Mariners Inn opens housing in arena district
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The Anchor at Mariners Inn. Photos: Joe Guillen/Axios
The Anchor at Mariners Inn, a new housing and substance abuse treatment facility with 40 furnished apartments, opened Tuesday on Cass Avenue next to Little Caesars Arena.
Why it matters: The $26 million development doubles Mariners' capacity as the nonprofit expands services to include women for the first time in its nearly 100-year history.
What they're saying: Mariners Inn CEO David Sampson held back tears at Tuesday's ribbon-cutting event as he thanked staff members and residents who helped see the project through.
- "This has been our shared vision for at least nine or 10 years now — ever since they started speculating about where the new arena would be and folks started coming around, 'What are you going to do?'" he told Axios. "We decided we would stay here and make this happen."
Flashback: Mariners Inn was founded in 1925 by the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan.
- It moved to its current location in 1955 when the original inn on Griswold Street — where the city's Mariners' Church provided lodging, food and clothing for poor people — was demolished to make way for the Detroit Civic Center.
State of play: In addition to new rental housing, the 65,000-square-foot facility has a medical and mental health clinic and more than 4,000 square feet of retail space.
- Mariners partnered on the project with Cinnaire Solutions, which was also involved in La Joya Gardens, an affordable housing development that opened this year in Southwest.
Zoom in: Mariners resident George Hubble, 64, recalled his 2018 arrival after his wife died and he was "penniless, spiritual-less, beat down, man." Now, he'll be living in one of the Anchor's furnished apartments.
- Mariners taught him to surrender to his addiction rather than continue fighting it, he said.
- "I was in the Marine Corps for four years and I thought I already knew what surrender was. But I didn't find out till I got to Mariners Inn what surrender really means — it means I don't have to fight no more."