him, it is hard to search for an apartment in Detroit without running across a building (or ten) that Dennis Kefallinos owns. His loft-style apartment buildings are listed by The Loft Place, which manages his residential real estate offerings. If he is not your landlord, you more likely know him the Greek-born business man who is the developer of the Russell Industrial Center or just as the owner of Niki’s Pizza.
We recently took a tour of a still-in-progress-Kefallinos project: the Hudson’s warehouse renovation in Corktown (or Corktown Shores if you are feeling progressive). The building, once the storage facility for the now-demolished downtown department store, boasts five floors of sparkly-new, loft-style units, each with soaring views, either of the city at sunrise or of the Ambassador Bridge at sunset. Tenants began moving in last August and the building is currently finishing the last leg of renovations, which means that most new tenants will be the first to use stovetops and showers.
Priced higher than units in his other buildings, the Hudson Lofts start at $850/ month and rent includes a gated, underground parking spot, a spacious walk-in closet, and extra storage on the first floor. The usual loft features are all there: 17-foot ceilings, exposed brick walls and ductwork, open floor design, lofted space for bedroom or storage, unbelievable views, and month-to-month leases. Sounds like every other Kefallinos building, right? Wrong. He built out an entire wing of the fifth floor of this one for himself, which means that tenants spot Kefallinos watching the Detroit fireworks display with his children or heading out for a downtown meeting by foot. As Hudson’s management staff mentioned in passing, the owner's presence means that the entrance is always clean, tenants are fined for leaving garbage outside of the proper receptacles, and the freight elevator remains oiled. There is even a real management office with regularly maintained Monday through Saturday hours of operation.
The only negative thing that we have heard about the building so far is that it gets pretty toasty in the upper units, per the many hours of direct sunlight. To which we say: blackout shades and air conditioners might do the trick. With awesome views, new appliances, [[and]] a rumored sundries shop coming soon on the first floor, the Hudson Loft building is worth checking out. More importantly, it is another pin on the map for a burgeoning neighborhood that includes Ponyride and the Green Dot Stables. Michigan Avenue is a stone's throw away and, somewhere along the line, the Anthology Coffee Shop will open on Rosa ParksBoulevard, so you can caffeine-up on your way to wait for a table at Slows.
· A Detroit Architect's DIY Loft in the Boydell Building[Curbed Detroit]
· Loft Warehouse [Official]
· Corktown's Next Coffee Shop Scored A Skylit Space, Courtyard[Curbed Detroit]
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