Data centers never sleep, running constantly, creating noise, generating heat that must be cooled by air conditioners or a liquid system, some using up to millions of gallons of water daily, requiring incredible amounts of electricity to operate
29
State tax breaks have opened the gates and drawn multiple proposals but concerns are being raised about the impact on residential electricity rates and the possible impact on state water in terms of the volume to be consumed and what to do with wastewaters.
A recap of select categories of crime occurring in the past month in Birmingham, Bloomfield Township and Bloomfield Hills, presented in map format, plus a reminder about our online interactive map with story details on public safety incidents.
20
Cage match battle for U.S. Senate; Andy Levin’s new gig; Kumar bails out of 11th district contest; governor race fields lock down; Karen McDonald’s new challenge; plus more.
The latest on The Community House; salary increases for top township officials; city’s historic presentation plan; school board vacancy candidates; private/public partnerships in Birmingham; plus more.
During the o -season we want to keep our crews busy and trucks rolling. So we are o ering our state-of-the-art
Cyclone Vacuum System Air Duct Cleaning, including a new quality furnace lter, at 50% o !
Wondering about the cold air coming in from the outside? We use a Seal-A-Door system, which creates a barrier between your home and the outside during our Air Duct Cleaning!
PUBLISHER
David Hohendorf
NEWS EDITOR
Lisa Brody
NEWS STAFF/CONTRIBUTORS
Hillary Brody Anchill | Cris Braun | Dana Casadei | Tracy Donohue | Stacy Gittleman | Austen Hohendorf
Grace Lovins | Jeanine Matlow | Katey Meisner | Gigi Nichols | Susan Peck | Carla Schwartz | Michael Scott | Mark H. Stowers
PHOTOGRAPHY/CONTRIBUTORS
Laurie Tennent | Matthew Cromwell | Theodore Michael | Mackenzie O'Brien
Laurie Tennent Studio
ADVERTISING DIRECTOR
David Hohendorf
ADVERTISING SALES
Mark Grablowski
GRAPHICS/IT MANAGER
Chris Grammer
OFFICE
970 E Maple Road / Ste. 3, Birmingham MI 48009 248.792.6464
MAILING
PO Box 1630 Birmingham MI 48012-1630
DOWNTOWN NEWSMAGAZINE GOALS/MISSION
The personnel at Downtown Newsmagazine bring a special commitment to the publishing effort, reinvesting in the local communities and working to make sure the Birmingham/Bloomfield area reaches its highest potential. Our mission dictates that we strive each month to provide a solid news and advertising product that local residents look forward to reading. Our goal is to build a community of informed citizens through the efforts of our passionate team. We are innovators producing products that go well beyond what others offer.
DISTRIBUTION/SUBSCRIPTIONS
Mailed monthly at no charge to most homes in Birmingham, Bloomfield Township and Bloomfield Hills. Additional free copies distributed at high foot-traffic locations in Birmingham/Bloomfield.
For those not receiving a free mail copy, paid subscriptions are available. To secure a paid subscription, go to our website (downtownpublications.com) and click on “subscriptions” in the top index and place your order or scan the QR Code here.
We welcome feedback on both our publication and general issues of concern in the Birmingham/Bloomfield community. Opinions can be sent via e-mail to news@downtownpublications.com or mailed to Downtown Publications, PO Box 1630 Birmingham MI 48012-1630. If you are using the mail option, you must include a phone number for verification purposes. MULTIPLE AWARD-WINNER FROM SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS
Oakland Confidential is a column of political gossip/news, gathered both on and off-therecord. We welcome possible items for this column which can be emailed to: OaklandConfidential@DowntownPublications.com. All sources are kept strictly confidential.
SENATE CAGE MATCH: As new polling by Glengariff Group shows that Democrat Congresswoman Haley Stevens (Birmingham, Oakland County) is currently in a dead heat with Republican former Congressman Mike Rogers (White Lake), with Stevens polling at 43.7 percent to Rogers’ 44.1 percent, state Senator Mallory McMorrow (DRoyal Oak, Birmingham, Clawson, Huntington Woods, Berkley, Beverly Hills and Detroit) has apparently set her sights directly at Stevens. A recent email accused both Stevens and Rogers of taking money from “big corporate donors” while she relies on “grassroots donors.” “Unlike Stevens, McMorrow’s largest share of contributions came from people giving $200 or less…” her statement read, claiming Stevens’ donations were from corporations with anti-labor practices – despite Steven’s reputation for hard work among the district’s manufacturing base. John Selleck, a Republican consultant, told The Detroit News that Stevens’ wonky, almost nerdy persona works for her amongst independent voters, the ones who will swing this election. “In all the social media videos that Stevens has done, it’s like, ‘I’m just Haley, I’m a little bit eccentric, I’m a little goofy, I’m a little nerdy, but I’m really smart, I really care. I fight hard,’” he pointed out. Political commentator Adolph Mongo wrote in Deadline Detroit that he was incredulous Dem party leaders haven’t urged McMorrow to drop out of a race he believes she is unqualified to be in. “I am calling for a neophyte named Mallory McMorrow to drop out of the U.S. Senate race. She is not qualified to be a U.S. senator… She became the ‘flavor of the month’ after a fiery response to Republican state Sen. Lana Theis of Brighton, who said colleagues like McMorrow were ‘outraged’ that they couldn’t ‘groom and sexualize kindergartners.’ McMorrow’s response to Theis thrust her into the national spotlight. National Democrats wrapped their arms around her as the future of the party… She does not deserve all the accolades being heaped upon her,” Mongo opined. While McMorrow is the darling of Instagram and MSNOW and fellow Democrat Abdul El-Sayed is running in the far left progressive lane, Glengariff pollster Richard Czuba told The Detroit News that, “Abdul El-Sayed and Mallory McMorrow have a problem with independents that Haley Stevens does not have, and I think that’s really important, because for the Democrats, they have to answer the question: Do you want to win the primary, or do you want to win the general election?…Clearly voters remember Rogers, and Republicans like him,” Czuba said. “Democrats, on the other hand, have three candidates running who just don’t have much name ID yet. With McMorrow at 24 percent, nobody knows who the heck she is, including Democrats.”
WHOLE NEW GIG: Former Congressman Andy Levin (D-Bloomfield Township, Royal Oak, most of Macomb County) and infamous union organizer, has done a 180-degree turn now that he has hit his Medicare years. As 2025 closed out, Levin posted on LinkedIn that he and his wife Mary, longtime Bloomfield Township residents, had purchased “Stokely Creek Lodge, an iconic and stunning cross country ski and snowshoe resort in the hills above Lake Superior, just north of Sault Saint Marie, Ontario.” Levin, a longtime outdoorsman, said they have been going to Stokely Creek Lodge for decades.
“We’ve been snowshoeing, skiing, canoeing and hiking in the Algoma region of Ontario since before we were married. In fact, I proposed to Mary on snowshoes high atop the Awausee Trail in Lake Superior Provincial Park. Our whole family has been going to Stokely Creek Lodge for years. It’s the highlight of every winter… Simply put, Stokely is the most fantastic place to cross country ski and snowshoe in the middle of this continent,” noting it often makes top 10 lists. Ever the politician – now the salesman – Levin is promoting the lodge, where visitors can enjoy nature without lifting a finger. “There are lovely rooms to accommodate 85 and a dining room that feeds up to 100. Stokely serves three delicious meals a day –buffets at breakfast and lunch and a sit-down dinner. If you want to ski or snowshoe all day, no problem – just ask the staff for a bag lunch at breakfast, and you can enjoy it at one of the six warming huts (complete with wood stoves) that dot the trails. We have a surfeit of ideas for Stokely… Organic gardens in the summer? Progressive retreats? People bringing their instruments and
jamming every night? Renewable energy powering the place? Family reunions?” We wish Andy and Mary all the best in their latest endeavor. “I’m grateful for the curveballs life throws our way,” he said.
BAILING OUT: Wayne State University trustee Dr. Anil Kumar of Bloomfield Township, who had announced his candidacy for Oakland County’s 11th District congressional seat, currently held by Democratic Congresswoman Haley Stevens who is running for Senate, announced he is dropping out, “citing personal reasons and a commitment to lead with integrity in this moment,” he said in a release. Democrats running for the open seat are Michigan state Senator Jeremy Moss,Don Ufford AishaFarooqi and Mike Steger, while Republican candidates are Anthony Paesano,Stu Baker, AntonioPrieto and John Paul Torres. Kumar was lagging in funding, notably behind Moss, who earlier had only raised $5,000 to Moss’ over $627,000. Kumar previously unsuccessfully ran for this congressional seat, in both 2014 and 2016. In 2014, he came in second (32 percent to 34 percent) to candidate Bobby McKenzie, who eventually lost to Republican Dave Trott. In 2016, Kumar was the Democratic candidate, losing in the general election to Trott, 40 percent to Trott’s 53 percent. In 2018, Kumar, a physician and educator, turned his sights to the Wayne State University Board of Governors election, where he was one of two Democrats to win a seat. “I did not enter this race as a job promotion or for job security,” Kumar said. “I entered because our community deserves experienced leadership that truly cares – leadership with the courage and ability to fix a broken healthcare system, expand educational opportunity, and build real prosperity for every family who calls Michigan’s 11th District home.”
SWITCHING GEARS: After weeks of whispers, Michigan Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist II made it official in mid-January – he gave up his failing attempt at a gubernatorial campaign to try his hand at a run for the Democratic nod for secretary of state. Gilchrist’s departure from the governor’s race gives Democratic front-runner (and prolific marathon racer) and current Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson an apparent straight shot to the August primary anointment. Gilchrist’s as secretary of state candidate, which is chosen by Democratic party delegates at their party’s convention in April, is not nearly as assured – although from reports he is Dem leaders favored candidate. He will face off against Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum, former state Senator Adam Hollier (who dropped out of the MI-13 congressional race and was booted from that campaign in 2024 due to fraudulent petition signatures) and former Michigan Lottery Commissioner Suzanna Shkreli. Deputy secretary of state Aghogho Edevbie had announced his run for the party nomination but withdrew after Gilchrist’s decision. “At heart, I’m a public servant, an entrepreneur, a dad, a husband, and an engineer who spent a lot of my life making government actually work for people,” Gilchrist said in a video announcement. As secretary of state, I will shine a light on dark money and put the public first. I will modernize licensing and registration by providing smart, 21st-century service. I’ll protect your privacy and never allow your identity, voter registration information, or license plate data to be mined by big tech companies or surveilled by the Trump administration. Byrum accused him of just looking for “his next paycheck,” and that voters need someone who knows elections “backwards and forwards.” Byrum has her own baggage, which will likely come up in a convention tussle, including a personal issue with her juvenile son who was thrown out of school over a sexual assault accusation. Shkreli said her campaign is building fundraising momentum and “national buzz.” She has raised over $300,000 since announcing in November – which is admirable, but just a dent to Gilchrist’s $1 million that he is bringing over from his governor’s race. And after eight year’s as Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s number two, his statewide and tech profile, while not as high voltage as Benson’s, is brighter than any of the other SOS candidates. Stay tuned.
THE FINAL FIELD: With the exit of Garland Gilchrist from the gubernatorial contest for 2026, the final list of contenders seems to be shaping up. Left at this point on the Democratic side at Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson, although some are placing bets that the latter may well decide in coming months to also consider withdrawing due lack of traction at this point in the race. Of course, former Detroit mayor Mike Duggan will stay the course given that polling showing him as well positioned as the two major party candidates. But over on the Republican side, there are over a half dozen wannabes at this point in time. There’s second-term Congressman John James; former Michigan attorney General Mike Cox, who ran in 2010; former Speaker of the House Tom Leonard; Michigan
State Senator Aric Nesbitt; and AnthonyHudson who moved here from Texas in 2012 and ran in the 2024 Republican primary for a U.S. House seat. We still list chaplain Ralph Rembrandt, who says he is still running but he, and a few other lesser-known candidates, have been left off the invitation lists to GOP events of late. Still unknown at this writing are the plans of Bloomfield Hills millionaire Perry Johnson who ran in 2022. He should be about 78 years of age this year and although he was present last year at the Mackinac Island gathering of possible contenders, not much has been heard recently from his camp. Then there is the question of Bloomfield Township businessman Kevin Rinke, of the Rinke automotive firm fame, who was also at the Republican island get-together. Party insiders say that the word on the street is he won’t be running. Keep in mind that both these two possible candidates could easily self-fund a run for the state’s top spot.
CHANGING DISTRICT: Michigan District 7 for the U.S. House has a history of flipping in the last two election cycles and it could well happen come the general election showdown in 2026. Now held by Republican Tom Barrett, this sprawling district takes in a sliver of Oakland County (Milford and Lyon townships), along with the counties of Ingham, Livingston, Clinton, Shiawassee and Genesee. In the 2022 race, Barrett lost to Democrat Elissa Slotkin who has now moved on to the Senate. Barrett tried again in 2024 and beat Democrat Curtis Hertel Jr., now the chair of the Michigan Democratic party. But political observers say it will be a tight contest this year, with The Cook Political Report ranking the district as a “toss up” for 2026. Six Democrats have filed so far for this contest, and December polling had Barrett at 42 percent against Bridget Brink who clocked in at 40 percent. Brink, who Barrett is trying to paint as a carpetbagger who just moved to the state, was originally appointed by President Joe Biden to be the ambassador to Ukraine, a position she quit in protest this past April over handling of the war-torn country by President Donald Trump. The other more notable candidate from the pack of Democrats is Matt Maasdam, a former Navy SEAL who had been an aide to former President Barrack Obama – whose impressive military career included carrying the nuclear football and the codes. In that money is a big factor in such a race, here’s a cash-on-hand snapshot as of the end of last September: Barrett, $1.79 million; Brink, $738,000; and Maasdam, $395,000.
