The Ground Up Project
The Ground UP Project is an effort to revitalize property in African American neighborhoods while spurring new business development for their communities.
​
The project in Detroit, Michigan, is a commercial real estate rehabilitation effort centered at the heart of LaSalle Gardens and the Linwood-Dexter communities. This business incubator property will contain a barbershop and restaurant that is run by and for Detroiters. It will also include a training facility, apartments and office space.
Neighboring lots will be transformed into a vegetable garden, outdoor seating, basketball court and on-site parking. In the second phase of this project, apartment units can be developed on these lots.
​
Orange Urban Design helped to visualize this concept, the central location in the neighborhood and connections to other revitalization projects in the city.
Location
Client
Year
Type
Detroit, MI (US)
The BLAC Coalition
2020
Urban design, Illustration
Bigger impact
​
Investing in the building also means investing in the block, the neighborhood and the city. The impact is bigger than one building.
Revitalizing the building
​
Two active, attractive storefronts will bring positive energy to Linwood Street, with a training and community center in the back and four apartments with shared facilities on the 2nd floor. Offices will be located in the basement of this historic building constructed in 1920.
Revitalizing the block
​
The take-a-way restaurant is connected to an outdoor seating area in the middle of a vegetable garden that provides fresh produce. An abutting lot becomes a basketball court while the alley in between provides access to off-street parking.
Close proximity
​
The building is not only located in the heart of LaSalle Gardens and Linwood-Dexter neighborhoods, but also in close proximity of the Rosa Parks Clairmount revitalization project and the soon to be expanded Motown Museum. Michigan Central and downtown Detroit are also easy to reach.
Read more about this project on the website of The BLAC Coalition
