DOWNTOWN PROJECTS
Downtown Flint is reinventing itself with more than $450 million in development projects recently completed or in the planning stages. These projects range from expansion activities by our local universities, to the development of mixed-use establishments led by a group of private investors. It also includes the restoration of historic buildings as well as the development of new projects which
will change the visual landscape of the downtown area. Local businesses such as The Flint Journal, Wade Trim, and Rowe Incorporated, are demonstrating their commitment to downtown Flint by investing in major projects and soon there will be numerous housing opportunities for our residents including, lofts, apartments, townhomes, student housing, and single-family dwellings. The arts community
will continue to shine with innovative projects such as Red Ink Studios where vacant buildings are used as studio and gallery space, to the expansion and enhancement of the Flint Cultural Center most notably the Flint Institute of Arts and Flint Institute of Music. And . . . downtown attractions such as the Flint Farmers’ Market, Kearsley Park, and Applewood Estate are being brought
back to life by individuals and organizations who are committed to revitalizing downtown Flint!
Click here to open an interactive map of the downtown area. |
Rowe Incorporated Headquarters/Mixed-Use Project
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STATUS:
- Construction is currently taking place.
- Rowe Incorporated Headquarters is expected to be completed in late fall.
- The lofts will be complete in the winter 2008.
DESCRIPTION:
The Rowe Incorporated Headquarters/Mixed-Use project that will change the look of downtown Flint’s main thoroughfare. The Rowe project includes the adaptive re-use of three historic buildings on the west side of the 500 Block of Saginaw Street. Built between 1880 and 1920, the buildings will be renovated into one modern office-loft-retail building with a soaring
four story lobby atrium. The second and third floors will be transformed into offices for Rowe Incorporated’s Corporate Headquarters while themed restaurants will be located on the main level, a nightclub will occupy the basement, and eight loft apartments will fill up the fourth floor. Rowe Incorporated will be the main tenant in the building consolidating its
more than 100 employees from several southeast Michigan offices into the new downtown Flint headquarters. The eight loft style apartments will range in size from 1,400 square feet to 2,500 square feet. Each of the apartments feature lofted bedroom levels and game rooms. The apartments have large windows for taking in the city views, hardwood floors, stainless steel
appliances, washing machines and dryers. The project is being partially funded by a $3.8-million federal loan from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that is accompanied by a $1 million Brownfield Economic Development Initiative grant. Additional financing is being provided by New Markets tax credits, historic tax credits and SBT/Brownfield tax credits.
Citizens Bank is providing the remaining financing for the project. > More Info |
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Wade Trim Project
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STATUS:
- Construction has begun.
DESCRIPTION:
Redevelopment plans were announced in May for the entire Mott Block on S. Saginaw Street. The project will be anchored by a new, mixed-use 27,000 square foot building with civil engineering firm Wade Trim as the primary office tenant and WNEM TV5 occupying the first floor. Wade Trim has committed to the heart of downtown Flint by signing a 12-year lease and plans to move 25 jobs into the building. The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation will provide $4.2 million for the project through grants to the Foundation for the Uptown Redevelopment Corporation (F-URC). The total redevelopment of the east side of the 500 block on S. Saginaw Street is expected to cost $8 million. The block is being developed by Uptown Developments, LLC, in partnership with the Uptown Reinvestment Corporation (URC), Uptown Six, LLC and Baker College of Flint. Ownership of the five buildings in the redevelopment plan was transferred to the F-URC from the Mott Foundation in September 2006.
The new office complex, to be constructed in the middle of the block, will have space for five entertainment-oriented restaurants or retailers on the ground floor, 8,500 square feet of office space for Wade Trim on the second floor, and four high-end lofts on the third floor. The complex also will include an outdoor pedestrian plaza through the center of the block that will provide a place for outdoor dining and small community events. The plaza will connect Saginaw Street to Brush Alley. Interior and exterior renovations to the former Copa and Blackstone’s buildings will provide “white box space” to potential tenants. The expected completion date of the Wade Trim building is August 2008. > More
Info
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Community Foundation Building
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STATUS:
-The project is currently in the construction phase.
