CLIENT: Hoque Global
LOCATION: Detroit, MI
YEAR: 2021 - Ongoing
As Executive Architect, MPA collaborated with Perkins + Will, Design and Landscape Architects, to design a mixed-use developmentproposed adding a dynamic, 24-7 project missing from the otherwise burgeoning Eastern Market neighborhood. The site, situated near several major transit corridors and public amenities such as the market itself and the Dequindre cut, provides an excellent location for the proposed project.
The development includes over 150 residential units, a 150 key hotel, 12,000 SF of innovation space, a 5,000 SF Food Hall, a 5,000 SF meeting space, and 7,000 of active frontage intended for commercial use. The residential component and hotel are uses sorely missing from the neighborhood as is, and would provide for much more consistent activity and use to the area, an issue many of the current business owners in the market and surrounding store struggle with when the market is not actively open.
The hotel offers a distinctive chance for visitors from outside the area to plan trips centered around the market. Its location near three professional sports stadiums means it would be in demand throughout the year, attracting guests who are new to the area.
The design of the development utilizes portions of the existing building on it’s site that has proven to be too large to accommodate a single use. Instead, we have strategically preserved portions of the building to maintain the palimpsest of the neighborhood, while allowing for efficient layouts for the new uses being proposed. The result is an exciting juxtaposition of new and old emblematic of the neighborhood and Detroit as whole.
The site design addresses several practical issues such as the demand for parking for the neighborhood in general as well as the demands from the development itself. We are able to satisfy those needs while providing large areas of public to semi-public outdoor space that are envisioned as contributing to the civic nature of the Eastern Market with complementary events and activities being held in conjunction with the Market’s programming.
The project strikes a nuanced balance between being of the neighborhood and it’s iconoclastic market while providing elements that are missing. It would contribute to the area’s growth into a 24/7 365 neighborhood while maintaining the essence of Eastern Market, one of Detroit’s most cherished spaces.
