Crosswinds Communities : Rebuilding Detroit
BIA’s Victoria Park was Detroit’s first new home community in decades;
Crosswinds continues to build

April, 2003

Reprinted from Building Business & Apartment Management

Bernard S. Glieberman, president of Crosswinds Communities and Past President of Building Industry Association of Southeastern Michigan (BIA), has announced the start of renovation on six historic town homes originally built in the late 1800s at Adelaide and John R. streets in Brush Park, Detroit.

“Downtown areas across the country have been restored and revived with fantastic opportunities for people to live, work and entertain. With the new ballparks, theaters and all of the restaurants and nightlife that have emerged over the last several years, Brush Park and downtown Detroit are keeping up with the times,” said Glieberman. “With this renovation, we are saving the rich and romantic history of the Brush Park area, updating the interiors and creating a unique opportunity for people to live where the action is, essentially Detroit’s fun zone.”

Living in the fun zone is one of the new housing trends identified by real estate experts who met recently at a conference of the Urban Land Institute in Las Vegas, a non-profit education and research organization focused on land use. Many singles and childless couples began moving to downtown Detroit in the late 1990s to be near the sports and entertainment activities. Crosswinds had homeowners on waiting lists for six years and people moving in from out of state because of the prime location.

The “Brownstones on John R,” as the renovation has been named, represents another phase of construction of Woodward Place at Brush Park. The homes are of the Richardsonian Romanesque style from 1880 to 1900s. The Brownstones on John R. feature classical Romanesque characteristics such as large brick arches surrounding the front entrance, a broad center gable, detailed molding, pilasters, corner turret bays in the two end units, copper finials and custom wood windows on a mansard roof and many more stylistic details.

The well-known Brush family of Detroit once owned the farm on what is now the Brush Park historic district. Late in the 1800s, John Askin, an Irish trader, inherited the Brush property from his wife’s family. Askin’s youngest daughter, Adelaide, married Elijah Brush. The couple inherited the farm, from the river to about where Grand Boulevard is today. All but a couple of streets in the district are named for Brush family members. Adelaide Street opened in 1853.

The development of the area in the late 1800s included elaborate row housing attracting white-collar workers who wanted to live near their bosses in the mansions on Woodward, East Jefferson and West Fort. Although many row houses were built, such as those being restored by Crosswinds, not many of them remain.

This is the second historic renovation performed by Crosswinds in the area. The first, a 5,000-square-foot mansion on Adelaide, was converted to two 2,500-square-foot homes that sold for just under $400,000 each.

“These renovations are a direct result of working closely with the city of Detroit, the Brush Park Development Corporation and the Joint Fraternal Development Corporation,” said Glieberman. “In redeveloping the Brush Park area, we wanted to save as many existing structures as possible to maintain the community’s historical architecture. We are pleased to be preserving the history of this neighborhood with the brownstones and the Adelaide mansion.”

Each town home will be rebuilt on the original footprint and the façade will be restored with reclaimed brick from the Brush Park area as well as specially manufactured brick to match the original historic features. Monahan Construction and BVH Architecture designed and constructed the three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath brick masonry homes. Plans include and enclosed courtyard garden, two-car garage and a 400-foot bonus room, which can be used as a library, additional living area or workout facility. There is a rear balcony off the third floor bedroom and a breezeway from the home to the garage and bonus room.

Sales began in January 2003 on the 2,700-square-foot homes with prices starting in the low $400,00s. Homes will be ready for occupancy during summer 2003. Within the Brush Park area, Crosswinds is building Woodward Place at Brush Park, a community of over 500 new construction luxury town homes. Prices start in the $190,000s and homes range from 1,300 to over 2,000 square feet.

Before the current developments, Crosswinds Communities was one of 13 BIA building companies to build homes in Victoria Park in 1992. BIA was the first Association in the nation to create a suburban-style environment within an inner city. It was through the vision and energy of BIA President Emeritus Jim Bonadeo, Past President Joe Slavik, Past President Herb Lawson and Executive Vice President and General Counsel Irvin H. Yackness that Victory Park became a reality.

Victoria Park represents the realization of a dream. BIA made new housing history in June of 1992. In the words of Time Magazine, “In the bleeding heart of downtown, near a city power works and a Chrysler assembly plant, Victoria Park offers serene, curving streets and handsome colonial- and Cape Cod-style homes. The incongruous setting did not deter builders from snapping up city-owned lots for a dollar apiece, then designing gracious homes with porch decks, two-car garages and cathedral ceilings. Buyers, unfazed by the city’s mean reputation, grabbed 70 of the 86 available houses, for prices that were typically 25 percent less than comparable homes in the suburbs.”