23 Mar New Kids on the Old Block – The Lights are Bright on Broadway
The eager ICONIC reader eyes were focused on the soft opening of Detroit’s newest hotel, the Siren. The Siren hotel, or the Wurlitzer building it resides in, used to be my neighbor when I lived downtown at One John R. Most of you now know that building now as John Varvatos. It was well before Lululemon, Warby Parker, and even Chickpea in the D. There was a Good Girls go to Paris crepe shop on the block and a funky but awesome sushi-nightclub spot called OSLO, which is now the Cornerstone Barrel House*.
It is exciting to look back at the days when I was living at what is now ground zero for Detroit retail. The powerhouse retailers have all started to make their way to this tight cluster of streets just East of Woodward. The Aloft at the David Whitney, the new Siren hotel are open, the Shinola Hotel coming fall 2018 and the Element Hotel at the Metropolitan building opening December 2018.
Across Broadway from the new hotel is the Detroit Opera House which is as vibrant as ever and half a block to the south lies the Boll Family YMCA, which is no-longer the new kid on the block. Punchbowl Social is anchoring a quickly changing 1300 block on Broadway where our featured listing this week sits. The renovations have begun and we are eagerly seeking the next Detroit based business to find itself at home, with direct access to The Belt and all that is changing in our amazing city.
*on a side note, KaKu, the chef from OSLO who later went on to open as chef for Ronin in Royal Oak, most recently launched a poke concept on Long Lake and Telegraph. The self-titled KaKu, is a weekly must-have at our home and I highly recommend if you’re in the area.
Thank you for reading, I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the topic, so please comment, email or call!
Kees Janeway – Managing Partner, ICONIC Real Estate
Read last week’s most read article, The Siren Hotel Set to Open in the Wurlitzer Building this Week, from Curbed Detroit from 3/13/18 here.