DESCRIPTION:
In partnership with Uptown Six and Uptown Reinvestment Corporation, the Community Foundation of Greater Flint (CFGF) has agreed to jointly own and renovate the buildings located at the corner of West First and South Saginaw Streets in Downtown Flint. In addition to CFGF offices on the second floor, plans call for the first floor of the building to be leased to commercial
tenants and the third floor to be developed as two residential lofts. > More Info |
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Michigan Department of Transportation Downtown Flint Highway
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STATUS:
– Currently in progress.
DESCRIPTION:
The Michigan Department of Transportation is in the midst of a $3 million highway enhancement project along I-475 and I-69 in downtown Flint. The project will include dramatic landscaping along the highway featuring the Cultivating Our Community plants. In addition, service drives will be enhanced with historic and aesthetic treatments currently being featured along
the Saginaw Street corridor and bridge overpasses will receive new railings and lighting
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First Street Lofts
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STATUS:
- The Lofts for the building were completed in June 2006.
- In May the building received the 2007 Governor’s Award for Historic Preservation.
- Developer is seeking tenant(s) for first floor space.
DESCRIPTION:
The historic First National Bank and Trust Company building on the northwest corner of First and South Saginaw Streets is the first major loft development project to take place in downtown Flint. The developer, Uptown Developments, LLC has redeveloped the building’s upper floors into sixteen (16) new one- and two-bedroom loft apartment units that range in size from approximately 800 square feet to 1,300 square feet. The first floor will be dedicated to commercial use. The First Street Lofts is designated by Governor Granholm as a Cool City Catalyst Project and received a $100,000 Cool Cities Catalyst Grant thus qualifying downtown Flint as a Cool City Neighborhood in Progress. > More Info |
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Berridge Townhouse & Lofts Project
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STATUS:
- Tenants have been relocated.
- Construction has begun.
- Project will be completed in mid 2008.
DESCRIPTION:
The Genesee County Land Bank, LISC, Court Street Village Nonprofit, and the Carriage Town Historic Neighborhood Association have joined together to redevelop the Berridge Hotel and Tinlinn Building located on just west of M.L. King Avenue on Second Avenue. The $6.2-million project will include 21 loft apartment units with two commercial tenant spaces on the ground
floor. Four apartments will be converted in the adjacent Tinlinn Building. Federal and State historical tax credits are being used for some of the financing which requires the loft apartments to be sold as condominiums to be leased as apartments for the first five years. > More Info |
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University of Michigan-Flint Student Housing Project
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STATUS:
- In construction phase.
- Check out http://www.umflint.edu/housing for further information
DESCRIPTION:
The University of Michigan-Flint's modern riverfront campus in downtown Flint offers more than 60 undergraduate and 10 graduate degree programs including a doctor of physical therapy. Additional programs include those in liberal arts and sciences, elementary or secondary education, nursing, business and computer science. The campus stretches across the river to the William S. White Building, a $35.6 million professional studies and classroom building. Construction began in summer 2007 for a 310 bed student housing project and will be ready for occupancy in August 2008.> More Info |
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Third Avenue (University Boulevard)
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STATUS:
- The project began in summer 2007
DESCRIPTION:
The Third Avenue will be redeveloped as part of a redevelopment and land use strategy to link the traffic flow between the University of Michigan-Flint and Kettering University. The strategy will include streetscape improvements, buried overhead utilities, landscaping, lighting, sidewalks, and curbs as well as commercial, park and residential development.> More Info |
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Cultivating Our Community Beautification Project
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STATUS:
- More than 100 businesses and nonprofit organizations have committed to improving the visual landscape of the community.
- The re-landscaping of 15 downtown public gateways were completed in June.
DESCRIPTION:
Keep Genesee County Beautiful is taking the lead in "cultivating" a new way of thinking in our community. Within the next two years the project will begin to grow in neighborhoods, businesses, organizations and residents as they come together to promote the community as a vibrant, clean, and attractive place to live and do business. With the use of key planting materials
the community will be in bloom throughout the year from the downtown Flint area . . .. to outlying communities, and from business properties . . .to neighborhoods. > More Info |
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