The plan to overhaul Detroit’s former fire department headquarters into a boutique hotel received a $5.8 million grant by the state of Michigan’s economic development agency Tuesday.
The $28 million hotel project is at 250 W. Larned, site of the former Detroit Fire Department headquarters that dates back to 1929, and the adjacent Pontchartrain Wine Cellars once a popular downtown restaurant.
The performance-based loan was approved by the Michigan Strategic Fund, a branch of the quasi-public Michigan Economic Development Corp. The loan is part of a state program intended to help finance developments that are having trouble obtain all the needed funds from traditional lenders because of the location of the project, which in this case is downtown Detroit
The hotel will be called the Fountain Hotel and will have 100 rooms with a first floor restaurant and retail space on West Larned, across the street from Cobo Center. The project will include a historic renovation of the property, highlighting the interior design
The principals behind the development are Walter Cohen of 21st Century Holdings and Chicago-based Aparium Group, led by Mario Tricoci
