Motor City Miracle

It is all too easy to hear of the financial meltdown of the City of Detroit government and assume that all is lost.

Hardly.  People and organizations who love their city are doing exciting things in Motown.  It was my pleasure to present a SERF Certification plaque to Kathy Makino of Shelborne Development on her company’s magnificent adaptive reuse of the historic Chalmers building as Chalmers Square.

In addition to 47 new, energy-efficient housing units, this mixed-use gem features 17,000 square feet of street retail to further bolster the revival of the resurgent East Jefferson corridor (www.jeffersoneast.org).  This corridor, originally known as the Jefferson-Chalmars Historic Business District, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

We believe in architect Carl Elefante’s maxim that the greenest building is the one that is already built.

Kathy Makino and Detroit’s Jefferson East community demonstrate that the greenest neighborhood is the one that is already built.