NOMINATION BUZZ SAW: In less than three months state Democrats will convene to determine the fate of who will represent the party in the 2026 elections for a number of offices, among them the attorney general slot on the ballot. Three attorneys are vying for the party nomination: Oakland County Prosecuting Attorney Karen McDonald, former Western Michigan District U.S. Attorney Mark Totten and Eli Savit, Washtenaw Prosecuting Attorney. Thanks to the work of Detroit Free Press reporter Tresa Baldas, we now learn the details of a formal complaint filed against McDonald for her handling of the prosecution of the members of the Crumbley family (parents and son) for the deaths of four students in the Oxford High School mass shooting, which some say could well tip the convention nomination on April 19. The formal complaint was filed by Nancy J. Diehl, a former president of the Michigan Bar Association whose resume includes time served on the Judicial Tenure Commission and close to 30 years as Wayne County Prosecutor. The gist of the complaint: McDonald violated both court and professional rules to gain “fame” for herself, which influenced pre-trial publicity through the use of a public relations firm, withholding evidence from the defense and allowing a television firm access to office machinations while a gag order had been placed on those involved in the trial. McDonald’s office reportedly dismissed the complaint as a “political attack.” While she has time as an Oakland County Circuit Court Judge and some overdue and welcomed changes in her office on her side, McDonald has two worthy opponents for the nomination. In particular, Savit from Washtenaw County who has matched, if not surpassed, her by introducing changes to his office but also has a track record of legal involvement, aside from his current position, on women’s reproductive health rights, LGBTQ+ issues and environmental concerns. This nomination fight should prove a highlight of the convention.
Kanata Richardson made Bloomfield Hills High School history by becoming the first female wrestler to not only complete in Michigan High School Athletic Association’s (MHSAA) finals, but doing so two years in a row, earning first prize in her weight class last year.
The champion wrestler aspires to repeat the same success this season at MHSAA’s state finals on March 6-7 at Detroit’s Ford Field. Her 18th birthday is on the first day of the competition, so she hopes that it will bring her extra luck in achieving her goal.
The dedicated and determined senior has overcome the challenges of surgeries on both knees as well as the interruption of in-person sports during the recent global pandemic.
“I set the goal in ninth grade that I was going to make the state championship. At the time, I was on crutches from blowing out my right knee which made my credibility a little shaky, but I worked really hard. I know that I am the maker of my own outcome – and I ended up making it to states my sophomore year.”
Besides the friendships, coaches, and connections, Richardson is drawn to wrestling for the accountability: “You can’t hide. What happens on the mat is based on your decisions and performance…You’re competing against yourself and your opponent.”
She initially became interested in the sport when she was living in Grosse Pointe and participating in martial arts. Once she entered middle school, she was able to join the school’s girls wrestling team. “When I was in sixth grade, I could practice with the team but not compete. I became captain of the team and fell in love with the sport.”
In seventh grade, Richardson and her family moved to Bloomfield Hills, but due to the pandemic, she was unable to start her first wrestling season with practices and competitions until the following year. She also played lacrosse until her knee injuries prohibited her from participating in field sports.
To keep up her training, Richardson belongs to Michigan Revolution Wrestling Club which allows her to travel and compete nationally. She also enjoys bodybuilding, weightlifting, and nutrition as well as a part-time job at Life Time. When she has time, she loves to crochet.
Richardson finds inspiration and support through her family – her mom, Jelane Richardson Oginsky, her stepdad, John Oginsky, and her younger sister, Madiba, who, despite health challenges caused by epilepsy, is also on the wrestling team.
Although Richardson wasn’t sure she would be going to college because of the challenges she faced during her high school years with two extensive surgeries and recoveries, she recently committed to attend Northern Michigan University in Marquette, where she is excited to be on the women’s wrestling team and plans to major in psychiatry with a focus on pediatrics and a minor in the school’s Deaf Studies/ASL program.
“At a tournament, I saw a coach signing to a deaf wrestler and it was one of the most moving things I’ve ever seen. I want to be able to help other wrestlers in their journey no matter their circumstances.”
While wrestling is still considered a male-dominated sport, Richardson wants to encourage other girls to try the sport that is now the nation’s fastest-growing sport for girls and women at the scholastic and collegiate levels.
“There are wrestlers of all weights, shapes and sizes. There are wrestlers who are blind, deaf and have no legs. In this community there is a lot of love and a spot for everyone.
“Wrestling is a tough sport but it’s the best thing I’ve ever done and I’m glad I pushed forward and stayed in it.”
Story: Tracy Donohue
Laurie Tennent
BY MARK H. STOWERS
Every time you search the internet for information, from “how to make Detroitstyle pizza” to “tell me about Michigan turtles,” or stream your favorite show or even send an email, those requests are routed to the nearest, fastest-available data center through a global network that prioritizes low latency (speed) and proximity to you, drawing from many locations, such as Ohio, Oregon, or even Ireland, rather than one single place. As the world continues to rely on the World Wide Web for information, commerce and more, data centers become increasingly essential, valuable, and relied upon to keep the world moving forward.
But what exactly is a data center? It’s a dedicated, specialized facility that houses computer systems, servers, storage and networking equipment to process, store, and distribute large amounts of data, forming the backbone of digital services such as streaming, cloud computing and Artificial Intelligence (AI). The United States currently has more than 38 percent of the entire world’s data centers. DataCenterMap.com notes that the US has 3,779 facilities, with Virginia (561) Texas (383) and California (283) hosting the most. Michigan has 61, while Illinois has 195, and Ohio has 191.
The push for larger data centers is a race with China. Experts have stated that there is a need for at least one super data center to be built daily to keep up with the current demand. This “intelligence explosion” continues to multiply the need for more data centers. China ranks behind the United States, as datacentermap.com notes, with 364 data centers. The site lists 10,513 data centers across 174 countries. The U.S. has 3,779 of those. The site’s global database includes information from data center operators and service providers offering colocation, cloud and connectivity services. They cover everything from hyper-scale to edge data centers, in both smaller and tier one markets in popular metros.
The Southfield City Council just approved a $1.5 billion data center just south of 696, near the Farmington Hills line. The site plan was approved in mid-December 2025, despite objections from two dozen-plus Southfield residents.
Data centers come in different sizes depending on what they are intended to accomplish. Micro data centers require less than one megawatt of power and have less than 10 racks of servers. Small data centers require one to five megawatts and have anywhere from 500 to 2,000 servers and are less than 20,000 square feet. Medium data centers require 30-50 megawatts of power and are often 10,000 to 100,000 square feet. Large/hyper-scale data centers need 50 to 100-plus megawatts, have 3,000 to 10,000+ racks and are 100,000+ square feet to millions of square feet.
Megawatts (MW) is a primary measure, indicating total IT load, cooling and infrastructure power. Racks are measured in standard rack units (U); large centers have thousands of racks. Square footage ranges from small rooms to massive campuses, often tens of thousands or millions of square feet. Density (kW/rack) details how much power (kilowatts) is packed into each rack (low: <4kW, high: >16kW).
According to datacentermap.com, Michigan currently has 61 larger data centers, spanning from Alpena to Grand Rapids, Lansing and Detroit. Smaller data centers have existed in the state for more than two decades. The first “large data center” was built in 2017 by Switch in Caldonia, near Grand Rapids. The Pyramid is one of five Switch data centers geographically distributed across the country, serving each latency zone. The nearly two-million-square-foot property, formerly a Steelcase furniture building, was built because of the attractiveness of the Mitten State’s tax incentives, which had been voted in just two years earlier to attract the data center. State lawmakers rushed a data center tax break bill through the legislative process in 2015 to attract the project to Michigan.
The company said at the time it was weighing multiple location options. Following the state’s adoption of those new tax breaks, Switch’s founder and CEO Rob Roy said at the time, “Without the tax incentives, Switch couldn’t build in Michigan. None of the clients would ever come.”
At the time, former state Senator and Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof was quoted in a datacenterknowledge.com article, “In the legislature, we took very seriously our commitment to creating public policy that would enable and encourage new companies like Switch to make Michigan the most competitive state in the region for economic development.”
Last January, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed House Bill 4906 into law as Public Act 207 of 2024, amending the Michigan General Sales Tax Act. The new law extended the current sales tax exemption for data center equipment through 2050, but only for qualified data centers. These include data center operators that invest a minimum of $250 million and create 30 jobs paying 150 percent of the local median wage. The law also established new exemptions for enterprise data centers (private, purpose-built facilities owned and operated by a single organization to house its critical IT infrastructure for running business
applications and processing data), including additional benefits for facilities that locate on brownfield redevelopment sites or any former industrial power plant property. These exemptions would run through 2065. The law also includes stronger environmental standards, such as requiring at least one green building and sourcing 90 percent of electricity usage from renewable energy. Exemption certificates are to be issued by the Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF), and no new certificates will be issued after 2029.
The subsidies have worked, attracting interest from data center developers looking to do business in Michigan. At least 35 other states have or are considering similar incentives.
But was this the opening of Pandora’s box?
These data centers never sleep, running constantly, creating noise, generating heat that must be cooled by air conditioners or a liquid system some using millions of gallons of water daily, and requiring incredible amounts of electricity to operate. U.S. Department of Energy statistics show that in 2023, data centers consumed 4.4 percent of all electricity generated, and by 2028, that could triple. Just using ChatGPT to write an email uses about 10 times as much electricity as a regular Google search.
In Oakland County, there are 29 data centers and counting. Michigan has 43 global data centers with 15 of those located in Oakland County including DT1 Detroit Data Center, Southfield Data Center, Detroit DTA Center (DC1), DTW02 – FNSI –Detroit Data Center, Southfield Data Center NW (DC2), Southfield Data Center W (DC3), Verizon Detroit 2, Detroit 1 Data Center, Internet 123 Data Center, Detroit 4 Data Center, Southfield SFJ1 Data Center – all located in Southfield.
There is also the Detroit North Data Center in Auburn Hills, Detroit Data Centers TYM1 and TYM2 and the DTW02 – FSNI – Detroit Data Center in Troy. There is one in Royal Oak, the Royal Oak MI Data Center. The complete list can be found at datacenters.com.
The Southfield City Council just approved a $1.5 billion data center just south of 696, near the Farmington Hills line. The site plan was approved in mid-December 2025, despite objections from two dozen-plus Southfield residents. The project will be the first data center built by California-based developer Metrobloks. Plans call for 217,030 square feet, 100 megawatts of electric power, and occupancy of 12.9 acres of a mostly vacant site along Inkster Road north of 11 Mile. DTE would first have to “deliver power” to the site before construction could begin, possibly in 2027 or 2028. The data center would employ a closed-loop water system, which would use significantly less water than larger "hyper-scale" data centers. The facility is expected to create 35 full-time jobs and 150 to 200 construction jobs.
In Lyon Township, Project Flex is underway. City officials did not return calls or emails regarding the project, but a press release on the township website details the data center project. The project site, South Hill Business Park West, is a 172-acre
The first largescale, hyper-scale data center is the massive "Stargate" project in Saline Township in Washtenaw County, a $7 billion joint venture by OpenAI, Oracle,and Related Digital for AI development spanning 575 acres.
area zoned I-1 Light Industrial and I-2 General Industrial between Milford Road and South Hill Road. The proposed data center will include six buildings totaling approximately 1.8 million square feet of floor area and a utility substation. As of December 11, 2025, the site plan has not been completed because the applicant has not submitted hard copies of the updated plans and supporting information required by the conditions of approval. Once the township receives the information and reviews it for completeness in accordance with the conditions of approval, the plans will be approved and will be valid for two years, until September 8, 2027. Once the final site plans have been submitted for review, the applicant must apply for a detailed engineering review and obtain approvals from all applicable agencies prior to commencing construction.
Data centers have been the target of protestors at the Michigan State Capitol. Organizers of the events describe their foundational beliefs as “Michigan needs to slow down and do this right. That means ending special tax breaks for Big Tech data centers, pausing new projects until their environmental, economic, and public health impacts are fully studied, and ending backroom deals by requiring full public hearings at the MPSC. It also means standing with local governments and townships that choose to say no.”
Michigan communities are also seeing a rush of data centers, but they understand they need time to make the best decisions and prepare. Springfield Township passed a six-month moratorium on data center proposals. The Springfield Township Board of Trustees approved a plan that prohibits any data center proposals from being accepted for review, considered, approved, or otherwise allowed during the 180-day time frame. They also reserved the right to extend the time frame if necessary. In a press release from the township, supervisor Ric Davis explained, “at the December 11, 2025, meeting of the Springfield Township Board, we passed a resolution establishing a temporary moratorium on data center applications. This action gives us the time we need to study the impact of these facilities, engage with public safety and utility partners, write enforceable, fair, and protective zoning ordinances and standards, and ensure community input is part of the process.
“With this moratorium in place, we are in a far stronger position than many other communities that were forced to react to data center proposals without time to develop thoughtful, comprehensive ordinances. We are using this time wisely — to plan, to coordinate, and to prepare for development that serves the best interest of Springfield Township,” according to Davis.
The city of Pontiac in recent weeks joined the ranks of communities enacting moratorium.
Michigan is a target for data centers due to tax incentives, a northern climate that helps reduce cooling costs, access to water and rural areas for locations. The first large-scale, hyper-scale data center is the massive "Stargate" project in Saline Township in Washtenaw County, a $7 billion joint
venture by OpenAI, Oracle,and Related Digital for AI development spanning 575 acres, with 250 acres to be developed. It is projected to be the largest investment in Michigan history, with construction starting in 2026 after recent regulatory approvals for power supply.
However, the township didn’t want the data center, and the rezoning was voted down twice, according to township attorney Fred Lucas.
“The data center people came in and made a proposal for a conditional rezoning, which was denied by the planning commission and by the township board. They (along with the landowners) filed suit in Washtenaw County Circuit Court, and after some discussion with separate counsel, the board agreed to enter into a consent agreement back in October,” Lucas said.
Ground has been broken on the site off of US-12 for the industrial zoned site, but not before the parties involved hammered out a consent judgment that actually benefited the township.
“The township didn’t want it. The county board didn’t want it,” Lucas said. “One of three things could happen with the lawsuit. Number one, we could lose and we could end up with data center without a lot of the protections we built into the consent judgement. We could win but we could still have ended up with a data center. Zoning does not apply to schools and other governmental entities. The data center that the University of Michigan is proposing isn’t subject to local zoning. Even if we won, we could have ended up with a data center but end up with a data center that provided no revenue to the township or other protections that we built in. The developer indicated to us that even if their client went away, they would look for another one for this site, even a school. The township made the decision to settle the lawsuit.”
The consent judgment, found on the township’s website, salinetownship.org, provides significant protection for the township. The site can be used only as a data center, with no expansion or solar farms on the property. Two hundred acres of wetland, open space and agricultural land will be preserved for agricultural use, and nearly 48 acres of wetlands and woods are protected by a conservation easement. The center cannot use an evaporative cooling system and will limit water use to restrooms, humidity, landscaping, fire protection and general maintenance. If any nearby wells or ponds go dry as a result of water usage by the data center, the tenant will pay all costs to restore the ponds and wells. A Farmland Preservation Trust Fund to assist farmers was created with an initial $2 million, with another $2 million to be added within a year. A Community Investment Fund of $2 million will be established for use by the township for community investment projects such as playgrounds and other amenities for children. Local fire departments will receive funding from the data center, including $7 million for Saline, $500,000 for Clinton Township, and $500,000 for the Manchester Fire Department, to be used at their discretion.
