Downtown Ferndale is ready to boom this year with construction getting underway on two large mixed-use apartment buildings and the city’s first public parking deck.
This is an early rendering of the Ferndale Haus apartment building with retail space on the first floor that is getting underway at 430 W. Nine Mile Road in Ferndale at the old Sav-A-Lot store. Designhaus Architects rendering
Some preliminary ground work has already begun on the first phase of the Ferndale Haus apartments at the former site of the Sav-A-lot property on West Nine Mile Road.
The $14.9 million development with at least four stories is planned to have 90 apartments and retail space, possibly with some offices,
“It’s really the start of new vertical projects in the downtown,” said Jordan Twardy, head of the city’s Community and Economic Development Department. “It’s a marker.”
A second phase of the Ferndale Haus is in the planning stages to add 40 more apartments to the project later with more mixed-use space that will expand the footprint to Withington, Twardy said.
On the east side of Nine Mile, Wolf River Development is readying to begin its $16.1 million apartment project called 409 on the 9. It will include 127 apartments with over 5,500 square feet of retail space on the ground floor of the four-story building. The developer is seeking financial incentives for Brownfield redevelopment and groundbreaking is expected to start this summer at the site between Leeland and Paxton on East Nine Mile.
Twardy said the two apartment buildings are part of a vision city officials have worked on to enhance the area while keeping the city true to its roots.
“We know we want a dense downtown and walkability that still harmonizes with the existing downtown,” he said. “Development in the downtown is spreading east on Nine Mile and taking off.”
Construction is also slated to begin in the coming months on Ferndale’s first public parking deck on the public lot at Troy and Allen streets. The four-story deck has an estimated cost of at least $12 million and will be paid for with parking fees, permits and tickets.
Mayor Dave Coulter said the developments in the downtown and others in the city are the result of two things.
“It really is a symptom of the good economy and the attractiveness of Ferndale,” he said. “It’s always our job to make sure these developments capture the kind of character we want Ferndale to maintain. We don’t want to be over-developed and be like a big city. We just want to be better version of our current self.”
Another apartment building project has been approved at 165. E. Nine Mile and Bermuda on the former site of a Methodist church.
“That project was approved by the Planning Commission last fall and it is my understanding they are still gathering building plans,” said City Planner Justin Lyons.
Other residential developments are in the works elsewhere in the city, he said.
They include plans by J.S. Capital to transform St. James Catholic Church’s empty convent and school property into a senior living development with 100 units near Woodward and West Hazelhurst. Lyons said the planned development is an $11.8 million project with construction planned for 2018.
Developer M&L Holdings is moving to build a two-story condominium building at the site of the American Legion Hall at 1741 Livernois near West Nine Mile.
A mixed-use apartment building with 15 units and some first-floor retail space known as 8 North is planned on Livernois just over a block from Eight Mile Road, Twardy said.
“Livernois is on the rise and a host of businesses have opened there,” he said.
