by admin on March 25, 2009
We are pleased to announce that on March 19 the Housing Commission has officially approved the land purchase of our project Exceptional Green Living on Rosa Parks. This was a necessary step towards our goal of breaking ground this June. We have 3 more city entities & public hearings to present to and receive approval from… City Planning Commission, City Council’s Econimic & Planning Committee and City Council.
On March 12, we gave a presentation to the newly formed Woodbridge Citizen’s District Council-they had excellent questions and will give their recommendation to the City’s Planning & Development Department in April. Congratulations to the new CDC & good luck with all your endeavors.
by admin on March 11, 2009
We have a schdule in place to break ground in June! Keep posted in the next month for pre-sale information and exciting news about our new contractor.
by admin on December 18, 2008
Well as we begin 2009 we have many great accomplishments to be proud of and greatful for. Exceptional Green Housing on Rosa Parks is closer to becoming a reality. We are working diligently with the City of Detroit entities to drudge through the approval process and have actually been approved for our Brownfield Tax Credit. If all goes as planned, we break ground in April 2009 and expect a completion date of July. More news to follow.
A special thank you to our entire team
by admin on October 28, 2008
We received a 6-2 vote in favor of our Brownfield Tax Credit from Detroit’s City Council today. What a great milestone for Exceptional Green Living on Rosa Parks to accomplish. A special thank you to all those supporters of our project… here we go.
by admin on October 21, 2008
Exceptional Green Living on Rosa Parks is receiving some very special treatment… our Brownfield Tax Credit vote from City Council was postponed one more week pending the review from the City Planning & Development Department and the City Planning Commission. So we will march ourselves back downtown next Tuesday (10/28) at 10:00 am ready to answer any additional questions they may have before approving our Brownfield Tax Credit. In the meantime, it’s appropriate to contact the honorable members of Detroit’s City Council to voice your support!
As a team, we are A-OK, on target and moving forward on all other fronts of this great project.
One quick acknowledgement to James Willer and our new facebook fans at Support Power of Green Housing… thank you for the foward thinking and great support-I even see our dear friend Erik Tungate has joined the group…cool!
by admin on October 15, 2008
We met again today with the City’s Planning & Economic Development Committee and we “passed”! After a less painful meeting, we met the requests of City Planning Commision and are officially approved to go in front of the entire City Council on either 10/21 or 10/28 (Date TBD) for the approval of our Brownfield Tax Credit. Here is the revised drawing of Exceptional Green Living on Rosa Parks
In addition to the City meetings, Luanne Nelson and I met with Amy Butler & Maggie Fields of State of Michigan’s Environmental Science and Services Division to discuss how to “green” our project even more. Big kudos to them– we have taken a couple of great ideas under advisement and are actively exploring the addition to our project. Thank You Thank you. Both are brilliant assets to the State of Michigan.
Steve Flum & I were interviewed by Craig Fahle on WDET (101.9 FM), Detroit Public Radio on the “Detroit Today” on Tuesday, 10/13–you can download the show- we are about 45-50 minutes into it. Fun. http://www.wdetfm.org/detroittoday/entry.php?entry=507
Patric & I met with the delightful and smart Hilary Ratnor, Ph.D., Vice President for Research with Wayne State University… we have officially begun discussions about collaborating with Wayne State on our project-we explored potential research topics-stay tuned, we will keep you all posted.
by admin on October 9, 2008
Well, another eventful day at the City! Our brilliant Architect and “peacekeeper” Steve Flum, Corey Leon from AKT Services, Luanne Nelson and myself gave our presentation along with our biggest fans from the DEGC, Mimi, Art and Jennifer, to the City’s planning & economic development comittee yesterday– wow– I was taken back by the feedback we received from Chair Barbara Rose-Collins and her ‘mockery’ of this project… I realize her comments were made because of her “old school” background relative to new technology and architecture (although we emailed every council member 2 information packets in advance and made at least 8 attempts to meet with her in person including this very morning). In the end even though we had challenges we have been invited to return next Wednesday after meeting with CPC (City’s Planning Commission) who had concerns about the “aesthetics” of our condo project– so we immediately met with CPC and fully believe we have come up with great solutions that will make everybody happy without losing the integrity of our “urban look” and affordability.
One other comment- kudos to Ben Schmitt, Free Press staff writer and WDET for giving us great coverage on the meeting… http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200881008046. Thanks!
Final thought- Interesting they would be critical of a new cutting-edge, green, sustainable, affordable, energy efficient, NEZ project that is cleaning up the blight of the neighborhood, bringing jobs to Detroit, creating over $50k/yr in property tax revenues and supported by Woodbridge Neighborhood Development Corporation, Senator Buzz Thomas, Wayne State University and most importantly all immediate neighbors including Mayor Ken Cockrel Jr.
We are just asking for Brownfield Tax Credit approval- not asking them to participate in the construction, financing, selling or design of this project as we still have to go through the entire permit process through Building, Safety & Engineering!
by admin on September 25, 2008
Yesterday morning Jason Fowler, Architect (our very talented Project Manager from Flum & Associates) and I attended the first Public Hearing for Exceptional Green Living on Rosa Parks with the Building Safety & Engineering Department of Detroit to face the City’s diverse panel to decide if the surrounding community within 300 feet is actually supportive of this new concept being built. The meeting was quite formal and facilitated by Mr. Davenport- we were officially sworn in and the meeting was recorded as we heard from John Jones of the current status of the neighborhood (great homes mixed with commercial and very blighted houses) afterwhich we heard from Jean Paul Harang from the City’s Planning & Development Department (we have nicknamed him “the rules guy”) as to our project meeting City codes– also a positive review. What I was most impressed with were the two unsolicited guests in attendance, both as diverse as two people can be but with one common goal-their concern for their neighborhood. Mr. Charles Cosgriff, a 51 year resident who has no problem with the new type of architecture we are building. Ms. Anna Schneider, a Wayne State law student and 3+ month resident was also in attendance and in great support of our green and sustainable project. What happens next? We wait for 2-3 weeks to receive the formal “approval” letter to move forward with the construction and barring any unforseen events, we were told that on the surface it looks promising for an approval to be on its way– yeah for us. ~Leslie C. Horn
by admin on September 22, 2008
On October 8th we present Exceptional Green Living on Rosa Parks to the City Council for our final approval. Exceptional Green Living on Rosa Parks was invited to participate in the application process after being approved through Part I of the Brownfield Tax Credit. This development will increase the value of the neighborhood’s real estate and remove the abandoned & blighted houses the community sees (a new Boys Scouts Of America facility is directly across the street). This “prototype” will the first (of many) of its kind in the City of Detroit bringing a new technology and awareness to Detroit and providing an “Eco-Friendly” education to the community and City on how to “live green”. It is located in a high density, urban community.
Current Site to be deconstructed after final approval from City Council
Exceptional Green Living on Rosa Parks
by admin on September 19, 2008
We did not realize how fast this project would come to fruition after meeting our architects just last January! Since then, we have attracted a team of brilliant visionaries and business people who have helped us create support from agencies like Detroit’s City Council’s Green Task Force, Senator Buzz Thomas, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Wayne County and Detroit Port Authority and more!
Stay tuned as we keep you up-to-date and catch you up on our fast progress! We will also introduce you to our talented team…
