Aubry Cleaners and Federal Buildings Redevelopment

The catalyst grant was used to redevelop two vacant buildings into first-floor commercial and second-floor residential uses. The two buildings are the former Aubry Cleaners building and the Federal Avenue Building.

Highlights:
Saginaw reported in 2005:

• The advisory group orchestrated the media day event, facilitates tours of the Cool Cities projects, and has even brought in other neighborhood developers as a way of brainstorming other ideas. Because of the collaboration, one developer is seeking to create urban housing in the neighborhood similar to that of the catalyst project.
• The Cool Cities Advisory Group is collaborating with both the Downtown Saginaw Association and the West Side Business Association on several initiatives, including these:
  • Establishing design guidelines for the entire neighborhood in order to create a common feel throughout the area and tie the downtown together.
  • Expanding the arm-chair film festival, in which people gather for a weekly viewing of a movie shown outside. The movie is professionally projected onto a large screen, and has been largely successful in the past year. 
  • Promoting a vacant window art gallery, in which local artists are recruited to display artwork in vacant windows in the Cool Cities neighborhood. The goal of this program is to allow local artists a showcase for their work, as well as to eliminate empty window space in the neighborhood. 
  • The Cool Cities Advisory Group is also collaborating with the Downtown Business Association and West Side Business Association to offer interior-space assessments for local businesses. A consultant will be brought in to assess interior space of local businesses and suggest layout and design changes to make more effective use of the space. 
• AKT Peerless, a statewide environmental firm with offices in many other areas of the state, chose to stay within Saginaw’s Cool Cities neighborhood. The firm renovated a vacant drycleaners (brownfield) as its new facility, retaining 20 jobs in the area. Schafer’s Hat Shop decided to close its doors after decades of operation in the neighborhood. Luckily, a new owner took up the torch and kept the doors open, retaining three jobs and, even more important, maintaining a significant landmark in downtown Saginaw. Similarly, when Richey Rich’s Sandwich shop closed its doors, Fralia’s Restaurant immediately took its place. The site has become a favorite lunch spot for the downtown business crowd, and retained five jobs in the neighborhood.
• The neighborhood has seen several startup/expansion businesses sprout up in the district over the past year.
  • Covenant Visiting Nurse Association of Saginaw (VNA) – The 
organization has acquired room to meet the needs of its continued growth. Covenant VNA was interested in acquiring additional parking to accommodate employees and the increased traffic to and from the facility. The organization currently employs a workforce of over 300 full- and part-time people. Saginaw Future assisted in the acquisition of the former Helfrecht Building. The building was a dilapidated, vacant structure that was subsequently demolished to make room for VNA's growth needs. The city of Saginaw also agreed to close Mackinaw Street, which allows the VNA to provide a larger parking area. The VNA is expected to hire an additional 10 employees along with making an investment of $70,000 in renovation work. 
  • Duperon Corporation – The company has moved its multimillion-dollar headquarter operations to the Saginaw Tower, at 515 N. Washington Avenue in Downtown Saginaw. The new office space will provide Duperon more room to continue growing its rapidly expanding (25 percent per year) national customer base, and position it for entry into the international marketplace. Saginaw Future Inc. (SFI) assisted Duperon in the site selection process to meet its need for more operating space. The move reflects Duperon’s ongoing partnership and commitment to the economic revitalization of Saginaw. Duperon draws its employees from Saginaw and a number of other mid-Michigan communities.
  • Glen Rowan Estate Coffee House opened its doors, and has become a new morning hangout for young professionals. Three jobs were created. 
  • Old City Grill has begun renovation of the historic Carter Building, located in Old Town District of Saginaw’s Cool Cities Neighborhood. This upscale steak and lobster restaurant, which will have seating for 100 guests, also will have a microbrewery. The restaurant is set to open in the spring, and 26 jobs are expected to be created. 
  • Armory Supper Club makes creative reuse of a long-vacant building in Downtown Saginaw, which served as a training facility for the U.S. Armed Forces. A developer is renovating the structure into a Supper Club, which looks out over the Saginaw River. Twenty-five jobs are expected to be created.
  • The Savoy restaurant has opened in the neighborhood, creating four jobs. It is a popular lunch spot for downtown businesses, as well as an after-hours destination for Saginaw Spirit hockey fans. 
  • The Seitner’s Building SSP Associates invested $250,000 to restore the long-vacant Seitner’s department store in Downtown Saginaw. The facility is expected to house retail development, with number of jobs to be determined.
  • A developer is reopening the historic Shook Hotel. This structure, which dates from the 1860s, has been vacant in recent years. A bar and restaurant will be housed downstairs, creating 20 jobs, and the second and third floors will be renovated into apartments/condos.
• $3.9 million of local public investment has occurred in the neighborhood. The City recently completed construction of two docking facilities along the Saginaw River within the Cool Cities Neighborhood. The total project cost was $2.1 million. The docks serve as a connecting point between the river and the east and west sides of the city.
• Approximately $2.5 million of private investment was made within Saginaw’s Cool Cities Neighborhood.
• The neighborhood has seen a 1 percent increase in commercial property values and a 5 percent increase in residential values over the past year, based on SEV.
• The Cool Cities Catalyst projects created six new units of housing in the neighborhood. One of the apartments has already been rented to a young engineer who works downtown and wanted to live close to work as well as the nightlife of the city. Also, a developer is currently renovating a historic hotel from the 1860s and turning the space into condominiums.
• The entire riverfront district (Cool Cities Neighborhood) is being completely rezoned to commercial and mixed-use zoning, including housing. The city and local economic development agency Saginaw Future Inc. is working to help relocate traditional industrial facilities to more appropriate areas in the city. The goal is to restore the natural beauty of the riverfront and create a walkable living environment downtown.
• “Through hard work and dedication by all, we believe Saginaw is on the right path to community redevelopment. We believe the AKT Peerless project was the first Cool Cities project to be completed in the state.”