Business I
Bill Carroll
Special to the Jewish News
ewish real estate developers historically have played significant roles
in the development and updating of storied Woodward Avenue.
Nineteenth-century Judge Augustus Woodward, after whom the
road was named, wasn't Jewish; but names like Glieberman, Farbman,
Schostak, Torgow, Landy and others, all well known in the Metro Detroit
Jewish community, currently carry on the Woodward tradition.
Thanks to them, and various other Jewish developers, the city's down-
town and New Center areas — and many places between them — are
experiencing a renaissance of commercial and residential building activity,
including offices, stores, townhouses, condos, lofts and apartments. Sales
and rentals have been swinging up and down with Michigan's economy.
Mighty Grosswinds
Bernie Glieberman of West Bloomfield, CEO of Crosswinds Communities
Inc. in Novi, has been in the building industry for 50 years, entering the
business at age 17 when his father, Louis, died. They built many homes in
northwest Detroit, followed by expansion into the suburbs.
Now, Glieberman has brought affordable housing deep into Detroit
with Crosswinds Woodward Place in Brush Park, on the east side of
Woodward, just north of the Fox Theatre and Comerica Park, and Lofts
and Townhouses at New Center, on Woodward just north of West Grand
Boulevard.
The historic Brush Park neighborhood once was the scene of grand
Victorian mansions, many facing Woodward, populated by wealthy early
Detroit businesspeople and city officials. But for the past half century, the
area has been marked by neglect and crime. Crosswinds was selected to
renovate Brush Park over six other builders.
"We worked to help get enterprise zones passed in the city that reduced
taxes on these neighborhood projects',' Glieberman explained. "Our project
didn't require a subsidy — extra money from another source — so that
housing could be sold below its real cost. This is market-rate property;
unsubsidized, middle-income condos competing in the open market."
Crosswinds. Woodward Place is a $150 million project consisting of sev-
eral hundred condos spread over 43 acres. It was built in two phases; the
second opened last month. The first phase units had 1,309 or 1,753 square
feet and were priced at $200,000 to $260,000. The second phase, in three
main buildings, offers "true townhouses:' according to Glieberman, and
range from $150,000 to $600,000.
"The buyers mainly are newlyweds or empty-nesters and a mixture of
ethnic groups',' he said. "There also are a number of reverse commuters;
people who work in the suburbs, but now want to live downtown to take
better advantage of the cultural and sports activities.
"We're really getting close to a 24-hour downtown in Detroit, a time when
the Woodward area will be bubbling with activity all of the time. This is how
it started in Manhattan and Chicago, and we always seem to follow their
trends by 10 years or so. As it stands now, after you go to a theater in the
suburbs, you can't find a place to eat after 9 p.m. And I foresee some part of
the Jewish population eventually moving downtown"
Crosswinds has only a few units left for sale in its Lofts and Townhouses
at New Center (site of the old Lelli's Restaurant). The 100-plus units are sell-
ing for $180,000, many to Wayne State University students and physicians
from nearby medical centers. "These are all vital and vibrant neighborhoods
where people can work and live and brag to their friends its the 'in' place to
Glieberman said.
*.
Jewish developers spur building
boom and avenue's rebirth *
Developer Joel Landy in his Detroit
home just off Woodward
Enter Farbman
The Farbman Group of Southfield also is making a significant contribu-
tion to modern Woodward development with its Lofts@Woodward Center
Apartments, a $10 million project along Woodward between Grand River
and Grand Circus Park, just south of the Crosswinds Woodward Place
in Brush Park. All 61 lofts there are occupied, renting for about $900 per
month for a one-room, studio-style place to a two-bedroom version on two
levels for $1,600 monthly.
Up With Woodward on page 26
JON
August 9 2007
25