Curbed Cup 1st Round: (3) Downtown v. (14) Jefferson Chalmers

Downtown

Where do we even start? Downtown Detroit is in the middle of a construction and renovation boom, which should increase when we know what exactly will be done with the Hudson’s site. New micro-apartments will be open next year, The Griswold will open in January, new retail has opened along Woodward (with more soon we anticipate), and the QLINE is ready to roll in the spring. Capitol Park looks different every day. Dan Gilbert has been talking about the need for more office space and residential downtown...will he be open to more outside the downtown area soon? Did we mention an unfinished condo sold for $1.2 million this year?

Jefferson Chalmers

On the east side of town, Jefferson Chalmers has been busy preserving its great buildings and housing stock. It was deemed a National Treasure this year, and more efforts will go into historic preservation in this neighborhood. The famed Vanity Ballroom, long abandoned, will be a centerpiece of that preservation effort. We also saw some great houses (y’all love the canals, don’t you?), including a property for someone who has a lot of boats, a house with a bomb shelter, and a historic restoration for sale.