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David Coates / The Detroit
News
The first-floor block wall will become the new Eton
Street Station live/work housing development in Birmingham.
Construction just started on the project, and about
13 of the 60 units have already been sold.
Downtown homes enjoy rebirth in Birmingham
Metro residents find they're ideal for combining business with the pride of home ownership
By Amy Lee / The Detroit News
BIRMINGHAM - For three years,
Alicia Martinez scoured Metro Detroit for a spot
where she could combine her home with her burgeoning
Mexican jewelry and home furnishing business.
In the spring, Martinez, her husband, Roberto Urista,
and their two small children will be among the first
families to set up shop in space immediately below
their new 3,000-square-foot town home on Eton Street
near Maple.
Combining work and home space
Live/work developments, which feature homes
above first-floor retail space, are popping
up around the country and across Metro Detroit.
Here's a list of some local live/work developments:
Oakland County: Legato Point in Walled Lake
and Eton Street Station in Birmingham
Macomb County: Shelby Town Center in Shelby
Township
Livingston County: Town Commons in Howell
and Main Street Crossing in Brighton
Source: Detroit News research
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The development, Eton Street Station, combines upscale
town homes above commercial space that can be used
for retail or small, service-oriented businesses.
The "live/work" development
echoes the classic American downtowns of the past,
designed
for residents to live, work and shop close to home.
"I've been waiting for this to happen because
I want exactly what they are able to provide," said
Martinez, who hopes to open a U.S. branch of her
parents' Mexico-based business, Artes El Zocalo,
which loosely translates to Arts of the Main Square.
"Birmingham has
that same kind of feeling of a smaller community
where people gather to sell art
and wares. This is a good move for both my family
and my business."
Urban planning experts
say "live/work" developments
are popping up in cities all across the country,
including Chicago, Boulder, Colo. and San Francisco.
Legato Point in Walled Lake, the Shelby Town Center
in Shelby Township and the Town Commons in Howell
are all examples of such developments in Metro Detroit.
"The desire for this is really strong in places
like New York and San Fran, and even in Detroit where
urbanism has gone through stigma and stress," said
John Norquist, president of the Chicago-based Congress
for the New Urbanism, a group that promotes urban
redevelopment through education and advocacy.
"It's happening
in huge neighborhoods in cities and in suburbs,
too. People like the different options,
the urban flavor that this kind of development offers."
Eton Street Station is combination of a handful
of artist lofts, 40 four-story town homes and 60
live/work units, each of which has living space atop
roughly 500 square feet of first-floor office space.
Prices range from $569,000 to $600,000, according
to said Bernie Glieberman, president of Crosswinds
Communities, which is developing Eton Street Station
and also built Main Street Crossing, a live/work
development in Brighton.
About 70 percent of the Eton Street Station units
are already sold, Glieberman said. Strong demand
for the mixed use attracted several early buyers,
such as Martinez, he said.
Buyers can use the commercial space themselves for
a business or home office, or they can lease or rent
the space to others.
"Everything that comes around goes around.
We're going back to the days where people wanted
to live right above where they work, because of traffic
and commuting, it's a very convenient thing," he
said. "It's perfect for people who work out
of the home, or are semi-retired, to have a separate
workspace to meet clients."
Newly married Cynthia and Tushar Vakhariya aren't
sure yet if Tushar will use the commercial space
for his real estate business or if they will lease
the space to another business owner. The couple bought
their Eton Street Station town home in June, when
the first phase of the development opened.
"For us, it's perfect because it's more like
living in a city than in a suburb," said Cynthia
Vakhariya, 27, a medical resident at Providence Hospital. "Tushar
is involved with so many businesses that we might
use it for ourselves, or we might have someone else
use it. It's a good investment either way."
Sprawl-conscious communities, such as Birmingham
or Ann Arbor, may also find the developments are
a good way to ensure a local flavor in a development
world filled with big chain stores, such as Wal-Mart
or Best Buy, Norquist said.
"Communities who don't want big chains coming
in do live/work to try to lure local business, local
artists or local coffee shops to try to keep from
luring big chains," he said.
You can reach Amy Lee
at (248) 647-8605 or alee@detnews.com
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