Chelsea : Development News

Source: Dr. Nathan Keiser, Chelsea Chiropractic & Functional Neurology
Writer: Natalie Burg

Source: Phil Tolliver, Smokehouse 52
Writer: Natalie Burg

The recent morphing of a garage into an art classroom is another coup for the arts community in the village of Chelsea. And it's certainly what aspiring potters and sculptors have been waiting for.

Next week, the Chelsea Center for the Arts will begin holding classes in the new room, converted from the garage portion of its circa-1923 brick building at 400 Congdon St.. New plumbing, heating, air conditioning, walls and ceiling, electrical, and lighting were installed. A windowed garage door lights the space.

"What makes it so nice is that it can be open. We have a garage door... that can be fully opened up to our secured garden area in the rear of the building," says Lisa Baylis Gonzalez, the center's executive director. "It's going to be a great open space, a great open studio, in the summer months, in the nice months."

The $30,000 project was funded with a grant from the Worthington Family Foundation. The center now has a pottery wheel and kiln in the classroom addition – amenities it lacked before.  Open studio time will be available, and Baylis Gonzalez anticipates class sizes of about eight students each.

"This is certainly a project that we needed to add classes and hopefully add programs like crazy, which will hopefully lead to more staff time as we build the program," Baylis Gonzalez says.

Source: Lisa Baylis Gonzales, executive director, Chelsea Center for the Arts
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

In time for the winter indoor-project season, a new statewide low-interest rate program for businesses making energy-efficient upgrades to their properties has come into effect.

Under the Michigan Saves Business Energy Financing Program, businesses can obtain 2-5 year loans ranging from $2,000-150,000, at rates starting at 5.9%. The financing is provided through Ervin Leasing for businesses using program-authorized contractors, according to Julie Bennett, executive director of Michigan Saves.

A special incentive in the form of a 3.99% rate and a $2,000 rebate from Michigan Saves is available to food industry companies cutting energy use by 20%. That includes grocers, convenience stores, food wholesalers, and restaurants.

"We're really targeting that industry because they use a lot of energy, but they typically don't have the time and resources to make the improvements," Bennett says.

The incentive program is grant-funded and short-term, so Bennett encourages food industry business owners to apply as soon as possible. The loan program, however, has about $50 million in committed funds and is intended to be perpetual, according to Bennett.

"There's a recycling that happens with this money as loans are paid down, so we're hoping that we'll never have to stop this program. But at this time we can do 1,000 businesses...if we had a rush to the door, we could do 1,000."

Qualifying projects include energy-efficient lighting, heating, and cooling, insulation, refrigeration, and motor, door, or window replacement.

The program is targeting business enrollment, and employment as well. "We're always looking for more contractors to enroll in the program," Bennett adds. "It's a kind of job creation angle - that we're really trying to get contractors enrolled."

Source: Julie Bennett, executive director of Michigan Saves
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

Uncap your growlers! The long-awaited Chelsea Alehouse Brewery is nearing its debut in the Clocktower Complex in downtown Chelsea. Owner Chris Martinson expects to open Chelsea's first brewery in 28 years in late fall.

Martinson, who has been home brewing for nine years, liked that particular location because "it was a one-story factory building with cement floors and high metal ceilings, so it lent itself nicely to being used as a brewery."

The building's original industrial features, such as cement floors and overhead trusses, will be left intact. Martinson has salvaged some large old industrial windows; Robin Adair of Adair Restoration will re-glaze and mount the windows, which will look right into the brewery. McKinley, Inc., owner of the Clocktower Complex, is completing the build-out.

An associate brewer is beginning work shortly, and Martinson anticipates adding about 10 pub tenders and kitchen staffers. In addition to opening with a selection of 6-8 beers, he plans to serve a "deli-type" self-service menu of sandwiches, appetizers, and meat and cheese platters.

