Social club to be developed into apartments

A former social club is slated to become eight apartments after neighbors pushed back against the developer's plan for an event space and bar.

Driving the news: Developer Brendan Brulon of Michen Robert LLC found during neighborhood outreach that "the community had an opposition" to the event hall due to "concerns about noise and traffic in the area," he wrote in a petition to the city.

• The plan changed because "it was important to us to contribute to the neighborhood and gain support …" as Brulon wrote.

The latest: The $1.4 million redevelopment of 3426 Junction St. — just off Michigan Avenue — got a City Council approval yesterday that paves the way for an obsolete property rehabilitation tax break.

• Brulon, who is in the event and film production industry and doing his first multifamily development, said the project isn't financially feasible without it.
• As a converted event hall, the building has a large range of unit sizes. Rents range from a studio for $470 up to a three-bedroom at $3,800, per a city presentation.

The intrigue: It's expensive for southwest Detroit. But Brulon tells Axios the larger units are pricier because of their sheer size — one is 3,500 square feet.

• He sees some as "live-work" units.

Flashback: The 20,000-square-foot building was constructed in the 1910s and '20s, designed by a Polish-Detroiter architect, according to the developer. It was a "Dom Polski" entertainment hall into at least the '60s, per Detroit Free Press archives.

• Curbed Detroit wrote it was for sale back in 2016.