Glasshouse Brewing is new to Ann Arbor's West side, but co-owners and brothers Brent and Brad Payeur are not. Their father, Steve Payeur, owns West side stalwart
Diamond Glass and Feiner’s, so they're well-acquainted with the business climate of the neighborhood just west of the Old West Side.
"My dad bought the company in '84, and we've been there ever since. He remembers the days of the
old Stadium Tavern," says Brent Payeur. "There used to be a lot of bars and restaurants down Stadium. It seems like banks and fast food restaurants overtook them all."
But these days, the need to harken back to the area's heyday is fading fast. With an influx of new and growing independent businesses — including a particular groundswell of good food and great beer — it's time the neighborhood is recognized for the bustling hub it's becoming: Ann Arbor's New West Side.
The New West Side
The arrival of new commercial life in the New West Side has been a slow enough process that it's easy to have missed it. Plum Market's arrival certainly helped class the area up eight years ago, and Wolverine State Brewing Co. opened its small taproom two years later. The following years saw Great Lakes Cycling and Fitness, Seva, Chela's Restaurant and Taqueria, Juicy Kitchen, El Harissa Market Café, The Little Seedling, Goldfish Swim School and the Ann Arbor Skatepark, among others, all move to the New West Side or open there for the first time.
And it's not just new entrepreneurs suspecting the New West Side is the right place to invest. Longtime businesses are also deepening their investment in the neighborhood. Wolverine State Brewing Co. has recently expanded, as has the iconic
Arbor Farms Market. In the neighborhood since opening in 1979, Arbor Farms co-owner and founder Leo Fox doubled down on his commitment to the area this year. Fox expanded his Stadium Boulevard location by 4,500 square feet to accommodate a new deli and prepared foods area.
"There have been lots of pockets of new business that have popped up," Fox says. "There's a nice selection of independently owned businesses where people can spend their money locally and keep it here in Ann Arbor."
A better place to do business
Ask any business owner on the New West Side why it's such a great place to do business as opposed to, say, downtown, and their long list of answers will likely begin with the same thing: accessibility. That includes available customer parking, but also easy access to downtown, the expressways, the stadium, and the Old West Side.
"It's a really diverse area with a lot of people driving by," says David Fichera, co-owner of the forthcoming craft beer taproom and restaurant
The Session Room on Jackson Rd. "The area is set up for continued growth, and you've got the movie theater, the bowling alley right there."
The existing and growing business mix on the New West Side is another pull for small business owners. Glasshouse, which doesn't currently make food, benefits from a partnership with its neighbor Chela's, as well as other nearby restaurants where patrons are encouraged to pick up food and enjoy it at the brewery.
"They were as excited as we were for us to get open," Payeur says of Chela's.
And between the Session Room, which will have 70 taps of craft beer, Adventures in Homebrewing on Jackson Rd., Wolverine State, and Glasshouse, there's a bit of a beer culture renaissance happening in the area.
"We hope to join that little community," says Fichera. "We feel the West side can offer a complete experience for the beer enthusiast."
Another boon to doing business along the West Stadium, Maple, and Jackson corridors is ample demand for what new businesses are supplying. Payeur's memories of the New West Side years ago include going to various restaurants as a family after his mother's softball games at Veterans Memorial Park. The crowds from the Vets Park leagues still exist today, bolstered by activity at the Ann Arbor Skatepark, and they still need places to go.
Payeur knew there was enough demand for another brewery when he saw people leaving the crowded Wolverine State.
"People would be leaving because there wasn't enough space in there, but they didn't want to go downtown," he says. "So they'd just call it a night."
A better place to live
To boot, Payeur says, there's more residential housing going in on the New West Side all the time.
"With more people living in the area, they're looking for places close to home," he says.
And don't think the residents haven't found them. Alisa and Aaron Bobzien rented on Dexter Ave. for nearly seven years when they started house hunting — right in their own neighborhood.
"As first time homebuyers on a budget, we were trying to keep our minds open and consider other areas, but staying on the West side was always part of our dream scenario," says Alisa Bobzien.
The area had become a part of their lifestyle. Bobzien says she and her husband visit Plum Market nearly every day, regularly run through Zingerman's Roadshow and frequently spend mornings at the skate park. They also love being closer to Seva's new location and stop into Dimo's every weekend for breakfast sandwiches and donuts.
Fortunately, the Bobziens were able to purchase a home just blocks away from their apartment, making the neighborhood their longterm community. It's moves like those that prove out the wisdom of the new, existing, and expanding businesses investing in Ann Arbor's New West Side.
"There are so many benefits in to being there, in our eyes," says Fichera. "It's a very dynamic area."