The 4,000-square-foot space will have live music in a 2,500-square-foot pub area with seating for 75. Martinson also plans to add a large outdoor seating area and beer garden. The exact size is still being determined, but Martinson says, "it'll be the largest outdoor seating area in downtown Chelsea."

Source: Chris Martinson, owner and head brewer, Chelsea Alehouse Brewery
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

A new streetscape is afoot for downtown Chelsea, on M-52 (Main Street) between Summit and North Streets. Bids on the project are in, and the city is in the process of reviewing them.

In the blueprint are stamped concrete crosswalks, bumpouts on Main Street to accommodate more outdoor seating for restaurants. The work could begin later in August or may be delayed until spring, due to other street work in progress.

"What we're concerned about is with the construction going on at the south end of town on M-52, we want to make sure that if we move forward with the streetscape project in late summer or early fall, that we're not completely shutting traffic down on 52 at both ends," Chelsea City Manager John Hanifan says, adding, "The nice feature about the streetscape is it's a fairly modest construction program and it won't take longer than a month. It'll really create more of a pedestrian scale in the DDA district."

Source: John Hanifan, Chelsea city manager
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

The Chelsea police department is moving into its new headquarters at 311 S. Main St. later in July and should be running its entire operations there by August, according to John Hanifan, Chelsea's city manager.

The one-story building has 6,600 square feet on the ground level and an additional 5,000-square-foot finished-basement service and storage area. The $2.5 million project is outfitted with Energy Star-compliant mechanical systems, occupancy sensors in all rooms, and LED or high-efficiency light fixtures, Hanifan says.

Besides housing the police department's 12 full-time employees, the building has chamber space for the Chelsea City Council. The council formerly held meetings in rented space at local schools.

The police department, which has been occupying a storefront space on Middle Street, now has space adequate for its needs. "Architects Design Group did a great job with the design," Hanifan says. "It fits very well into downtown Chelsea and it looks like it belongs here."

Source: John Hanifan, Chelsea city manager
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

Downtown Chelsea is getting its dining chops on this fall. Pork chops and barbecue, to be exact.

Phil Tolliver, who has worked with barbecue pitmaster Mike "The Legend" Mills, is planning to open Smokehouse 52 by late October or early November. Tolliver also owns a Bear Claw Coffee shop on U.S. 12 and recently sold his True North Jerky business, the proceeds of which he is investing in Smokehouse 52.

Smokehouse 52 will be located at 121-125 Main St. The 1890 building, which still retains much of its original interior, will undergo a sensitive renovation.

"Whatever I can leave, I'm going to leave," Tolliver says. The tin ceiling stays. And the original maple plank flooring, currently tiled over, will be re-exposed. The biggest effort will involve converting the kitchen into a restaurant-grade kitchen, "and then we have to figure out how to get a 3,000-pound barbecue pit to the inside walls," he adds.

The restaurant will have vintage Americana on display, such as an 1878 flag and a school bell. Its main floor will seat 180-190 for lunch and dinner, with full bar service. Tolliver expects to add 45-50 new jobs.

Source: Phil Tolliver, owner of Smokehouse 52
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

With the GetDowntown Commuter Challenge coming to an end, what would the quality of life in Washtenaw County be like if it embraced mass transit every month, not just in May?

One significant impact of residents embracing the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority's (AATA) vision for mass transit in Washtenaw County would mean that everyone in the county could get around, sans car. The AATA has just concluded a final series of meetings to acquaint the public with its five-year transit program, the first stage of the county's 30-year transit master plan completed last year.

The most significant aspect of the proposed program, says Michael Benham, AATA's special assistant for strategic planning, "is that every single person in the county has access to the transit system, without a car."

The program calls for extended service on the current core Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor network of bus service that would be fed by a series of fixed routes consisting of express bus services in the outlying communities, and also community circulators, small bus networks to transport people within Chelsea, Dexter, and Saline, and link them to express bus routes. The final component is a system of would-be demand responsive services that can bring people from their doors to fixed-route bus stops.