The developer cannot sell or lease the project to a non-profit, charitable, or other tax-exempt entity.
Alan T. Ackerman
Christopher Dolan
John Dorsey
Alan Ducatman
Alexander Eisenberg Mark Elliott
Elaine S. Fieldman
Allison Friedman
Reida Gardiner
Cheryl Germeroth
Marilyn M. Goldberg
Deborah Gordon
Maureen/Lawrence Grady
Ned Greenberg
Marc Greenlee
Pat Hardy
Jack Harned
Jill Harris
Arnold Hirsch
Amy Hochkammer
Garrett Hohendorf
Steven Howell
Sally Ingold
Steven Jacob
Camille Jayne
special email alerts when there is breaking news of interest. During the month we also send out our political gossip newsletter (Oakland Confidential) and each month we also email our restaurant newsletter (Metro Intelligencer). On a biweekly schedule we send out our Threatened Planet newsletter with aggregated environment stories from publications around the world.
We remain strong, but to continue offering our products at no charge, and continue to grow in terms of what we offer to readers, we ask local residents for community support in the form of donations.
Our thanks to those listed here who donated to support local journalism, and to donors who asked to remain anonymous.
Cynthia Rose
Peter Ruseckas
Dan Schechter
William Seklar
Ronald Sheffield
Larry Sherman
Keith Sirlin
Andrew Siudara
Jean Steed
Emily Tobias
David J. Underdown Jr.
Annie VanGelderen
Stef VanHellemont
Wendy Wagenheim
Robin Welford
Gail Whitty
Andrea Wilkins
Randi Yaffa
Stephani Yates
Publicity City PR
The Health Nut
The JAYNE Group
Walker Professional Writing Services
DTE has stated it can ramp up production at existing power plants, buy power on the open market, and build battery storage facilities but in the long-term, they’ll likely build new fossil-fuel plants as they absorb new demand.
If the data center is decommissioned, the developer will demolish it at its expense and will grade and restore the land. A surety bond of at least $5 million and no more than $10 million will be posted by the developer, and the amount will be reviewed by the township engineer every two years. One of the key requirements is that sound emitted from the operation of the data center will not exceed 55 decibels at all property lines. This would be equal to the sound of a running refrigerator.
“We listened to the concerns of the residents and we incorporated all of that and made it more restrictive than they actually first proposed,” Lucas said. “We figured if we’re going to have to deal with this, we might as well get some money out of these guys. The board decided to deal with the devil they know rather than one they do not know.”
Lucas noted that the landowners were not going back to farming and were even looking at making it a housing development.
“This is a $7 billion-dollar investment when all is said and done. This is the best of a bad situation for the township. It was the least offensive and provided the greatest amount of protection we could give to the residents,” Lucas said.
He also explained that the center will “generate an enormous amount of taxes just from the real estate tax basis, it’s going to provide a tremendous amount of money for both the county and the township and other entities that rely upon local tax and that’s with an industrial development tax break.”
One of the main problems will be the energy needed to run the Stargate facility that is expected to open in 2027. The power needed to run the facility which Consumers Energy officials forecast to be 2.65 gigawatts in new demand in the entire area while DTE officials are negotiating for a three gigawatts’ worth of data center capacity on top of the Saline Township proposal. The entire state of Michigan’s peak electrical demand is near 18 gigawatts. That energy demand could surge by 39 percent. The Stargate Project’s need will be at least 1.4 gigawatts of the 2.65. The 1.4 gigawatt number is equivalent to more than one million homes.
DTE has stated it can ramp up production at existing power plants, buy power on the open market, and build battery storage facilities that can be recharged during off-peak hours to meet the need. But in the long-term, both DTE and Consumers officials have said that they’ll likely build new fossil-fuel plants as they absorb new demand. The utilities insist they can do so while meeting Michigan’s 2040 deadline to achieve 100 percent clean energy but no specifics have been offered.
Spokespeople for both utilities said they will reveal further details next year, when they file what’s known as integrated resource plans with the Michigan Public Service Commission.
“We look forward to working with stakeholders and the commission to chart the best path forward for our customers and the state,” DTE spokesperson Jill Wilmot said in a press release.
Ryan Lowry, DTE Corporate Communications,
said, “DTE will serve the proposed Saline data center project with our existing power plants and renewable energy resources, combined with the additional battery storage that the data center customer will pay for. Depending on the number of additional data centers that decide to come to Michigan, and the size of their operations, the construction of new generation plants, both renewable and baseload, may be needed.
Generation plans are addressed under the state’s integrated resource planning (IRP) framework, which we look forward to continuing to partner on with the Michigan Public Service Commission and other interested parties.”
Lowry also noted the broader customer base will be protected from data center cost to the grid.
“We appreciate the Michigan Public Service Commission's review and approval of our special contracts for Oracle’s data center project. These contracts protect our customers — including ensuring that there will be no stranded assets — while enabling Michigan's growth. DTE Energy has an obligation to serve any customer, including data centers, that come into our electric service territory in southeast Michigan. That’s why we’ve been so focused on making sure our broader customer base is protected with these contracts to ensure they will not subsidize data center rates. We acknowledge there’s a range of viewpoints and emotions about this decision. We remain deeply committed to supporting our customers and the communities we serve by delivering the safe, reliable energy they depend on each day.”
Matt Helms, Public Information Officer for the Michigan Public Service Commission, declined an interview for this article but did offer a statement.
“The MPSC’s role in data centers is limited to the consideration of utility power supply contracts to serve data centers. We will continue to monitor these contracts in our role as a knowledgeable, impartial regulator committed to consumer protection, fairness and transparency, to ensure that the costs of serving data centers are borne by the data centers and not other ratepayers.”
The MPSC decided that both DTE and Consumers Energy may create a new rate class for data centers in the future, and the changes apply to new customers with a load of 100 megawatts or more, including both data centers and other very large industrial customers. Those contracts will be a minimum of 15 years and stipulate that even if the facility does not use the amount of energy expected, they will pay at least 80 percent of the contracted capacity. Consumers is looking for a data center rate increase while DTE is looking to negotiate individual contracts with data centers.
In regard to the Saline Starship Data Center, DTE asked for the MPSC to approve special contracts that when approved “will not increase rates, rate schedules or the cost of services to customers.”
The MPSC also stated, “In short, the Commission conditioned its ex parte approval of the special contract on commitments from DTE Electric that no costs of serving the data center
Aside from protecting current customers from underwriting the costs of powering these data centers, another critical issue is the need to keep them cooled and the environmental impact of water once it is used to cool data centers.
customer will be borne by other DTE customers.”
Michigan’s data center tax break law requires the facilities to get 90 percent of their electricity from clean energy within six years after being built. Environmentalists say they’ll be closely reviewing data center electricity contracts to make sure they comply.
But on January 9, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed a Petition for Rehearing with the MPSC concerning DTE’s ex parte approval of two special contracts to service the new Saline Township data center. She wants transparency and not heavily redacted contracts that offer little insight to the DTE and MPSC agreements.
“I remain extremely disappointed with the Commission’s decision to fast-track DTE’s secret data center contracts without holding a contested case hearing,” said Nessel. “This was an irresponsible approach that cut corners and shut out the public and their advocates. Granting approval of these contracts ex parte serves only the interests of DTE and the billion-dollar businesses involved, like Oracle, OpenAI, and Related Companies, not the Michigan public the Commission is meant to protect,” Nessel said. Nessel further explained, “The Commission imposed some conditions on DTE to supposedly hold ratepayers harmless, but these conditions and how they’ll be enforced remain unclear. As Michigan’s chief consumer advocate, it is my responsibility to ensure utility customers in this state are adequately protected, especially on a project so massive, so expensive, and so unprecedented. As my office continues to review all potential options to defend energy customers in our state, we must demand further clarity on what protections the Commission has put in place and continue to demand a full contested case concerning these still-secret contracts.”
Aside from protecting current customers from underwriting the costs of powering these data centers, another critical issue with data centers is the practice of keeping them cooled.
Most rely on water, using either a closed-loop system or evaporative cooling. One of Michigan’s most precious resources is water, and data centers – depending on how they are cooled – can use an expansive amount of it.
There is also a major concern about the environmental impact on water once it is used to cool these data centers.
Evaporative cooling, a water-intensive process that uses water vapor to cool equipment, can release contaminants into sewer systems or into rural processes that include holding ponds, potentially endangering the environment by releasing harmful, concentrated nitrates that could possibly work their way into aquifers. Although some say that used cooling water can just be sent to local wastewater treatment facilities but not all systems are capable of filtering out the nitrates.
The Saline Township data center will use closed-loop technology, in which cooling water is recycled through the system, reducing the facility’s water use to that of a typical office building.
However, this requires more electricity to repeatedly cool the water.
Douglas Jester is Managing Partner at 5 Lakes Energy, where he specializes in economic analysis and modeling for energy policy, and in expert witness testimony before utility regulatory commissions. He’s been an expert witness in cases involving data centers and has also managed data centers.
“Those tax exemptions are very valuable and I think all of these big data centers are going to comply with the requirements to be eligible,” Jester explained. “Basically, if you go back a couple of decades, data centers were air-cooled – essentially giant air conditioners that pulled the heat out and discharged it into the air but now the energy density of the computers is so high that they cannot be air-cooled. They must be liquid-cooled. It can be water, it can be something else.”
Jester also explained there are other alternatives to liquid cooling.
“With dry cooling, they’re not using water at all on the side of discharging the heat. That’s all being done into the air through heat exchangers. And alternatively, it could be used as heat for somebody else if, say, hypothetically somebody wants to put a greenhouse next to a data center or something, the heat can be discharged in a way that it’s usable. Data centers of this size produce an enormous amount of heat, so I’m not suggesting that I think they’re going to use up this heat in productive uses. I’m just telling you that it’s technically feasible. There’s a data center proposed in Lansing from a company called Deep Green. It’s a United Kingdom company. And what they’re proposing is that the heat from the data center go into the downtown Lansing district heating system.”
Oakland County state Senator Rosemary Bayer (D-West Bloomfield) has been involved in legislation protecting residents when it comes to rates for these data centers. But she is also a member of the Great Lakes Legislative Caucus which includes all of the states and provinces that touch the Great Lakes. She specifically deals with water and data centers as chairman of the Water Use Committee.
“I introduced the first three bills associated with data center regulation we are starting to work on it here in Michigan, and other states are doing things. I mean, it’s a very fast-moving industry, and law is not a fast-moving industry. Our challenge is trying to stay in front of it as best we can as there are multiple issues for us here in Michigan,” Bayer said. “When they first came, it was odd, because about three months before the first one showed up to talk to us about it, I had been reading articles about things that were happening on the eastern coast of the United States. Virginia is having a lot of problems. They’ve got way too many. They’ve had aquifers drop. And then you start reading about what’s happening on the west side. It’s worse. I said, ‘You know what, guys, we’re going to need to learn about this.’ And everybody just said, you put it on the list kind of thing. Nobody got to it until there’s one at the door – big data companies,
If you go back a couple of decades, data centers were air-cooled – giant air conditioners that pulled the heat out but now the energy density of the computers is so high, they cannot be air-cooled –they must be liquidcooled.
and they wanted a data center. We got in some pretty strong fights about it here in the legislature because people didn’t know enough. Your position was based on a very small amount of information, and so we’ve been struggling with that. But I think we’re starting to get our heads around it, and partly because of my work, to be honest. I’m working in understanding what are the issues and what can be done. And what should be done.”
She noted, “It’s our job to protect the resources that we have, whether they’re people resources or water or fresh air or whatever. We have to do all those things at once and not knowing very much about the industry. We didn’t do a great job. We ended up with one bill that I strongly opposed. It was a tax break bill for them. And that was a big problem for me. I said, “It was one of the world’s richest companies, the most profitable companies, the highest revenue companies in the world knocking on our door and asking for all the electricity they want and all the water they want and giving us basically nothing back. I didn’t like that. I strongly opposed that. And it went through.”
In looking at water usage by data centers if they use it for cooling, Bayer is a staunch protector of Michigan’s water.
“If you evaporate water, it’s gone, and we don’t know how to make more water. We live in a water state and we have aquifers that have dried up because people are not paying attention to the water that’s underground and the realization that most of us get our water from underground,” she said. “In southeast Michigan, most of us get our water from the Great Lakes Water Authority, and that water comes from the lakes and the connectors to the lakes, but the rest of the state is mostly groundwater, so the stakes are the Great Lakes themselves. And forty percent of the water renewal that goes into the Great Lakes every year comes from our groundwater so you know all the water is tied together and we have to be careful. That’s the first issue: if you have choices of how to cool these hundreds of thousands of computers that generate so much heat, you don’t have to do it using evaporation of water. There are other alternatives. It just happens that the least expensive option is to cool them with evaporation. And the reason they want to come to Michigan is we have lots of water.”
Bayer is pushing for regulations to be put in place.
“One of the bills that I introduced this week puts a hard limit on how much water anybody can use in a day. One of the data center companies told us that their expectation is up to five million gallons of water a day evaporated in one data center,” she said.
She explained that potato growers use no more than two million gallons for daily irrigation during the growing season.
“We have to have some kind of prescription on how much water you can use or consumptive use at all, in any case, because in Michigan, because of the way our systems are set up in the
Constitution that we have, I can’t say that potato growers can use three million gallons, but other people who do other things, can’t. Right now, we just wrote a bill that caps it at two million because that’s a safe place. None of our current users are going to have a problem with that. We’ll see what becomes law. But in the end, we don’t want anyone to burn away millions of gallons of water a day. In a data center, you can use what’s called a closed-loop system, and this is what the Capitol runs on and what my house runs on, a system called groundwater heat pumps.”
The water used to cool data centers becomes heated, which increases the concentration of nitrates in the water. Higher levels of nitrates are a proven threat to human health.
In Oregon, Amazon data centers filtered the used water and sent it to farms, but the process backfired. Too much of the nitrate-laden water was used for irrigation, and the nitrates filtered back into the aquifer, essentially poisoning drinking water. When that aquifer water was reused in the data center, the nitrate concentration increased even more.
