WYANDOTTE, Mich. – The City of Wyandotte has seen plenty of development over the last decade. New jobs and businesses have been putting the Downriver town on the map, and now there will be a new spot in Downtown Wyandotte for folks to call home.
In Downtown Wyandotte, you’ll find many quaint shops and businesses, but right in the middle of that is the old City Hall building, just sitting, waiting to be redeveloped.
The building has been vacant for 13 years outside of some use around Halloween.
“I mean, the only time it had any attention was when it was a haunted house,” said Cassandra Jolliffe-Harwrylak. “And then it just still looks like a haunted house.”
Jolliffe-Hawrylak has been looking at that spooky sight for years, as it sits right across from her beauty salon Cassandra J Beauty.
Right next door is Milkins Jewelers Wyandotte.
“It was yaki for a long period of time,” said Ann Christie. “Yeah, they didn’t have anything in there.”
Christie, the sales rep at Milkins Jeweler Wyandotte, has been working there for 26 years and is ready to see some change across the street.
“It’s never good when there’s a vacant building that looks kind of trashy or rundown, so it’s always good to have something new,” Christie said.
Well, something new is coming. Rise Above Ventures announced the two-story building would be restored for a mixed-use development consisting of 35 rental units with retail and restaurant space on the first floor.
“And it’ll be great to look at something that’s going to bring a lot more, I think to the city,” said Cassandra.
The project is expected to bring at least 60 jobs and promote new economic growth through the downtown area. Cassandra says when people visit Wyandotte, the building no longer looks like a haunted house and will send a message about what’s happening in the community.
“I think it’s just going to show we are all working so hard to better the city and to grow and people wanting to live here,” Cassandra said. “I think it’s all going in the right direction.”