In their quests to become apartment buildings, two historic Detroit hotels have struck gold with the State of Michigan. A grant worth $1M was just allocated to help refurbish the former Milner Hotel in Harmonie Park, while a whopping $3.5M was awarded to the seemingly impossible task of restoring Midtown's biggest blight monster, the Strathmore.
We can easily lump both projects into the 'historic hotels' category, the two buildings couldn't be much different. Rebranded as The Ashley, the former Milner Hotel was unofficially operating as an apartment building until late 2012. It's in totally usable shape.
The original plan called for 50 luxury apartments, but the Freep says that the $8.2M renovation will result in 63 units. Retail is still headed for the first two floors, Dilla's Doughnuts included. ↓
The Strathmore is the more ambitious of the two, spending up to $32M to somehow renovate this cube-o-blight into 129 apartments. The stats are all the same, but one giant new detail has emerged: 40% of the Strathmore's units will be affordable housing, with 60% offered at market rate. That 60/40 ratio is huge, especially amidst the area's increasing concerns with gentrification. ↓
· Milner Hotel To Be "The Ashley" After Switch To Luxury Apts [Curbed]
· More Housing Downtown: Milner Hotel To Be Condo-ified! [Curbed]
· Strathmore Rehab Gains Key Approval, New Storefronts Planned [Curbed]
· Michigan OKs incentives to turn 2 historic Detroit hotels into apartments [Freep]
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