In Saline, environmental groups have flagged major problems in the developer’s wetlands permit application to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE). They claim the filings, which cover culvert installations, stormwater outfalls and the destruction of more than 10 acres of wetlands, contain incorrect information, vague mitigation plans, and incomplete site details. The permit also “temporarily impacts” a stretch of a tributary of the Saline River. Discharges from the cooling systems could contain glycol and contaminate local waterways and cause habitat loss for threatened species such as the Eastern Massasauga rattlesnake, Indiana bat, and Mitchell’s Satyr butterfly, according to the Economic Development Responsibility Alliance of Michigan, a nonpartisan group focused on protecting land, water, and taxpayer rights.
Warmer water temperatures often boost microbial activity and nitrogen cycling. Add in evaporation and nitrates become highly concentrated, creating a biohazard when released. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy is keeping a close eye on data centers’ water usage and dispersal.
Jeff Johnston, EGLE Public Information Officer, explained, “Data centers in Michigan are subject to the same environmental laws and permitting requirements as other industrial or commercial facilities: Depending on location and operations, they may need permits for air emissions, water use, wastewater discharge, or impacts to wetlands and streams. These permits are designed to protect public health and the environment. Like any other facility permitted by EGLE, data centers would be subject to inspections and routine oversight to ensure compliance with environmental laws.”
Downtown Newsmagazine. The leading publication for Birmingham/Bloomfield. Produced by local residents from offices in Birmingham.
Recognized award-winning, quality editorial product. Leadership on issues important to residents. Track record of supporting local business as part of our effort to help maintain strong communities. Join local business leaders, hundreds of
864 Chestnut - Birmingham - $1,799,900
Exceptional 2015-built 4 bedroom, 4.1 bath in the Triangle District walkable to downtown Birmingham. Chef's kitchen, Great Room with fireplace, and front office. Primary bedroom with wet bar and spa-inspired bath. Finished lower level & 60 foot wide lot with great backyard space.
#2 agent for market area homes sold over the last 3 years a tOp 10 agent (including teams) in Oakland county each of the last 15 years
25 Years as a Full tiMe agent in Birmingham
Over $875 MilliOn in personal career sales (not team sales)
#1 individual agent at Max Broock/Real Estate One (over 2,100 agents statewide)
Over $70 MilliOn personally sold in 2025
By Dana Casadei
Bloomfield Township’s supervisor, treasurer and clerk received a pay increase from the board of trustees on Monday, January 12.
The new salaries, effective the first full pay period after April 1 of this year, were all within a few hundred dollars of what was proposed in a 2024 compensation study.
“In the compensation study some of the salaries recommended were much higher than where we’re going, like $20,000-$50,000, and that’s just way too much,” said supervisor Mike McCready. “Even if you look around at surrounding communities, we’re still at or below some of our peer groups; and in those other communities, they either get a car or have a car allowance. So I think we’re being conservative, yet competitive.”
Over the past few months the township has been working to implement the compensation study to make it competitive. Nearly every Bloomfield Township employee is covered by a union, and each contract passed with wide margins.
This year, the township used the state’s Inflation Rate Multiplier (IRM) to determine salary increases. This practice is used by other townships and cities to set tax rates and mileages, too.
With the IRM, clerk Martin Brook said that salary increases cap at five percent and can not go over that. In the past, it has been much lower than this year’s 2.7 percent increase, and the IRM has only hit five percent twice since 1995.
Even with that information though, trustee Valerie Murray expressed trepidation about passing the proposed increase in salaries for the supervisor, clerk and treasurer.
“I have concerns,” she said. “It’s nothing personal at all, but as a fiduciary for the residents… I’m not comfortable with it. I have reservations and I’m very worried about the state of our country right now.”
Murray’s biggest concern was about the potential for the IRM to hit five percent, an increase in salary that’s higher than what any union would get, something she expressed unease with because of its potential lead to controversy or resentment. She also said that this approach could impact future
By David Hohendorf
The Oakland County Circuit Court Judge presiding over the lawsuit between the City of Birmingham and The Community House Association on the sale of The Community House (TCH) has rejected the legal filing requesting an expedited hearing on a motion to dismiss the suit originally filed by the city, citing deficiencies in the filing and the volume of similar requests to dictate the court’s docket.
Judge Michael Warren of the business division of the court issued his written ruling Monday, January 12, saying that the TCH law firm request for an expedited hearing because of a pending sale closing was due to a "self-inflicted wound"
Birmingham officials filed a lawsuit in late November after officials with The Community House Association announced that the name of that group would be changing to The Birmingham Area Community Foundation which would continue with the original mission of mentoring and support of other nonprofit groups in the general area, and The Community House building would be sold.
The city’s legal challenge is based on deed restrictions created by founding members which stipulate that if the operating group was ever dissolved that the building had to be given to another nonprofit group or rented at a nominal rate to the city. The city has asked the court to halt the sale by granting an injunction.
The legal firm representing The Community House Association, the Bodman law firm, had requested a hearing on a motion for an accelerated hearing schedule to avoid jeopardizing a planned February 5 closing on sale of the building to the Jewish Federation of Detroit, a buyer that has yet to be publicly announced by those involved in the proceedings.
In response to the TCH motion, the legal firm representing the city, the Varnum law firm, on Monday, January 5, filed a response that challenged the judge to toss out the request for an expedited hearing schedule on the request to dismiss the lawsuit, citing that court protocol was not followed and some basic requirements in making the motion were simply ignored.
The judge also awarded “reasonable costs and fees” to be paid to the city’s law firm for having to respond to the Bodman law firm motion.
A scheduling conference between the two parties was to be held on February 16.
In terms of the sale, TCH officials have said a new owner would take over the building effective July 1 and legal briefs say that the buyer has offered more than the appraised value of $7,040,000 in what is expected to be an all-cash purchase. Funds from the sale would be used, according to TCH officials, to retire debt and help serve as seed money for the community foundation.
Bloomfield Township budgets, especially if there were to be another recession, and also considering that at higher salary levels five percent adds up and compounds rather quickly.
Murray did vote no on all three proposed resolutions, and she also voted no last year to increase the trustees salaries but other members of the board approved each resolution.
Both clerk and treasurer positions will now have salaries of $169,309.64 each. Currently, each position was at $164,858.46.
The annual salary for the
Bloomfield Township Supervisor will now be $194,153.94, an increase from the current salary of $180,047.24.
McCready’s salary was adjusted slightly differently than just being given the 2.7 percent increase determined by the IRM. His current pay was increased by five percent — an increase given to all Bloomfield Township trustees that he declined last year because he had been supervisor for less than two months — and then that updated salary was increased by 2.7 percent.
“I had just came in… and I
thought it was better to get the employees taken care of before we did anything further for the executive offices,” McCready said.
Other than an increase in salary, the passed resolutions also expanded the scope of benefits that these three positions are not entitled to as well.
After decades of providing cars, the Board of Trustees opted to stop that practice in 2020, no longer accepting vehicles or an $8,000 car allowance that some of their predecessors took part in. That practice will continue under the approved resolutions.
Additionally, as of the passed resolutions, these elected officials will not get longevity or retention bonuses as some of their predecessors did in years prior.
“It seems our benefits package that we offer our group here is actually lower than a lot of our peers. When you look at what some of the other cities have to offer for city managers or department heads, you all have forgone a lot of those benefits,” said trustee Chris Kolinski. “So I think this is a very modest ask and very conservative, and it continues to show that you all have put forth the residents first and our laborers more than taking care of yourselves.”
By Grace Lovins
The Birmingham city commission voted during the Monday, January 12, meeting to postpone the adoption of the city’s first-ever Historic Preservation Master Plan, opting instead to send the document back for additional edits following discussions about language, scope and implementation.
Planning director Nick Dupuis explained that the plan, which has been in development since 2023, represents the city’s first comprehensive, long-range strategy for protecting and promoting its historic assets. He described it as a “niche area of Birmingham planning” and emphasized that the plan is intended to be proactive rather than reactive.
Dupuis said that the plan provides 31 recommendations in the action plan section, categorized as “getting back to the basics,” embracing proactivity and informing and engaging. The “back to the
basics” section addresses things like enforcement of maintenance requirements for historic buildings, whereas the other two sections address bolstering support and engagement with historic preservation in the city.
City commissioners Kevin Kozlowski and Therese Longe shared concerns they noted during a review of the plan during a workshop session about language in the plan being a bit too broad as well as the inclusion of a demolition delay ordinance.
Dupuis explained that the demolition delay ordinance was intended to be considered as another tool to address the concerns of the public when it comes to historic preservation. He said that, related to the other concerns raised by Longe and Kozlowski, he and his staff would be happy to look at adjusting certain language to make the commission more comfortable.
No for mal action was taken on the plan during the meeting, but Dupuis noted he will be addressing the recommended changes before the commission sees the document
again. Commissioner Anthony Long was absent from the meeting.
By Grace Lovins
Plante Moran Realpoint was selected by the Birmingham City Commission during the Monday, January 12, meeting to serve as the city’s professional owner’s representative to help evaluate potential public-private partnership opportunities.
City staff and commissioners have been discussing whether and how Birmingham should pursue partnerships with private entities for months. The city first began formally exploring the concept in mid-2025 after developers expressed interest in projects involving city-owned property, according to the memorandum included in the meeting packet.
In October, city staff issued a request for proposals (RFP) for a professional owners representative to help the city navigate complex legal, financial and operational agreements,
per the memorandum. The city received 11 bids from firms, some of which were national.
Assistant city manager Mark Clemence explained that an internal evaluation committee composed of members of the Birmingham Shopping District, city manager’s office, planning department and building department reviewed all submissions. Of the 11 proposals, Plante Moran Realpoint received the highest overall score, and an interview with the firm in December led staff to formally recommend them to the commission.
Doug Smith, principal and project lead with Plante Moran Realpoint, explained the firm’s multi-step framework for the process that will begin with developing evaluation criteria based on the city’s priorities and values. He said from there, the team will analyze each partnership’s proposal for legal, financial, market and physical constraints before giving the city a formal recommendation.
Smith also stated that if a project moves forward, Plante Moran Realpoint would assist with partner selection, drafting development agreements and implementation.
Commissioners voted unanimously, 6-0, to approve the agreement between the city and Plante Moran Realpoint. Mayor pro tem Anthony Long was absent from the meeting.
By Grace Lovins
Chicago-based planning and urban design firm Houseal Lavigne has been selected to lead a comprehensive update of Birmingham’s zoning ordinance.
City commissioners approved the agreement during the Monday, January 12, meeting, marking a big step in implementing the key actions laid out in the 2040 master plan.
Planning director Nick Dupuis said the zoning ordinance overhaul and review of the city’s land use map is one of the next steps identified after the city adopted its 2040 plan in May of 2023. The search for a firm to assist with the ordinance updates began in 2025.
The selection of Houseal Lavigne follows a months-long process that
involved multiple planning board study sessions to draft the request for proposals (RFP) and in-depth interviews with four of the six firms that submitted proposals. After planning board members interviewed four firms for the project, the board unanimously recommended Houseal Lavigne for the job.
Members of the planning board noted several factors in their decision to recommend Houseal Lavigne, including the firm’s national experience, high quality graphic and analysis style with high-power Geographic Information Systems (GIS), explained Dupuis. The firm’s bid also came in just under the city’s budget at $199,855.
John Houseal, partner and cofounder of Houseal Lavigne, told commissioners the zoning code updates are a natural next step in setting the table for success after the adoption of the master plan. As part of the firm’s proposal, the city will also end the process with a revamped sign code.
Project manager Kari Papelbon added that after initial feedback gathered during the community engagement portion, the firm will take all the information they gathered and synthesize it down to form a preliminary recommendations report. From there, they will tackle district and use
standards before moving to development and sign standards, and subdivision standards and decision making procedures.
The proposed project timeline sets the city up to have an updated zoning and sign code in 18 months.
Commissioners voted unanimously in a 6-0 vote to approve the agreement with Houseal Lavigne and begin the process of updating the zoning code.
Mayor pro tem Anthony Long was absent from the meeting.
The Bloomfield Township Public Library is now inviting township residents of all ages to enter its 10th annual Photo Contest which runs January 12–March 15, with a theme of this year’s contest being “Small Wonders.”
This year’s theme invites photographers to capture the beauty of the tiny details all around us, whether it’s the intricate patterns of textures, the charm of miniature objects, or the smallest creatures that are often overlooked.
“We are thrilled to celebrate our 10th year of the library Photo Contest
with a theme that encourages creativity and curiosity,” said Katherine Dupuis, assistant director. “‘Small Wonders’ invites township residents to look closely at how the smallest details can inspire awe and connection,” she adds.
Photo submissions can be color or black and white, and in a digital or print format. To be eligible, photos must be taken by Bloomfield Township residents between April 1, 2025 and March 15, 2026. Entries will be grouped into three age categories: children (ages 12 and under), teens (ages 13 to 18), and adults (ages 19 and older). The deadline to enter photos is March 15 at midnight EST. Winners will be announced and honored at the Photo Contest Reception on Saturday, April 18.
Additional details, contest rules, and photo contest entry forms can be found at btpl.org/photo-contest/. More information is available by calling the library at (248) 642-5800 or visiting btpl.org.
The Birmingham Public Schools Board of Education plans to interview
on Saturday, January 24, eight candidates who have applied for a vacancy that now exists on the board after the recent resignation of trustee Jason Tejani.
At a board meeting on Wednesday, January 20, the board decided to interview the following candidates for the vacancy: Burce Arfert, Jamie Bender, Toi Bogan, Keely Crimando, Art Jack, Luz Lawton, Omar Odeh and Aimee Page.
Jason Tejani had submitted his resignation effective December 30, due to job promotion conflicts.
The person chosen to fill the vacancy will serve until the November 2026 election when the board position will be on the ballot. The person elected this November will serve until December of 2030.
The interviews are scheduled for the Education Administration Center starting at 8:30 a.m. Each interview is expected to last 25 minutes.
A release from the school district said that the board would be discussing the interviews and possibly voting to select a candidate to fill the vacancy.
DOLLARS– LET US HELP YOU SLEEP BETTER AT NIGHT.
Owed $207,000.00 –Settled for $7,352.00
Owed $374,416.00 –Settled for $19,181.00
Owed $1,039,938.00 –Settled for $85,824.00
Lakefront homeowners in Oakland County are a special set… and now they have their own special niche publication.
Upscale, full-color, direct mailed to over 17,000 homes on the shores of Oakland County’s waterways.
Produced by a seasoned group of award-winnng professionals directing their talents to the issues surrounding the concerns of living on the waterfronts.
Ride on our coattails into the homes of this important, affluential segment of the public before the start of each month. Published March – October each year.
Contact Mark Grablowski at 586.549.4424 MarkGrablowski@DowntownPublications.com to discuss how to include your message.