Seniors and the disabled would get the added option of door-to-door service anywhere in the county. "Over the next 20 or 30 years there's going to be a more than doubling of the senior population," Benham notes, adding, "We're really trying to focus on either giving people mobility or letting them keep their mobility as they age."

Plan execution is contingent on creation of a countywide transit authority. "Over the years, one community after another has come to us and they are basically asking us to sell them transportation on an annual basis," Benham says.

The city of Ypsilanti, Ypsilanti Township, and Pittsfield Township have purchase-of-service agreements, subject to the vagaries of municipal funding. "It's not a particularly stable arrangement, and that's why we'd like to go with a countywide authority. A countywide transit authority would have its own funding base so these townships wouldn't have to come to us and buy the service anymore."

Funding would also need to be in place. Possibilities include increased fares, a .5-mill countywide transit tax, and bills pending in the state legislature, such as a motor vehicle registration fee applicable to counties with a regional transit authority.

When, exactly, the clock could start ticking on the five-year program is the question. "If the funding comes into being within the next six months and if we can get our countywide board pulled together in, say, the next six months, then the service could be operating in a year and a half. But those two ifs are big ifs. I can't stress that enough," Benham says.

Source:  Michael Benham, special assistant for strategic planning, AATA
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

Washtenaw County is continuing with its purchase of properties for its Natural Areas Preservation Program (NAPP). Some of the recent deals have resulted in contiguous tracts of 100 acres or more.

Last November, with a 151-acre purchase in Lima Township, the county established Trinkle Marsh at Easton Farm. The cost was $725,000, or $4,800 an acre. "The real key feature is a marsh that has some open water and it's really a very, very popular spot for birds, not only during summer but especially during spring and fall migration," says Tom Freeman, coordinator of Washtenaw County's Natural Areas Preservation Program. The preserve will be opened later this year with trails and birder-style overlooks with blinds.

In December, the county bought 19 acres for $123,500, $6,500 an acre, in York Township just outside the city of Milan from the Schrock family. The areas will be called the Shrock Family Sanctuary and will be added to the 80-acre Draper-Houston Meadows Preserve. The parcel fronts along the Saline River, a tributary to the River Raisin, and will have trails.

And just last week, the county purchased a conservation easement on a 100-acre plot in Superior Township. This was done in partnership with Southeast Michigan Land Conservancy, which will own the land. The total cost was about $700,000, or $7,000 an acre. The Ann Arbor Greenbelt is contributing towards the conservancy's expense, according to Freeman.

"In that case it becomes part of a very, very large collection of property in Superior Township that is part of the Superior Greenway. We're well over 1,000 acres in terms of protected land in that area."

And in partnership with Ann Arbor Township and the Ann Arbor Greenbelt, the county is acquiring 23 acres from J.A. Bloch and Company for about $163,000, or $7,100 an acre. The plot is on the northern boundary of Ann Arbor Township, in close proximity to the Northfield Woods Preserve. "We're hoping through this acquisition and another that's also pending, but probably much later this year, that we'll have connected about 100 acres and be able to connect them all with trails," Freeman says.

As of the end of 2011, the NAPP program has protected just over 2,200 acres. The county has 19 nature preserves that are open to the public.

Source: Tom Freeman, coordinator of Washtenaw County's Natural Areas Preservation Program
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

If you're looking for clothes or other goods that may still bear the original price tags but you want to pay less, check out the latest addition to Chelsea's downtown, The Other Women Consignment.

The store at 121 S. Main St. carries a mix of men's, women's and children's gently used current and vintage clothing and shoes, and new and used purses and totes and other household items.

"We're a little mix of everything," says Kim Watkins, who co-owns the shop with Laura Rivard. "You can walk in and get some gently used clothing and walk out with a brand new gift for someone."

The store also features the creations of a woodworker, jewelry makers Andrea and Kim Steele and Kim Grant, the colored pencil work of Lynn Bray, and pastels by Deborah Zamperla.

