News, Oct 4, 2017
Gräbner and Hansen of VolumeOne Selected To Design Stone Soap Redevelopment in Detroit’s East Riverfront

Gräbner and Hansen of VolumeOne Selected To Design Stone Soap Redevelopment in Detroit’s East Riverfront

VolumeOne Design Studio, the firm led by Assistant Professor of Practice in Architecture Lars Gräbner and Lecturer Christina Hansen, has been selected to design the redevelopment and adaptive re-use of the historic Stone Soap building, which will be one of the first projects in the larger plan to transform the East Riverfront of Detroit. The project was announced by Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan as well as in Crain’s Detroit Business and the Detroit Free Press. The Stone Soap redevelopment is part of the city’s larger East Riverfront framework plan, designed to return the riverfront back to the citizens of Detroit. Under the plan, the East Riverfront area will continue to be transformed from a former blighted, industrial area into a vibrant waterfront for all Detroiters.

By adding a three to six-story structure the redevelopment of the historic building will be turned into a new, 124,000 sq ft mixed-use structure that includes the renovation of the existing structures. The development will feature 33 rental apartments in the renovated original structures and 30 new condos. Twenty percent of the total units, 13 apartments, will be dedicated to affordable housing, targeted to people earning 80% of the area median income, or $38,000. The number of affordable units meets the minimum 20% threshold required by the city’s affordable housing ordinance. The project also includes new retail space and new, permanent performance space for Shakespeare in Detroit, a locally based company performing Shakespeare’s works across the city.

VolumeOne has been working with the development company, Banyan Investments LLC and the Detroit Planning Office to design the $27 million project which is scheduled to begin construction in the summer of 2018.

More information about the Stone Soap Redevelopment project can be found here: http://www.v1-studio.com/Stone-Soap-Redevelopment

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