March issue space reservation deadline is Friday, February 6. Issue mailed February 24.
L
ong time Bloomfield Hills resident Jeff Davison is a Birmingham entrepreneur and a longtime thespian at St. Dunstan’s Theatre.
“I first joined St. Dunstan’s in 1999. I had a friend who was a member there,” he said. “I wanted to be a part of ”La Cage Aux Folles,” and you had to be a member to audition.”
The production, “La Cage Au Folles,” is better known as the 1996 hit movie, “The Bird Cage.”
“In the movie, I played the maid,” he said.
After that experience, Davison was hooked on theater.
Davison’s interest in the arts began in his childhood, long before he started acting at St. Dunstan’s Theatre.
“I was an imaginative kid,” he said. “I could be left alone for hours to play ‘house’ by myself. I could really entertain myself. And then, in high school, I became involved in theater.”
Davison’s first play was “Ten Little Indians.”
“‘Ten Little Indians’ was an Agatha Christie play. I played Mr. Rogers. At the time, I was 16 or 17-years-old. He was an older guy, so they had to put gray in my hair. Now, I have that naturally,” he quipped.
Despite his long, illustrious career in acting, Davison has had no formal training in theater.
“It’s just a natural instinct,” he said.
Recently, Davison directed “The Sound of Music” in the outdoor Greek Theater at St. Dunstan’s. They utilized the beauty of the pond and fountain as part of the set.
“We kept it all open so the audience could actually see the actors and crew behind the scenes, which was new and widely accepted. I think it was the 13th or 14th (play) that I directed,” he said. “It was the first musical that we did like that. If you were backstage, you walked around in character and the audience seemed to like that.”
While Davison has been an active member at St. Dunstan’s for 25 years, he stepped back from acting in 2016 and began directing.
“I lost count of how many shows I’ve been in, but I got sucked into directing,” he said. “I love coming up with a vision and seeing it come to fruition on stage. When you direct, you create the movements and give direction on how to say a line. And I don’t have to worry about stage fright.”
Currently, Davison is on the committee that picks shows for the upcoming season and assists in auditions and casting.
Davison’s favorite aspect of performing is the audience's enjoyment of the show, as well as the relationships he has cultivated along the way.
“You make a lot of friends in theater,” he said. “It’s a really great community. You hang out after the shows and it’s a lot of fun.”
Davison stresses the importance of the arts for younger generations.
“I think it is very important for kids to have access to the arts,” he said. “It taps into your creativity. It forces you to use your imagination.”
In addition to his work as a thespian, Davison is the co-owner of Antonino Salon and Spa in Birmingham. He owns the salon with his longtime husband, Anthony Marsalese.
Davison credits much of his confidence, and his ultimate success, to his parents.
“They could not have been more encouraging,” he said. “I came out to my parents when I was 15-years-old. It was extremely important that my parents accepted me. They molded me into who I am today.”
Story: Katey Meisner
Ernesta, an innovative home design brand, has opened in Birmingham at 138 W. Maple Road. The company was founded in 2022 by John Foley, the former CEO and co-founder of Peloton, along with other Peloton co-founders Hisao Kushi and Yony Feng. Ernesta’s brand mission is to support consumers and designers with designer-quality, custom-sized rugs that will easily elevate any room. Ernesta offers to-the-inch sizing, a curated assortment, and dedicated support. The company believes that the right-sized rug in the right material and construction is the foundation for expert design. With Ernesta’s streamlined experience, customers can see and feel samples delivered in person or in an Ernesta showroom, and receive their custom-sized rug delivered in two-four weeks. Designers also enjoy exclusive perks through Ernesta’s trade program. The company has six locations in the US including Birmingham, MI; Manhattan, NY; Bethesda, MD; Greenwich, CT; Summit, NJ and Dallas, TX. The brand aims to have 10+ showrooms across the country by the end of 2026. The company was recognized by Good Housekeeping as a 2025 Home Renovation Awards winner.
FS8 Studio has opened at 34000 Woodward Avenue in Birmingham, taking over the space formerly occupied by Mayweather Boxing. The fast-growing fitness franchise now operates more than 70 studios worldwide. The Birmingham location marks FS8’s second studio in Michigan, following the opening of its first location in Royal Oak. The studio bills itself as a “forwardthinking fitness experience” that blends the best of Pilates, tone and yoga into one powerful, low-impact workout. Designed for all fitness levels, FS8 offers a progressive approach to building strength, flexibility, and overall wellness. Workouts incorporate equipment such as dumbbells, Pilates rings, and other resistance tools to create a dynamic, full-body experience. Experienced trainers guide participants through sciencebacked movements that emphasize flexibility, stability and strength. FS8 Birmingham offers a variety of membership options, including drop-in passes. New clients can
also take advantage of a fivesession introductory offer currently available on the studio’s website at fs8.com/studio/birminghammi. Convenient parking is available in a shared lot for studio guests.
Sport + Spine, a chiropractic clinic specializing in musculoskeletal health, has opened a new location at 280 N. Old Woodward Ave., Suite 105, in Birmingham. Founded in Williamston, Michigan, by husband-and-wife chiropractic team Dr. Krystal Siminski and Dr. Kyle Zimmerman, Sport + Spine is rooted in a shared passion for healing, movement, and wholebody wellness. Both doctors are graduates of Palmer College of Chiropractic and have built a reputation for delivering highquality, patient-centered care. What began as a small practice has evolved into a community-focused clinic dedicated to helping patients live pain-free, active lives. Since opening their original Williamston location in 2013, Siminski and Zimmerman have been committed to raising the standard of care for musculoskeletal health while introducing cutting-edge technology to Mid-Michigan. A significant number of their patients traveled from the Birmingham area to receive care in Williamston, particularly because Siminski and Zimmerman are certified and specially trained in the “Ring Dinger” technique.This procedure is a full-spine decompression technique performed along the YAxis to create space between vertebrae, relieve pressure on nerves, and restore natural alignment. Unlike traditional adjustments, this technique decompresses the entire spine in one smooth, controlled pull. Only two clinics in Michigan — and just 50 worldwide — are certified to perform this technique. The new Birmingham location is currently open on Mondays and Wednesdays, with plans to expand office hours in the future.
Business Matters for the BirminghamBloomfield area are reported by Gigi Nichols. Send items for consideration to GigiNichols@downtownpublications.com. Items should be received three weeks prior to publication.
Ever notice when you are made aware of something, say a new car model, a word, or a brand, you suddenly see it everywhere? After recently reading, The Longevity Economy, by Joseph Coughlin who runs the MIT AgeLab, I can’t help but see how many ways businesses and municipalities overlook older consumers, even at their own detriment.
We have all seen the commercials. Seniors grinning over their reverse mortgages or struggling with smart phones. It's the same tired script: seniors as helpless and out of touch. For businesses, their dismissive approach to seniors is a big, missed opportunity. The 50-plus cohort, the ones being marketed walk-in tubs and large-button phones, are the largest economic force in the country, controlling 70 percent of America’s disposable income. Baby boomers, now in their 60s and 70s, are the wealthiest generation in history.
But companies and city planners are so focused on millennials and Gen Z; they're ignoring the demographic that is actually buying things and wanting to use local amenities. Joseph Coughlin of MIT has spent years documenting how businesses are mishandling this opportunity. In his book, he points out that companies recognize older adults have money, but they can't seem to shake their outdated assumptions about what these people want.
At Next, I see active, engaged members every day who defy the outdated senior stereotype. We lose one of our front desk volunteers every couple of months to an extended exclusive trip to the arctic, the Galapagos or the like. Other members have entered athletic competitions, started a new business, or found a significant other on a dating app.
No matter how healthy and active seniors see themselves, companies haven’t made the shift. Try to navigate a website with tiny gray text or find stylish clothes, read a menu in a dimly lit restaurant, or even more obvious, try grabbing arthritis medicine, stocked on the top shelf, out of reach.
This isn't just a business problem either; it is also a civic one. Municipalities design for young families and largely ignore the needs of their fastest-growing demographic. You’d be hard pressed to find a city council that's planned its public spaces for people who, while out exploring their community, might need a senior friendly bench every few blocks, or those who want to have lunch in the park only to find wobbly tables and chairs.
And political consultants overlook older voters who actually show up and vote in massive numbers. People over 50 aren't just an interest group; they're often the majority of participants in local democracy. In Birmingham, about 72 percent of voters are over 50 in any given election.
It is ironic. We are witnessing a demographic revolution; 10,000 Baby Boomers have been retiring every day since 2011 but still seem trapped in 1985. Companies, municipalities and organizations that figure this out will thrive. They will be the cities people want to live and work in, and the businesses that are frequented by reliable patrons.
The businesses and entities, whether deliberately or unknowingly, that cling to outdated narratives about needy, declining seniors, will find themselves ignored by the very people with the money and the influence that make a difference.
The Places To Eat for Downtown is a quick reference source to establishments offering a place for dining, either breakfast, lunch or dinner. The listings include nearly all dining establishments with seating in the Birmingham/Bloomfield area, and then some select restaurants outside the immediate area served by Downtown.
220: American. Brunch, weekends, Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 220 E. Merrill Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.646.2220. 220restaurant.com
5th Tavern: American. Brunch, weekends, Lunch & Dinner daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2262 S. Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Township, 48302. 248.481.9607. 5thtavern.com
Adachi: Japanese. Lunch & Dinner daily. Liquor. Reservations. 325 S. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham 48009. 248.540.5900. adachirestaurant.com
Andiamo: Italian. Lunch, Monday-Friday, Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 6676 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Township, 48301. 248.865.9300. andiamoitalia.com
Beau’s: American. Brunch, weekends, Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 4108 W. Maple Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48301. 248.626.2630. beausbloomfield.com
Bella Piatti: Italian. Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 167 Townsend Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.494.7110. bellapiattirestaurant.com
Bell Bistro: American. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Liquor. Reservations. 185 N. Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.829.7900. bellbirmingham.com
Beverly Hills Grill: American. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 31471 Southfield Road, Beverly Hills, 48025. 248.642.2355. beverlyhillsgrill.com
Beyond Juicery + Eatery: Contemporary. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 270 W. Maple Road, Birmingham, 48009; 221 Cole Street, Birmingham, 48009; 3645 W. Maple Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48301; 4065 W. Maple Road, Bloomfield Township, 48301; 1987 S. Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48302. beyondjuiceryeatery.com
Big Rock Italian Chop House: Steakhouse. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 245 S. Eton Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.275.0888. bigrockitalianchophouse.com
Bill’s: American. Breakfast, weekends, Lunch, Wednesday-Sunday, Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 39556 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304. 248.646.9000. billsbloomfieldhills.com
Birmingham Pub: American. Brunch, weekends, Lunch & Dinner, TuesdaySunday. Reservations. Liquor. 555 S. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.885.8108. thebirminghampub.com
Birmingham Sushi Cafe: Japanese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 377 Hamilton Row, Birmingham, 48009. 248.593.8880. birminghamsushi.com
Bistro Joe’s Kitchen: Global. Brunch, weekends, Lunch, Tuesday-Friday, Dinner, TuesdaySunday. Reservations. Liquor. 34244 Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.594.0984.bistrojoeskitchen.com
Bloomfield Deli: Deli. Breakfast & Lunch, Monday-Friday. No reservations. 71 W. Long Lake Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48304. 248.645.6879. bloomfielddeli.com
Brooklyn Pizza: Pizza. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Liquor. No reservations. 111 Henrietta Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.258.6690. thebrooklynpizza.com
Café Dax: American. Breakfast, daily, Lunch, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 298 S. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.283.4200. daxtonhotel.com
Café ML: New American. Dinner, daily. Liquor. Reservations. 3607 W. Maple Road, Bloomfield Township. 248.642.4000. cafeml.com
Café Origins: Global. Breakfast and Lunch, daily, Dinner, Monday-Saturday. No reservations. 163 W Maple Road, Birmingham, 48009. 248.742.4040. originsbirmingham.com
Casa Pernoi: Italian. Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 310 E. Maple Road, Birmingham, 48009. 248.940.0000. casapernoi.com
Churchill’s Bistro & Cigar Bar: Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 116 S. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.647.4555. churchillscigarbar.com
Cityscape Deli: Deli. Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, Monday-Saturday. No reservations. 877 W. Long Lake Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48302. 248.540.7220. cityscapedeli.com
Commonwealth: American. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. 300 Hamilton Row, Birmingham, 48009. 248.792.9766. gocommonwealth.com
Dick O’Dow’s: Irish. Lunch & Dinner, TuesdaySunday. Reservations. Liquor. 160 West Maple Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.642.1135. dickodowspub.com
Eddie Merlot’s: Steak & seafood. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 37000 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304. 248.712.4095. eddiemerlots.com
Einstein Bros. Bagels: Deli. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. 4089 West Maple Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48301. 248.258.9939. einsteinbros.com
Elie’s Mediterranean Grill/Bar: Mediterranean. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. No reservations. Liquor. 263 Pierce Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.647.2420. eliesgrill.com
EM: Mexican. Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 470 N. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 947.234.0819. embirmingham.com
Embers Deli & Restaurant: Deli. Breakfast & Lunch, Tuesday-Sunday. Dinner, TuesdayFriday. No reservations. 3598 West Maple Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48301. 248.645.1033. embersdeli1.com
Flemings Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar: American. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 323 N. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.723.0134. flemingssteakhouse.com
Forest: Continental cuisine. Dinner, TuesdaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 735 Forest Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.258.9400. forestbirmingham.com
Greek Islands Coney Restaurant: Greek. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 221 Hamilton Row, Birmingham, 48009. 248.646.1222. greekislandsconey.com
Griffin Claw Brewing Company: American. Lunch, Thursday-Sunday, Dinner, TuesdaySunday. No Reservations. Liquor. 575 S. Eton Street, Birmingham. 248.712.4050. griffinclawbrewingcompany.com
Hazel’s: Seafood. Brunch, weekends, Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 1 Peabody Street, Birmingham. 248.671.1714. eatathazels.com
Honey Tree Grille: Greek/American. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, daily. No reservations. 3633 W. Maple Rd, Bloomfield, MI 48301. 248.203.9111. honeytreegrille.com
Hudson’s Place: Pizza/Coffee/Takeout. Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, daily. No reservations. 1087 W. Long Lake Road, Bloomfield, 48302. 248.540.2266. hudsonsplacepizzeria.com
Hunter House Hamburgers: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 33900 Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.646.7121. hunterhousehamburgers.com Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse: American. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 201 S. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.594.4369. hydeparkrestaurants.com
IHOP: American. Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 2187 S. Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48301. 248.333.7522. Ihop.com
Joe Muer Seafood: Seafood. Brunch, Sunday, Dinner daily. Reservations. Liquor. 39475 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304. 248.792.9609. joemuer.com
Kaku Sushi and Poke’: Asian. Lunch, MondayFriday & Dinner daily. No reservations. 869 W. Long Lake Road, Bloomfield Township, 48302. 248.480.4785, and 126 S. Old Woodward, Birmingham, 48009. 248.885.8631. kakusushipoke.com
Kerby’s Koney Island: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 2160 N. Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304. 248.333.1166. kerbyskoneyisland.com
La Marsa: Mediterranean. Lunch & Dinner daily. Reservations. 43259 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48302. 248.858.5800. lamarsacuisine.com
La Pecora Nera: Italian deli. Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, daily. No reservations. 135 Pierce St. Birmingham, 48009. 248.940.5613. lapecoraneradetroit.com
La Strada Italian Kitchen & Bar: Italian. Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 243 E. Merrill Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.480.0492. lastradaitaliankitchen.com
Leo’s Coney Island: American. Breakfast,
Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 154 S. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.593.9707. Also 6527 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48301. 248.646.8568. leosconeyisland.com
Lincoln Yard and Little Yard: American. Little Yard take-out hours: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. Lincoln Yard hours: Brunch, weekends, Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 2159 E. Lincoln Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.653.5353. eatlincolnyard.com
Little Daddy’s: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 39500 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304. 248.647.3400. littledaddys.com
Luxe Bar & Grill: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 525 N. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.792.6051. luxebarandgrill.com
Madam: American. Brunch, weekends, Lunch, Friday-Sunday, Dinner daily. Reservations. Liquor. 298 S. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.283.4200. daxtonhotel.com
Market North End: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 474 N. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.712.4953. marketnorthend.com
Marrow: American. Butcher shop and eatery. Breakfast and Lunch, Tuesday-Sunday. No reservations. 283 Hamilton Row, Birmingham, 48009. 734.410.0405
marrowdetroit.com/restaurant
MEX Mexican Bistro & Tequila Bar: Mexican. Brunch, weekends. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 6675 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Township, 48301. 248.723.0800. mexbloomfield.com
Middle Eats: Mediterranean. Lunch and Dinner, daily. No reservations. 42967 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield, 48093. 248.274.328. middleeats.com
Nippon Sushi Bar: Japanese. Lunch, MondayFriday, Dinner daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2079 S. Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Township, 48302. 248.481.9581. nipponsushibar.com
Olga’s Kitchen: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 2075 S. Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48302. 248.451.0500. olgas.com
Original Pancake House: American. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. 33703 South Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.642.5775. oph-mi.com
Phoenicia: Lebanese. Lunch, Monday-Friday, Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 588 S. Old Woodward Birmingham, 48009. phoeniciabirmingham.com
Roadside B & G: American. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1727 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield, 48302. 248.858.7270. roadsidebandg.com
Salvatore Scallopini: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Beer & Wine. 505 North Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.644.8977. salsbirmingham.com
Shift Kitchen & Cocktails: Small Plates. Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 117 Willits Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.452.1355. shiftbirmingham.com
Sidecar: American. Lunch and Dinner, daily. Liquor. 117 Willits Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.792.2380. sidecarsliderbar.com
Slice Pizza Kitchen: Pizza. Lunch and Dinner, daily. Liquor. 117 Willits Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.792.3475. slicepizzakitchen.com
Social Kitchen & Bar: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Brunch, Saturday & Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 225 E. Maple Road, Birmingham, 48009. 248.594.4200. socialkitchenandbar.com
Steve’s Deli: Deli. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Breakfast and Lunch, Sunday. No reservations. 6646 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield, 48301. 248.932.0800. stevesdeli.com
Streetside Seafood: Seafood. Lunch, Thursday & Friday, Dinner, daily. Liquor. 273 Pierce Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.645.9123. streetsideseafood.com
St Roger Abbey: Patisserie. Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, Wednesday-Sunday. No reservations. 215 N. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009.