"Chelsea is just a community that comes out for their own," Watkins says of their decision to open in the downtown. "It's awesome. They're really just a very supportive community."

Source: Kim Watkins, co-owner, The Other Women Consignment
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

Innovation is spreading to the kitchen, with incentives both financial and social. Washtenaw County officials and other area organizations are assessing the potential for a commercial kitchen incubator to open in the county. The project, which is in the early planning and needs assessment phase, has a triumvirate of goals: to provide jobs training for chronically unemployed people in the foods and agri-business sector; to improve the low income population's access to healthy, locally-grown foods; and to support food business development.

"The local food industry is a growing industry, and a lot of people are making their own products in their basements and kitchens and so forth," says Tony VanDerworp, project manager for Washtenaw County's Office of Community and Economic Development. "We could not only help train some of our residents in various jobs in the food sector but also help grow companies through this project."

Potential tenants are being surveyed to assess the regional demand for such a facility. That demand would dictate the size of any potential facility, from an existing 600 square-foot church kitchen to a 15,000 square-foot building. "We envision enough kitchen space to accommodate several tenants," VanDerworp says.

A specific location is still to be determined, but could possibly be on the eastern side of the county in order to provide easier access to lower-income residents lacking transportation, he says. A nominal rent will be charged to tenants, who will also get business support services.

"Their goal might be to sell at the farmers market, their goal might be to start a business, their goal might be to start a product line or a catering company," VanDerworp notes.

The Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners has set up a task force with representatives from the University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University, Washtenaw Community College, Ann Arbor SPARK and others.

Various funding sources, which could be a mix of philanthropy and grants, including federal workforce development monies for worker training, are under consideration. After the tenant survey is reviewed, larger institutions and food prep companies will be surveyed as to their demand for trained workers.

"This is all the due diligence kind of things you would do, with an added twist that we're going to delve very deeply into how we can train and place people. That's our main goal," says VanDerworp.

A go or no-go decision will be made by early summer, he adds.

Source: Tony VanDerworp, project manager for Washtenaw County's Office of Community and Economic Development
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

Bill-shocked electric and gas utility customers who are trying to cut their energy consumption 30 days after the fact will be a relic of the past.

As part of its ongoing SmartCurrents program, DTE Energy will be installing another 450,000 advanced electric meters and gas modules (smart meters), with 120,000 of those destined for Washtenaw County. The cost of the installation is $66 million, according to Scott Simons, a DTE Energy spokesperson.

The meters are being installed in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, and Ypsilanti Township this month. Dexter, Dexter Township, and Scio Township will see theirs starting in April, followed by Saline, Saline Township, Superior Township, and Whitmore Lake in May. Installations in Chelsea, Milan, Manchester, and York Township will begin in June.

With the new technology, meters will be read remotely and power outages trackable down to the individual meter. It also allows for customers to track their daily energy consumption.

"Customers will be able to see their individual energy usage online and make usage decisions with that information," Simons says in an email. "They can also choose to purchase in-home displays and programmable thermostats, and even appliances, that work with the meter."

Source: Scott Simons, DTE Energy spokesperson
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

Washtenaw County will play host to a bigger suitcase contingency of leisure and business travelers, with some of those visitors possibly choosing to stay and do business in the region, if the new $1 million Pure Michigan national advertising campaign has its way.

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC)'s Pure Michigan initiative is putting $500,000 towards the campaign, which is being matched by a collective $500,000 put forth by the Ann Arbor Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB), the Ypsilanti Area CVB, and Ann Arbor SPARK.

The effort, to be called, "Sense of Place" is a first-time pilot program to combine support for both tourism and economic development, the only area in the state being considered for this combination, according to Mary Kerr, president of the Ann Arbor Area CVB.

"Like tourism marketing, economic development attracts attention to what Ann Arbor has to offer, and creates demand for Ann Arbor as a destination; both are about people: Tourists, visitors, students, families, business owners, job-seekers," Donna Doleman, Ann Arbor SPARK's vice president of marketing and talent, says in a statement.  "Businesses want to locate in a desirable location where they can hire and attract workers, including those who would relocate for a job. This new marketing partnership allows us to scale and amplify our economic development and business attraction efforts."

