B. Siegel store mixed-use redevelopment plans revealed

A prime property along the Avenue of Fashion is about to get a much-needed makeover. The Michigan Economic Development Corporation announced funding for the redevelopment of the former B. Siegel store, right at 7 Mile and Livernois. The development, dubbed 7 .Liv, will include new retail and housing options for the area.

The Michigan Strategic Fund approved a $1.3 million Michigan Community Revitalization Program performance-based grant to the $8 million project.

Bagley Forest Properties, LLC will take on the project, which will include demolishing two adjacent structures, rehabbing the current property, and building a new structure at the site. Plans include ten apartments, over 20,000 square feet of retail, and underground parking. According to a release, the project aims to bring housing to students attending neighboring Marygrove College and the University of Detroit Mercy.

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Developer Matt Hessler, owner of Bagley Forest Properties, bought the property in 2016. “With the assistance of MEDC as well as Capital Impact Partners, Invest Detroit, and the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, the 7.Liv project will restore the B. Siegel building and add a new 10,000-square-foot retail building on the corner,” Hessler said. “As a handful of new retailers and restaurants have begun to open storefronts on the avenue, 7.Liv will replace the blighted structures on the corner of the two main thoroughfares with a vibrant new mixed-use development. Adding an anchor restaurant and retail businesses to the corridor, 7.Liv will serve as a catalyst, allowing businesses to fill in along the avenue and create momentum for a new walkable shopping district along the old Avenue of Fashion.”

No word on a timeline yet.