Sushi Hana: Japanese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 42656 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48304. 248.333.3887. sushihanabloomfield.com
Sy Thai Cafe: Thai. Lunch, Monday-Saturday, Dinner, daily. No reservations. 315 Hamilton Row, Birmingham, 48009. 248.258.9830.
sythaibirmingham.com
Sylvan Table: American. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1819 Inverness Street, Sylvan Lake, 48320. 248.369.3360. sylvantable.com
Tallulah Wine Bar and Bistro: American. Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 55 S. Bates Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.731.7066. tallulahwine.com
Terra Kitchen & Cocktails: New American. Lunch and Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 260 N. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.556.5640.dineterra.com
Teuta: Diner. Breakfast and Lunch, daily. No reservations.168 W Maple Road, Birmingham, 48009. 248.590.2113.
teutabirmingham.com
Thai Street Kitchen: Thai. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. No reservations. 42805 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Township, 48304. 248.499.6867. thaistreetkitchen.com
The Franklin: Oyster Bar. Brunch, weekends, Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 32760 Franklin Road, Franklin, 48025. 248.771.4747. thefranklinmi.com
The Gallery Restaurant: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Beer & wine. 6683 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, 48301. 248.851.0313. galleryrestaurant2.com
The Moose Preserve Bar & Grill: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2395 S. Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, 48302. 248.858.7688. moosepreserve.com
The Rugby Grille: American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 100 Townsend Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.642.5999. rugbygrille.com
Toast: American. Breakfast & Lunch, daily; Reservations. Liquor. 203 Pierce Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.258.6278. eatattoast.com
Tomatoes Apizza: Pizza. Lunch & Dinner daily. Carryout. 34200 Woodward Avenue, Birmingham 48009. 248.258.0500. tomatoesapizza.com
Touch of India: Lunch, Tuesday-Thursday, Saturday & Sunday. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. No reservations. 297 E. Maple Road, Birmingham, 48009. 248.593.7881. thetouchofindia.com
Townhouse: American. Brunch, weekends. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 180 Pierce Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.792.5241. eatattownhouse.com
Whistle Stop Diner: American. Breakfast & Lunch, daily; Liquor. No reservations. 501 S. Eton Street, Birmingham, 48009. 248.566.3566. whistlestopdiners.com
Wilder’s: American. Lunch, Monday-Friday, Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 458 N. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.771.0900. wildersbirmingham.com
ZANA: Modern American. Dinner, TuesdaySunday. Reservations. Liquor. 210 S. Old Woodward Avenue, Birmingham, 48009. 248.800.6568. zanabham.com
Zao Jun: Asian. Lunch, Tuesday-Sunday, Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 6608 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Township, 48301. 248.949.9999. zaojunnewasian.com
Ale Mary’s: American. Brunch, weekends, Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 316 South Main Street, Royal Oak, 48067. 248.268.1917. alemarysbeer.com
Anita’s Kitchen: Middle Eastern. Lunch and Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 22651 Woodward Avenue, Ferndale, 48220. 248.548.0680. anitaskitchen.com
Bella Limone: Italian. Dinner, TuesdaySunday. No reservations. Liquor. 100 S. Main Street, Floor 2, Royal Oak, 48067. 248.955.5725. bellalimone.com
Beppé: New American. Lunch, Saturday and Sunday, Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 703 N. Main St, Royal Oak, 48067. 248.607.7030. eatbeppe.com
Bigalora: Italian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 711 S. Main Street, Royal Oak, 48067. 248.544.2442 bigalora.com
Blind Owl: International/American comfort. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 511 S. Main Street, Royal Oak, 48067. 248.216.1112. blindowlrestaurant.com
Blue Goat: Mediterranean. Lunch, FridaySunday, Dinner, Wednesday-Monday. Reservations. Liquor. 321 S. Main St, Royal Oak, 48067. 248.965.9955. bluegoatroyaloak.com
Cafe Muse: French. Breakfast & Lunch,
Wednesday-Monday. Reservations. Liquor. 418 S. Washington Avenue, Royal Oak, 48067. 248.544.4749. cafemuseroyaloak.com
Coeur: New American Small Plates. Brunch, Sunday, Dinner, Wednesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 330 W. Nine Mile Road, Ferndale, 48220. 248.466.3010. coeurferndale.com
Como’s: Pizza. Brunch, weekends. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 22812 Woodward Avenue, Ferndale, 48220. 248.677.4439. comosrestaurant.com
Crispelli’s Bakery and Pizzeria: Italian. Lunch and Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 28939 Woodward Avenue, Berkley, 48072. 248.591.3300. crispellis.com
The Fly Trap: Diner. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. Dinner, Thursday-Sunday. No reservations. 22950 Woodward Avenue, Ferndale 48220. 248.399.5150. theflytrapferndale.com
Grand River Brewery: American. Brunch, Saturday & Sunday. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 1 E. 14 Mile Road, Clawson, 48017. 248.607-3631. grandriverbrewer
Gus’ Snug: Irish. Lunch and Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 38 S. Main Street, Clawson, 48017. 248.607.3631. gussnug.com
HopCat: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 430 S. Main Street, Royal Oak, 48067. 248.744.2544. HopCat.com
Howe’s Bayou: Cajun. Lunch & Dinner, TuesdaySaturday. No reservations. Liquor. 22949 Woodward Avenue, Ferndale, 48220. 248.691.7145. howesbayouferndale.net
Imperial: Mexican. Lunch and Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 22848 Woodward Avenue, Ferndale, 48220. 248.691.7145. imperialferndale.com
Inyo Restaurant Lounge: Asian Fusion. Brunch, weekends, Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 22871 Woodward Avenue, Ferndale, 48220. 248.543.9500. inyorestaurant.com
JINYA Ramen Bar: Contemporary Japanese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 129 S. Main St, Royal Oak, 48067. 248.955.4692. jinyaramenbar.com
Kacha Thai Market: Thai. Lunch and Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. 205 S Main Street, Royal Oak, 48067. 248.942-4246.
KouZina: Greek. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 121 N. Main Street, Royal Oak, 48067. 248.629.6500. gokouzina.com
Kruse & Muer on Woodward: American. Lunch, Monday-Saturday, Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 28028 Woodward Avenue, Royal Oak, 48067. 248.965.2101. kruseandmuerrestaurants.com
Lily’s Seafood: Seafood. Brunch, weekends, Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 410 S. Washington Avenue, Royal Oak, 48067. 248.591.5459. lilysseafood.com
Masala: Indian. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. 106 S. Main Street, Royal Oak, 48067. 248.850.8284. food.orders.co/royaloakmasala
Mezcal: Mexican. Bruch, Sunday. Lunch and Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 201 E. Nine Mile Road, Ferndale, 248.268.3915. mezcalferndale.com
Noori Pocha: Korean. Lunch & Dinner, TuesdaySunday. No reservations. Liquor. 1 S. Main Street, Clawson, 48017. 248. 850.7512. nooripocha.com
Oak City Grille: American. Dinner, TuesdaySunday. Reservations. Liquor. 212 W. 6th Street, Royal Oak, 48067. 248.556.0947. oakcitygrille.com
Oak Parker: American. Brunch, weekends. Lunch & Dinner daily. No reservations. Liquor. 13621 W. Eleven Mile Rd, Oak Park, 48237. oakparker.com
One-Eyed Betty’s: American. Breakfast, weekends, Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 175 W. Troy Street, Ferndale, 48220. 248.808.6633. oneeyedbettys.com
Pastaio: Italian. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 208 W 5th Street, Royal Oak, 48067. 248.565.8722. eatpastaio.com/royal-oak
Pita Post: Mediterranean. Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. No reservations. 2520 W. 14 Mile Road, Royal Oak, 48073. 855.535.5588. thepitapost.com
Pop’s for Italian: Italian. Brunch and Lunch, weekends, Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 280 W. 9 Mile Road, Ferndale,48220. 248.268.4806. popsforitalian.com
Redcoat Tavern: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 31542 Woodward Avenue, Royal Oak, 48073.
248.549.0300. redcoat-tavern.com
Ronin: Japanese. Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 326 W. 4th Street, Royal Oak, 48067. 248.546.0888. roninsushi.com
Royal Oak Brewery: American. Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. No reservations. Liquor. 215 E. 4th Street, Royal Oak, 48067. 248.544.1141. royaloakbrewery.com
The Modern Vegan: Vegan. Brunch, weekends, Lunch and Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. No reservations. 304 N. Main St, Royal Oak, 48067. 248.206-7041. tmvrestaurants.com
Three Cats Café: American. Brunch, weekends, Lunch, Tuesday-Sunday, Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 116 W. 14 Mile Road, Clawson. threecatscafe.com
Tigerlily: Japenese. Brunch, weekends. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 231 W Nine Mile Rd Suite A, Ferndale, 48220. 248.733.4905. tigerlilyferndale.com
Toast, A Breakfast and Lunch Joint: American. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. 23144 Woodward Avenue, Ferndale, 48220. 248.398.0444. eatattoast.com
Tom’s Oyster Bar: Seafood. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 318 S. Main Street, Royal Oak, 48067. 248.541.1186. tomsoysterbar.com
Trattoria Da Luigi: Italian. Dinner, TuesdaySunday. Reservations. Liquor. 415 S, Washington Avenue, Royal Oak, 48067. 248.542.4444. trattoriadaluigi.business.site.com
Vinsetta Garage: American. Lunch and Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 7799 Woodward Avenue, Berkley, 48072. 248.548.7711. vinsettagarage.com
Voyager: Seafood. Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 600 Vester Street, Ferndale, 48220. 248.658.4999. voyagerferndale.com
Antica Nova: Italian. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 1695 E. Big Beaver Rd, Troy, 48083. 248.422.6521. anticanova.com
Cafe Sushi: Pan-Asian. Lunch, Tuesday-Friday, Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 1933 W. Maple Road, Troy, 48084. 248.280.1831. cafesushimi.com
Capital Grill: Steak & Seafood. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 2800 W. Big Beaver Road, Somerset Collection, Troy, 48084. 248.649.5300.