The campaign follows a three-year partnership between the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti CVBs and Travel Michigan to promote the area to other Midwestern cities.

"We're partnered as a regional partner with Travel Michigan promoting the Ann Arbor area as a tourist destination in Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis, which are three of the state's regional markets. And it's been very successful for us. We've seen strong results for Washtenaw County and we feel this is the natural path for moving forward," Kerr says.

"This pilot program gives us the opportunity to reach a much larger audience than we've reached previously with our regional campaigns," she adds.

The campaign is to consist of a national ad running on cable television, articles on the Michigan.org website, press tours for journalists, and a promotional video residing on michiganadvantage.org. And subject to negotiations with HGTV, a House Hunters episode featuring a family's search for a house in the Ann Arbor area will air in June. A firm campaign launch date has not been determined yet, but Kerr expects more details to be available later in March.

In 2010, out of 83 Michigan counties, Kerr says Washtenaw County ranked number 5 and 7 in business and leisure travel spending, respectively. Travel spending in the county totaled about $595 million. Of that, business travel was $223 million and leisure travel $372 million. According to metrics released by the Pure Michigan campaign, $3.29 is returned in sales tax for every $1 spent on advertising.

Kerr says Pure Michigan is "probably the number one tourism campaign in the country, definitely the number one tourism website in the country as well. So we're not just a $1 million national campaign, but very much a part of the overall state's national campaign for Pure Michigan."

Sources: Mary Kerr, president of the Ann Arbor Area Convention and Visitors Bureau; Donna Doleman, vice president of marketing and talent, Ann Arbor SPARK
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

The chance to buy a wealth of building space in downtown Chelsea for $1 is now on the table.

The city of Chelsea is now accepting redevelopment proposals for the historic Longworth Complex of three connected buildings totaling over 18,500 square feet. Proposals are contingent upon a developer committing to a minimum $1 million in investment in the property and also to placing it back on the city's tax rolls. The site is considered part of downtown Chelsea's listing on the National Register of Historic Places and thus qualifies for a 20% federal historic tax credit for rehabilitation. REU assistance (a water and sewage subsidy) and a $200,000 federal asbestos remediation grant are also on offer.

The complex includes the the 760-square-foot 1947 Art Moderne-styled Daniels Showroom at 118 North Main St; the two-story, 7,600-square-foot 1901 Mack Building at 102 Jackson St.; and the site-cast concrete block 1905 Chelsea House-Livery Barn at 110 Jackson St., with 10,200 square feet spread over two floors.

A circa-1960s 1,600-square-foot addition to the rear of the livery that housed the now-defunct Longworth Plating facility is included in the property sale but not the developable square footage, as a developer would most likely choose to demolish it, says Tom Girard, a board member of Preservation Chelsea, a non-profit advocate for redevelopment and preservation of historic properties.

Girard characterizes the buildings as being "in pretty rough shape". New roofs, leak repairs and other structural work will need to be addressed. However, the complex is still seen as viable and suited for art studio and gallery space, a music or entertainment venue, or apartments with indoor parking. Other developers might consider it for office-oriented space with first-floor retail.

"According to some history folks, this may be the only town in the country where the original depot, the original hotel, and the original livery are all still standing in their original location," Girard notes. "If the livery is torn down, and that's been bandied about by a number of folks, that's just a number of little things that would be lost in the process."

The city of Chelsea has issued a request for proposals, which are due by April 27. Preservation Chelsea has sent information on the RFP to about 160 potential developers, construction firms, financiers, and potential tenants. There has been some interest, Girard says.

"We won't see 160 people get interested, but if we get half a dozen serious proposals that responsibly redevelop the site, we'd be pretty excited about that."

Source: Tom Girard, board member of Preservation Chelsea
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar