28 August 8 • 2019 jn ESTHER ALLWEISS INGBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER A Capital Time in Capitol Park Food tours let you eat your way through a revitalized Downtown. A Downtown Detroit tour with eating or eating with a Downtown Detroit tour? The first was more my impression when Linda Yellin, founder of Feet on the Street Tours, took a group of 18 to see everything happening in and around Capitol Park. Her strolling brunch, “ Come Hungry, Leave Happy, ” offered on select dates through Dec. 8, takes its name from Yellin’ s popular eating tour in Detroit’ s Eastern Market. Her decision to create a new tour was sparked by the recent transformation of Capitol Park, once a city transit hub. The triangular-shaped public park on Griswold Street is loosely bounded by State Street, Washington Boulevard and Grand River. It’ s a block west of Woodward. Our morning started with hand- crafted coffee at Dessert Oasis Coffee Roasters Detroit, a large, informal hangout space in the renovated Albert Building, constructed in 1929 by archi- tect Albert Kahn. Most of the high-rise buildings here date from the 1900s-1920s. Their appearance today is a far cry from the not-so-distant past. During Detroit’ s decline in population and abandonment of buildings, many homeless and men- tally ill people congregated in Capitol Park. “ At one time, these buildings couldn’ t sell, but with the city’ s redevelopment, a bidding war broke out 10 years ago, ” Yellin said. “Now this is one of the most expensive places to live in Detroit, and the prices just keep on going up. ” She noted monthly rents of $1,400 at the Albert and up to $5,000 at the Stott, the luxurious redo (2018) of the 1929- built David Stott art deco skyscraper. Under auspices of Quicken Loans CEO Dan Gilbert’ s real-estate firm Bedrock Detroit, Sachse Construction is renovating most of the buildings on Woodward, turning them into offices and retail space. Downtown apart- ments and lofts, hotels, stores, bars and restaurants are being added at a fast clip. “It’ s exciting to see what’ s happening here, ” Yellin said. It was a dry day for our 2½-hour exploration of Capitol Park and envi- rons. A now-cleaned-up statue of Gov. Stephens T. Mason is a reminder that Capitol Park was the site of Michigan’ s first state capitol, relocated to Lansing in 1847. A historic marker commemorates Finney Barn, a stop on the Underground Railroad for slaves fleeing to Canada. Downtown Detroit Partnership provides maintenance, security and programming for Capitol Park and other spaces, including Campus Martius and Grand Circus Park. Capitol Park’ s pleasant environment includes shade trees, benches, moveable red tables and chairs, and even a small dog run. We noticed finishing touches being added to the coming outdoor Capitol Café. The owner is Eatori Market, an upscale spe- cialty grocery store in the Malcomson Building. Coming in late summer will be Leila, a casual Lebanese restaurant in the long-vacant Farwell Building. Prime + Proper steakhouse, Griswold at State, is a notable restaurant in the Capitol Park Lofts building, built in 1912. Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue, a Conservative Jewish congregation since 1921, resides in the former Fintex men’ s clothing store on Griswold at Clifford. Behind the building, IADS admin- istrative assistant Elizabeth Kannon pointed out features of the fanciful, folk art mural that Bunnie Reiss completed in 2018. Just beyond was a glimpse of Charlie McGee’ s 11-story abstract mural in black and white, on a side of the 28Grand building. arts&life TOP LEFT: The Mural at the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue. TOP RIGHT: The Shinola Hotel and its in-house restaurant are included on the tour. ABOVE: La Lanterna can be found in the Albert Building. FUTURE FOOD TOURS “Come Hungry, Leave Happy” in Capitol Park will run 10:30 a.m.- 1 p.m. Sundays, Sept. 15 and 22; Oct. 13; Nov. 10 and Dec. 8, and Wednesday, Sept. 11. Tickets are $31, and tours continue rain or shine. For information about public and private tours, visit enjoythed.org. continued on page 30 PHOTOS BY DAVID DUCKWORTH