CK Diggs: American & Italian. Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 2010 W. Auburn Road, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.853.6600. ckdiggs.com
The Dime Store: American. Breakfast and Lunch, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 6920 N Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48306.248.963.0941. eatdimestore.com Ernie’s on the Creek: Modern Mediterranean. Dinner, Wednesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 543 N. Main St #201, Rochester, 48307. 248.710.8808. erniesonthecreek.com
Firebird Tavern: American. Brunch, weekends, Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 4845 Rochester Road, Troy, 48085. 248.289.9650. firebirdtaverntroy.com
Grand Castor: Latin American. Lunch and Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 2950 Rochester Road, Troy, 48083. 248.278.7777. grancastor.com
The Jackson: Modern American. Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 184 N. Adams Road, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.709.9453. thejacksonrestaurant.com
Kona Grille: American. Brunch, weekends, Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 30 E. Big Beaver Road, Troy, 48083. 248.619.9060. konagrill.com
Kruse & Muer on Main: American. Lunch, Monday-Saturday, Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 327 S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307. 248.652.9400. kruseandmuerrestaurants.com
Loccino Italian Grill and Bar: Italian. Lunch, Monday-Friday, Dinner, daily. Liquor. Reservations. 5600 Crooks Road, Troy, 48098. 248.813.0700. loccino.com
The Meeting House: American. Brunch, weekends, Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. No reservations. Liquor. 301 S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307. 248.759.4825. themeetinghouserochester.com
Mon Jin Lau: Nu Asian. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1515 E. Maple Road, Troy, 48083. 248.689.2332. monjinlau.com
Morton’s, The Steakhouse: Steak & Seafood. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 888 W.
Metro Intelligencer is a monthly column devoted to news stories, tidbits and gossip items about what's happening on the restaurant scene in the metro Detroit area. Metro Intelligencer is reported/created each month by Gigi Nichols who can be reached at GigiNichols@DowntownPublications.com with news items or tips, on or off the record.
Shinola Hotel’s Evening Bar is offering a tropical escape for those seeking to warm up during Detroit’s frigid February. Through the end of the month, the intimate lounge has been transformed into “Model T-iki,” an immersive tiki-style cocktail experience that swaps winter blues for island vibes. The cozy space has been reimagined as a lush paradise, complete with thatched accents and tropical foliage. The name “Model T-iki” is a playful nod to Detroit’s storied tiki past, drawing inspiration from legendary destinations such as Chin Tiki — the beloved supper club, nightclub and banquet hall owned by Marvin Chin from 1965 to 1980 — and Mauna Loa, the lavish Polynesian restaurant palace that operated from 1967 to 1971. Guests can sip on inventive signature cocktails, including the Model T-ai, featuring rum, Grand Marnier, orgeat, and calamansi; Colada ’66, a classic blend of rum, coconut and pineapple; and the Piston Rod Sling, made with sorrel-infused gin, Michigan cherry, Benedictine, pineapple and mole bitters. Some highlights on the small bites menu include a PuPu Platter with grilled chicken satay and sesame-peanut sauce, coconut shrimp, spring rolls with sweet chili sauce, and spicy mango mustard; Pork Belly Bao Buns with Szechuan pepper; the Frenchie Burger topped with raclette, caramelized onions, and dijonnaise; and Deviled Eggs Musubi, served with crispy Spam and nori. 1400 Woodward Avenue, Shinola Hotel, Detroit eveningbar.com
Detroit’s Prime + Proper, owned by Heirloom Hospitality, has been recognized as one of the best steakhouses in North America as well as one of the best steakhouses in the world. World’s 101 Best Steak Restaurants honored the restaurant at number 20 on their list of top steakhouses in North America and 69th in the world. The ranking of the World’s 101 Best Steak Restaurants is managed and published by Upper Cut Media House headquartered in London, UK. Here’s what they had to say about Prime + Proper: “Housed in a beautifully restored 20th-century building, Prime + Proper exudes modern grandeur — soaring ceilings, marble floors, glass-walled dry-age rooms and a customdesigned butcher counter anchor a dining room where every detail feels curated yet energetic. It’s not just a place to eat — it’s an experience. At the core of that experience is a serious, chef-driven meat programme. All beef is butchered inhouse, with an obsessive focus on sourcing, marbling and ageing. Cuts range from grass-fed New York strips and USDA Prime porterhouses to domestic Wagyu and 100+ day dry-aged ribeyes, all grilled over an open flame to precise, smoky perfection. The result is steak with structure, depth and story — and it’s matched by a supporting menu that brings clarity and creativity without overshadowing the fire. Highlights include bone marrow with sourdough ash, butter-poached lobster tail and smoked foie gras torchon, each dish treated with technical care and luxury without excess.” 1145 Griswold St, Detroit primeandproperdetroit.com
James Beard Award finalist Chef Kate Williams took to social media to confirm that while the Core City location of Lady of the House will not reopen, she will retain the rights to the Lady of the House brand. “To our Lady friends, family and supporters: We wish to say goodnight, not goodbye,” said Chef Kate Williams in her statement. The award-winning restaurant’s original location in Corktown opened in 2017 and closed in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The next location, situated in Detroit’s Core City, closed in September of this year, after just 11 of months operation when establishment’s financial backer, Jason Singer, and Kate Williams were embroiled in a legal battle. “I remain proud of the brand we have tirelessly built over the course of 10 years,“ continued Williams. “We have made a home that has lasted regardless of any address, any particular space or the walls that contain what makes it so special. While, after careful consideration, Lady will not be reopening in its Core City location, the show won’t stop. Despite extensive efforts to move forward in its current space, the path to reopening has been blocked for an extended period of time, making it untenable to continue at the current site. The decision to shutter operations was not made lightly, particularly during the holiday season, a time that holds deep importance for both the team and our families. As part of this transition, I have
Big Beaver Road, Troy, 48084. 248.404.9845. mortons.com
NM Café: American. Lunch, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 2705 W. Big Beaver Road, Troy, 48084. 248.816.3424. neimanmarcus.com/restaurants
Oceania Inn: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. The Village of Rochester Hills, 3176 Walton Boulevard, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.375.9200. oceaniainnrochesterhills.com
Ocean Prime: Steak & Seafood. Lunch, MondayFriday, Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 2915 Coolidge Highway, Troy, 48084. 248.458.0500. ocean-prime.com
O’Connor’s Irish Public House: Irish. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 324 S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307. 248.608.2537. oconnorsrochester.com
Orchid Café: Thai. Lunch, Monday-Friday, Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. 3303 Rochester Road., Troy, 48085. 248.524.1944. orchid-cafe.com
P.F. Chang’s China Bistro: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. Somerset Collection, 2801 W. Big Beaver Rd., Troy, 48084. 248.816.8000. pfchangs.com
Recipes: American/Brunch. Breakfast & Lunch, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 134 W. University Drive, Rochester, 48037. 248.659.8267. Also 2919 Crooks Road, Troy, 48084. 248.614.5390. recipesinc.com
RH House: American. Brunch, weekends, Lunch and Dinner, daily. 2630 Crooks Road, Rochester Hills, 48309. No reservations. Liquor. 2630 Crooks Road, Rochester Hills, 48309. 248.586.1000. rh.house.com
RH Social: Pizza/Sports Bar. Brunch, Lunch, Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 6870 N. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, 48306.248.759.4858. rochesterhillssocial.com
Rochester Chop House: Steak & Seafood. Lunch, Monday-Friday, Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 306 S. Main St., Rochester, 48307. 248.651.2266. kruseandmuerrestaurants.com
Ruth’s Chris Steak House: Steak & Seafood. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 755 W. Big Beaver Road, Troy, 48084. 248.269.8424. ruthschris.com
Sedona Taphouse: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 198 Big Beaver Road, Troy, 48083. 248.422.6167. sedonataphouse.co
Silver Spoon: Italian. Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 6830 N. Rochester Road, Rochester, 48306. 248.652.4500. silverspoonristorante.com
Stumblebum Beer Co.: American. Lunch, Friday-Sunday, Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. No reservations. Beer. 1965 W. Maple Road, Troy, 48084. 248.307.7204. stumblebumbeer.com
Too Ra Loo: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 139 S. Main Street, Rochester, 48307. 248.453.5291. tooraloorochester.com
Aurora Italiana: Italian. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 6199 Orchard Lake Road, West Bloomfield Twp., 48322. 248.782.3000. auroraitaliana.com
Aurora on the Lake: Italian. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 2323 Union Lake Road, Commerce Township, 48382. 248.360.6650. auroraitaliana.com
Cornbread Restaurant & Bar: Southern. Lunch & Dinner, Thursday-Tuesday. Reservations. Liquor. 29508 Northwestern Highway, Southfield, 48034. 248.208.1680. cornbreadsoulfood.com
Bigalora: Italian. Lunch, Monday-Saturday, Dinner, daily. No Reservations. Liquor. 29110 Franklin Road, Southfield, 48034. 248.544.2442. bigalora.com
The Fiddler: Russian. Dinner, Friday & Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 6676 Orchard Lake Road, West Bloomfield Township, 48322. 248.851.8782. fiddlerrestaurant.com
Mene Sushi: Japanese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Beer & Wine. 6239 Orchard Lake Road, West Bloomfield Township, 48322. 248.538.7081. menesususi.com
Nonna Maria’s: Italian. Dinner, TuesdaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 2080 Walnut Lake Road, West Bloomfield, 48323. 248.851.2500. nonamariasbistro.com
Pickles & Rye: Deli. Lunch, & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 6724 Orchard Lake Road, West Bloomfield Township, 48322. 248.737.3890
picklesandryedeli.com
Prime29 Steakhouse: Steak & Seafood. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 6545 Orchard Lake Road, West Bloomfield, 48322. 248.737.7463. prime29steakhouse.com
Redcoat Tavern: American. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. No reservations. Liquor. 6745 Orchard Lake Road, West Bloomfield Township, 48322. 248.865.0500. redcoattavern.com
Shangri-La: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, Wednesday-Monday. Reservations. Liquor. Orchard Mall Shopping Center, 6407 Orchard Lake Road, West Bloomfield Township, 48322. 248.626.8585. dinesangrila.com
Stage Deli: Deli. Lunch, & Dinner, TuesdaySunday. No reservations. Liquor. 6873 Orchard Lake Rd., West Bloomfield Township, 48322. 248.855.6622. stagedeli.com
Vive: American. Lunch, Monday-Friday, Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 33080 Northwestern Hwy, West Bloomfield Township, 48322. 248.406.8065. viverestaurantmi.com
Witch Topokki: Korean. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. 300 John R Rd suite a, Troy, 48083. 248. 307.7587. witchtopokki.com
Yotsuba: Japanese. Lunch & Dinner, TuesdaySunday. Reservations. Liquor. 7365 Orchard Lake Road, West Bloomfield, 48322. 248.737.8282. yotsuba-restaurant.com
West Oakland
Volare Ristorante: Italian. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 48992 Pontiac Trail, Wixom, 48393. 248.960.7771. ristorantevolare.com
North Oakland
Clarkston Union: American. Breakfast, Sunday, Lunch, & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 54 S. Main Street, Clarkston, 48346 248.620.6100. clarkstonunion.com
Kruse's Deer Lake Inn: Seafood. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 7504 Dixie Highway, Clarkston, 48346. 248.795.2077. kruseandmuerrestaurants.com
The Fed: American. Brunch, Saturday & Sunday. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 15 S. Main Street, Clarkston, 48346. 248.297.5833. thefedcommunity.com
Rudy’s Steakhouse: Steak. Dinner, TuesdaySunday. Reservations. Liquor. 9 S Main Street, Village of Clarkston, 48346. 248.625.3033. rudysprimesteakhouse.com Via Bologna: Italian. Dinner, Monday-Saturday. No reservations. Liquor. 7071 Dixie Highway, Clarkston, 48346. 248.620.8500. joebologna.com
Union Woodshop: BBQ. Lunch, Saturday & Sunday, Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 18 S. Main Street, Clarkston, 48346. 248.625.5660. unionwoodshop.com
Adelina: Italian. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 1040 Woodward Ave, Detroit,48226. 313.246.8811. adelinadetroit.com
Alpino: Alpine cuisine. Brunch, Sunday. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1426 Bagley Street, Detroit, 48216. 313.524.0888 alpinodetroit.com
Ash-Bar: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1509 Broadway Street, Detroit, 48226. 313.277.4736. ash.world/hotels/the-siren.com
Bar Pigalle: French. Brunch, Sundays. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 2915 John R Street, Detroit, 48201. 313.497.9200 barpigalle.com
Barda: Argentinian. Dinner, WednesdaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 4842 Grand River Avenue, Detroit, 48208. 313.952.5182. bardadetroit.com
Basan: Asian. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 2703 Park Avenue, Detroit, 48201. 313.481.2703. basandetroit.com
Bucharest Grill: Middle Eastern. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2684 E. Jefferson Avenue, Detroit, 48207. 313.965.3111. bucharestgrill.com
Chartreuse Kitchen & Cocktails: Seasonal American. Lunch, Friday, Dinner, TuesdaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 15 E. Kirby Street, D, Detroit 48202. 313.818.3915. chartreusekc.com
Cliff Bell’s: American. Dinner, WednesdaySunday. Reservations. Liquor. 2030 Park Avenue, Detroit, 48226. 313.961.2543. cliffbells.com
Coriander Kitchen and Farm: Farm to table. Brunch, Sunday, Lunch & Dinner, Monday and Thursday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 14601 Riverside Boulevard, Detroit, 48215. 313.338.9466. corianderkitchenandfarm.com
Corktown Taphouse: American and Mexican. No reservations. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Liquor. 1611 Michigan Avenue, Detroit, 48216. 313.362.8184. corktowntaphouse.com
Cuisine: French. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 670 Lothrop Road, Detroit, 48202. 313.872.5110. cuisinerestaurantdetroit.com
The Eagle: The Eagle: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 3461 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, 48201. 313.334.4530. eaglerestaurant.com
El Barzon: Mexican. Lunch, Tuesday-Friday. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 3710 Junction Street, Detroit, 48210. 313.894.2070. elbarzonrestaurant.com
Fishbone’s Rhythm Kitchen Café: Cajun. Lunch and Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 400 Monroe Street, Detroit, 48226. 313.965.4600. fishbonesusa.com
Freya: Price fixed. Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations, Liquor. 2929 E. Grand Boulevard, Detroit, 48202. 313.351.5544. freyadetroit.com
Giovanni’s Ristorante: Italian. Dinner, TuesdaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 330 S. Oakwood Boulevard, Detroit, 48217. 313.841.0122. giovannisrestaurante.com
Green Dot Stables: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2200 W. Lafayette, Detroit, 48216. 313.962.5588. greendotstables.com
HIROKI-SAN: Japanese. Dinner, TuesdaySaturday. Reservations. Liquor. 1265 Washington Boulevard, Detroit, 48226. 313.597.8344. hirokisandetroit.com
Javier’s Downtown: Steakhouse. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1452 Brush Street, Detroit, 48226. 313.816.0007. javiersdowntown.com
Joe Muer Seafood: Seafood. Lunch, MondayFriday, Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 400 Renaissance Center, Detroit, 48243. 313.567.6837. joemuer.com
Johnny Noodle King: Japanese. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2601 W. Fort Street, Detroit, 48216. 313.309.7946. johnnynoodleking.com
Leila: Lebanese. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1245 Griswold Street, Detroit, 48226. 313. 816.8100. leiladetroit.com
Lena: Dinner, Wednesday-Monday. Reservations. Liquor. 2720 Brush Street, Detroit, 48201. 313.262.6082. lenadetroit.com
Le Supreme: French. Brunch, weekends, Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1265 Washington Boulevard, Detroit, MI 48226. 313.597.7734. lesupremedetroit.com
Lone Goat: British Pub. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No Reservations. Liquor. 33 John R Street, Detroit, 48226. thelonegoat.com
Mad Nice: Coastal Italian/American. Breakfast, Coffee Shop, daily, Brunch, Weekends, Lunch, Wednesday-Sunday, Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 4120 2nd Avenue, Detroit, 48201. 313.558.8000. madnicedetroit.com
Mario’s: Italian. Lunch, Saturday & Sunday, Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 4222 2nd Avenue, Detroit, 48201. 313.832.1616. mariosdetroit.com
Mezcal: Mexican. Brunch, Weekends, Lunch and Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 51 W Forest Avenue, Detroit, 48202. 313.974.7441. mezcaldetroit.com
Midtown Shangri-la: Chinese. Lunch & Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 4710 Cass Avenue, Detroit, 48201. 313.974.7669. midtownshangril-la.com
Motor City Brewing Works: American. Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. No reservations. Beer & Wine. 470 W. Canfield Street, Detroit, 48201. 313.832.2700. motorcitybeer.com
Oak & Reel: Italian Seafood. Dinner, Wednesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 2921 E Grand Boulevard, Detroit, 48202. 313.270.9600. oakandreel.com
Ostrea: Seafood. Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 536 Shelby Street, Detroit, 48226. 313.403.2111. ostreadetroit.com
PAO Detroit: Asian Fusion/Pan Asian. Dinner, Wednesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 114 W Adams Avenue, Suite 200, Detroit, 48226. 313.816.0000. paodetroit.com
Parc: New American. Brunch, Saturday & Sunday. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations.
