Invest in Wyandotte

Lots of money is flowing into Wyandotte from small and big investors alike. Small builders are moving forward with projects worth hundreds of thousands of dollars while corporate titans make commitments for new facilities worth tens of millions of dollars.

Wyandotte has consistently been known as a solid working town with a good housing stock, a vibrant downtown and a business-friendly atmosphere. It's those types of attributes that make the city attractive to a major corporation like BASF to expand in a time when major corporations make local headlines by closing facilities.

Those factors are key to making sure a large variety of merchants stay open in downtown, making it viable decade after decade. And those same things make Wyandotte inviting to housing developers from across the state.

Steppingstone Properties, for instance, has taken on the near monumental task of turning a longtime industrial park into a new neighborhood with a variety of houses. Labadie Park is one of the city's biggest developments and a shining example of what is possible and what makes Wyandotte so special.

"It's got that pizzazz," says Arthur Nusbaum, president of Steppingstone Properties. "It's very viable. It's on the water. It's got quite a bit going for it."

Downriver's downtown

One of Wyandotte's best attributes is its lively downtown, which people all over Metro Detroit commonly refer to as Downriver's downtown. It has block after block of storefronts featuring everything from coffee shops to restaurants to clothing stores to furniture stores. It attracts so much business that it's hard to find a time when people aren't milling about its main drag – Biddle Avenue.

Part of the key is the number of events held downtown. Those events range from the usual holiday parades to the second-largest art fair in the state. City, business and community leaders all work to keep the city's events strong, which helps keep its businesses viable.

"Our whole goal is to have a lot of events to bring a lot of people downtown," says James DeSana, mayor of Wyandotte. "That is how we have survived."

Another is commitment from its merchants. A number of the stores downtown are family run businesses that have been going strong for decades. Although there are one or two chain stores in downtown, family owned business dominate the commercial district as much today as they did 50 years ago.

"You are so much better off if your stores are independently owned and professionally operated," says Gilbert Rose, owner of Chelsea Mens Wear and Shoes and Willow Tree Womens Fashions.

Rose's father started Chelsea Mens Wear in downtown Wyandotte in 1943. Since then it has expanded to several locations, in both downtowns and malls, throughout Metro Detroit. Rose prefers the downtown stores because his company can own the buildings and he doesn't have to worry about raising rents. It gives him greater control over his business.

Jeff Olstein can relate. The owner of White Furniture, which his father founded 60 years ago, has been doing good business downtown for decades. He knows his store can compete, and beat, competitors in malls or big-box retailers by offering the right products for the right prices with great customer service. But at the same time he, and most of the other downtown merchants, know that they have to work together more than compete against each other.

"Believe it or not, I'd like to see another furniture store," Olstein says. "We're out to help each other in that sense."

Other businesses local officials and residents want to see include a book store, bakery, shoe store and even a few more chain stores. However, many chains are leery of downtown because it's on the Detroit River and can only draw from a smaller geographical area. However, local businesses have been able to use the river to their advantage, making it an attraction to bring in more shoppers.

It's worked so far. The mix of businesses downtown is also something that is working heavily in its favor. So much so that there is only a 12-percent vacancy rate in downtown. However, that's a double-edged sword that Lisa Hooper, executive director of Wyandotte's downtown development authority, describes as "good but it's also a challenge" because it's harder to find space for new businesses.

She points out that there is a great mix of businesses: retail and restaurants outnumber service-oriented businesses.

"That's a real signal of a strong and healthy downtown," Hooper says. "You want your restaurants and retail to be higher than your service because it creates foot traffic and it creates vibrancy."

Corporate investment

The strength of the little guys also attracts the powerful larger corporations. BASF, one of the leading chemical and plastic producers in the world, employs 2,000 in Michigan. Many of those are in its Wyandotte Plant on the river. It recently committed to a $150 million research-and-development expansion that will create 175 new jobs.

Merrill Lynch, a world-renowned investment corporation, is spending more than $1 million to restore an old hotel and clothing store for new offices that will bring in 12 new jobs.

The old two-story building at the corner of Biddle Avenue and Oak Street on the north side of downtown originally opened as the Ellington Hotel in the 1880s. It went on to have several other uses, including a speakeasy, until the Armstrong Men's Clothing Store occupied it from the 1950s to the mid 1990s. Since then it fell into disrepair until Merrill Lynch began renovating it last year. Leo Stevenson, a vice president at Merrill Lynch, is looking forward to moving into the 6,400 square feet of office space in July.

"For us it just makes sense to be in the heart of the Downriver area," Stevenson says. "For us that is Wyandotte."

New housing

Even though Wyandotte is an inner-ring suburb that was completely built out decades ago, there is ample opportunity for new housing development. The city has been quite proactive in recent years to acquire properties and ready them for redevelopment before they become blighted. That's what happened with Labadie Park. The city acquired an old industrial site that had served several uses over the years, including as a toy factory, before becoming vacated.

"It was just a blighted Rust Belt site," says Arthur Nusbaum, president of Steppingstone Properties.

The city worked with the Ann Arbor-based company to clean the site and make it ready for development. Today Steppingstone is finishing the first of 89 residential units in the $16-million project. The houses include single-family homes, townhouses and lofts that weave nicely into the existing surrounding neighborhood at St. Johns, Labadie and Bennett streets.

And there are several other small yet significant developments like this taking place in the city. Some of them are done by out-of-town developers and others by homegrown businessmen. But they all see the value of investing in Wyandotte.

"You kind of get attached," Olstein says. "This is where the heart is. We enjoy doing business down here and we have put a lot of money, time and effort into this community."