Liquor. 800 Woodward Ave, Detroit, 48226. 313.922.7272. parcdetroit.com
Prime + Proper: Steak House. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1145 Griswold St, Detroit, 48226. 313.636.3100. primeandproperdetroit.com
Prism: Steak & Seafood. Dinner, ThursdaySunday. Reservations. Liquor. 555 E. Lafayette Street, Detroit, 48226. 313.309.2499. greektowncasino.com
Red Smoke Barbeque: Barbeque. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. Trappers Alley Shopping Center, 573 Monroe Ave., Detroit, 48226. 313.962.2100.
Selden Standard: American. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 3921 Second Avenue, Detroit, 48201. 313.438.5055. seldenstandard.com
Sexy Steak: Steakhouse. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1942 Grand River Avenue, Detroit,48226. 313.403.1000. sexysteakdetroit.com
SheWolf Pastifico & Bar: Italian. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 438 Selden Street, Detroit 48201. 313.315.3992. shewolfdetroit.com
Sinbad’s: Seafood. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 100 St. Clair Street, Detroit, 48214. 313.822.8000. sindbads.com
Slows Bar BQ: Barbeque. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2138 Michigan Avenue, Detroit, 48216. 313.962.9828. slowsbarbq.com/locations/corktown
Soraya: Japanese. Lunch, Tuesday-Thursday, Dinner, Monday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 160 W Fort St, Detroit, 48226. 313.262.6078. sorayadetroit.com
Sullivan’s Steakhouse: Steakhouse. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 1128 Washington Boulevard, Detroit, MI 48226. 313.591.2495. sullivanssteakhouse.com
Supergeil: Berlin Doner. Lunch & Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. No reservations. Liquor. 2442 Michigan Avenue, Detroit, 48216. 313.462.4133. supergeildetroit.com
Tap at MGM Grand: American. Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 1777 Third Street, Detroit, 48226. 313.465.1234. mgmgranddetroit.com
The Apparatus Room: New American. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 250 W. Larned Street, Detroit, 48226. 313.800.5600 detroitfoundationhotel.com
The Block: American. Brunch, Weekends, Lunch & Dinner, Wednesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 3919 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, 48201. 313.832.0892. theblockdet.com
The Dime Store: American. Breakfast & Lunch, Thursday-Tuesday. No reservations. Liquor. 719 Griswold Street #180, Detroit, 48226.313. 962.9106. eatdimestore.com
The Peterboro: Chinese American. Lunch, Saturday, Dinner, Wednesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 420 Peterboro Street, Detroit, 48201. 313.462.8106. thepeterboro.com
Townhouse Detroit: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 500 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, 48201. 48226. 313.723.1000. townhousedetroit.com
Vecino: Mexican. Dinner, Tuesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor. 4100 3rd Ave, Detroit, 48201. 313.500.1615. vecinodetroit.com
Vertical Detroit: Dinner, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations. Liquor. 1538 Center Street, Detroit, 48226. 313.732.WINE. verticaldetroit.com
Vivio’s Food & Spirits: American. Lunch & Dinner, daily. No reservations. Liquor. 2460 Market Street, Detroit, 48207. 313.393.1711. viviosdetroit.net
The Whitney: American. Tea Service, Friday & Saturday, Dinner, Wednesday-Sunday. Reservations. Liquor.4421 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, 48201. 313.832.5700. thewhitney.com
Wright & Co.: American. Dinner, TuesdaySaturday. No reservations. Liquor. 1500 Woodward Avenue, Second Floor, Detroit, 48226. 313.962.7711. wrightdetroit.com
Zuzu: Asian Fusion. Dinner, daily. Reservations. Liquor. 511 Woodward Ave suite 100, Detroit, 48226. 313.464.7777. experiencezuzu.com
chosen to part ways with my former business partner of eight years, while retaining full ownership of the Lady of the House brand. This step allows the Lady brand to move out of a toxic situation and refocus time, energy, and resources toward a healthier and more sustainable future, and communityfocused purpose.”
NATA Detroit Kitchen & Cocktails has officially opened in Troy at 3946 Rochester Road. Owned by Adrian Sinishtaj and his father, the restaurant takes over the former home of Old Detroit Burger Bar—also previously owned by the Sinishtaj family. NATA Detroit Kitchen & Cocktails delivers a modern dining experience paired with a lively atmosphere, featuring live music on Thursdays and a DJ on Friday nights. “The name NATA originates from Albania and means night. It represents family, culture, and connection — values that are at the heart of everything we do,” said Sinishtaj. “NATA will be more than just a restaurant; it will be a destination for amazing food, crafted cocktails, and unforgettable nights.” The interior has been completely redesigned and elevated, showcasing an elegant backlit marble bar, olive trees, and Mediterranean blue accents throughout the space. The restaurant seats approximately 180 guests, with an outdoor patio opening in warmer months to accommodate additional diners. The menu features a variety of American cuisine with Mediterranean influences, ranging from premium steaks and seafood to handcrafted flatbreads, tacos and burgers. Popular dishes include Cavatappi al Pesto — made with creamy basil pesto, parmesan, and fresh herbs, and the Hot Honey Hustle Pizza, topped with crispy pepperoni, mozzarella, and a fiery hot honey drizzle. Guests can also enjoy an assortment of shareable plates, such as steak tips and traditional dolma. The full bar offers premium spirits, craft cocktails and a curated wine list. With multiple TVs throughout the space, NATA also serves as an ideal watch-party destination. The restaurant includes space for private events and is open seven days a week for lunch and dinner, with brunch launching in the spring. 3946 Rochester Road, Troy
Often hailed by multiple media outlets as “Detroit’s most romantic restaurant,” The Whitney is preparing for an unforgettable Valentine’s Day celebration. “Valentine’s Day is a Saturday this year, and we’ll celebrate for the full weekend, Friday, Saturday and Sunday — including Sunday brunch. We’ll have our regular menus, plus always a few specials, including shareable desserts for two and special pre-ordered roses to be set on your table,” said Patrick Liebler, Executive Director, The Whitney. Guests can look forward to classic desserts such as Cherries Jubilee served tableside, red velvet cake and a Valentine’s themed trio of mini desserts.
4421 Woodward Avenue, Detroit thewhitney.com
Detroit’s iconic Cliff Bell’s is setting the stage for an unforgettable “Valentine’s Day Dinner and a Show” on Friday, February 14, with two shows at 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. The evening features live performances by Detroit-based jazz vocalist Lady Vonne, known for her rich, expressive voice that pays homage to America’s jazz greats. Guests can enjoy Cliff Bell’s seasonal dinner menu along with innovative cocktails and mocktails. Each seating is limited to 90 minutes with $30 cover charge.
2030 Park Avenue, Detroit cliffbells.com
Beverly Hills Grill invites guests to enjoy a full Valentine’s Day experience on February 14th featuring a live violinist, a chef-curated five-course meal and complimentary photo keepsake. Price is $100 per person. Seatings are available at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Those planning an evening out with friends can take advantage of the “Double Date Special” by reserving a table for four or more to receive 50 percent off any bottle of wine.
31471 Southfield Road, Beverly Hills beverlyhillsgrill.com
Café Cortina in Farmington Hillshas been delighting food lovers since 1976. The authentic Italian atmosphere and cuisine, along with its cozy fireside seating, makes for a perfect romantic date. Café Cortina’s Valentine’s celebration takes place February 13th, 14th and 15th and offers a four-course prix-fixe menu for $145 per person + tax and gratuity. Take note that on these three days, the restaurant will only be offering the special Valentine’s prix-fixe menu (gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan options available for every course).
30715 W. 10 Mile Road, Farmington Hills cafecortina.com
Most likely the majority of residents in Birmingham would agree on one thing about The Community House (TCH) in the city: It would be ideal if the iconic building on Bates Street in the city remains as is and continues to serve as a gathering place for the community.
The only question is who will own the building, a decision that will most likely be made by Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Michael Warren of the business court division where the case is pending. So it could be weeks or months before a final judgement.
As capsulized background, the City of Birmingham filed suit against The Community House Association following an announcement by TCH officials in early November that the group was changing its name to the Birmingham Community Foundation, would be continuing with its normal outreach to nonprofit groups and residents to fulfill the original mission of the association as dictated by its founders and would be selling the building, recently appraised at over $7 million. Proceeds from the building, they said, would be used to retire debt and serve as seed money for the community foundation.
The main objection by the city has to do with deed restrictions for the property and the original intent of TCH founders who envisioned the building to remain as a community center. As for the deed restrictions, they specifically say that if the TCH Association was ever dissolved, then the building had to be given (i.e. at no charge) to another non-profit or failing that, rented at a nominal rate to the city.
Technically, the association has not been
dissolved, simply renamed so it would seem that sale of the building would be allowed – which on the surface seems like a shell-and-pea game but that will be decided by the court.
Should the court determine that the deed restrictions and founders’ original intent prevent sale of the building, then it would seem the city would be able to finally meet with TCH officials. Both sides in this dispute have a different version of why city officials have not met with TCH folk and been allowed to tour the building. Putting that issue aside, a meeting of the two parties could benefit the community by allowing the city see the condition of the facility and be given numbers that show operational costs of the building.
There are numerous questions surrounding the issue of city ownership or low-cost leasing of the building. To repeat what we have raised in the past, would the city be able and willing to pay off the debts of the current TCH Association to make transfer of the building ownership or a long-term lease arrangement more acceptable?
We assume there would have to be at least minimal staffing at a community center, so what would that cost be and would the city be willing to underwrite that expense and for how long?
Because the court decision could be many weeks down the road, the city should immediately chart a plan of action in case it wins the court case and ends up acquiring the building one way or another. It would seem the city should establish a non-profit foundation and a board of directors who ultimately would manage the facility.
Meanwhile, the city commission needs to get
serious – stop with the nonsensical talk we have heard of people volunteering to run the childhood education program or the overall facility. Let’s see (soon) a concrete plan for the city taking over the community center.
If the court ultimately decides that TCH officials can sell the building, then it would appear the city would have to match or beat an offer that supposedly is pending from what we have learned is the Jewish Federation of Detroit, reportedly more than the $7 million appraisal. Money talks.
We happen to think that the offer from the Jewish Federation of Detroit is an ideal situation. Based on what we have been told, the purchase agreement for the sale, which was to have been hammered out weeks ago, will include the original deed restrictions for the building and a codified acceptance that the building will still remain a community center serving residents for meetings and activities, as well as paid events like weddings, for example. Also part of the purchase agreement is that the new owners would continue with the early childhood education program that operates there now.
We have shared this privately with city officials and now say so publicly. While we support what the city did in slowing down the sale of The Community House so critical questions could be decided, if there is going to be a sale, The Jewish Federation of Detroit offer would seem to check all the boxes and answer the concerns expressed by the city.
So now all that is needed is a decision by the judge.
This is not the first time that we have questioned what two Oakland County members of the state House of Representatives are either drinking or smoking. We refer to the recent proposal by six House members to eliminate school district property taxes for homeowners who do not have children attending public schools.
The two representatives we single out from the pack are Republicans Matt Maddock from the Milford area of Oakland County and Republican Shriver of the Oxford area. Maddock has established himself as not just far right but hard right when it comes to his performance as a House member and the proposals he backs. Writing him off as MAGA does not do him justice. In the case of Shriver, Christian Nationalist probably captures him best. One has to wonder who puts the likes of these two into office. But we digress.
Here’s what the GOP pack have recently introduced.
If it can make it out of the government operations committee, which is doubtful, starting in 2027 any household that does not have children in public schools would have that portion of their annual tax bill reduced by 40 percent. Then, in future years, the remaining amount would be reduced by 15 percent annually until 2031 when they would pay no property taxes in support of local public schools.
Any household not using the public schools, including those with children in private schools, would end up not paying taxes to support local public schools.
By their own estimate, 72 percent of homeowners have no children in the public schools, which has always been our guesstimate for the Birmingham-Bloomfield area.
As expected, a couple of pro-public school
groups have already come out in opposition to the proposal.
Obviously, taking this kind of revenue away from the schools would devastate what we now know of the public education system.
On a purely philosophical basis, this type of thinking undermines what is referenced as the overall common good of the community. At any point in time, we all pay for services in a community that we may not directly use but from which we still benefit because these services contribute a value to the overall community. In the case of public schools, the overall value of homes in a community are directly impacted by the quality of public education offered to our children.
We cannot think of a more frontal attack on public schools, and are embarrassed that two clowns backing this are from Oakland County.
