Hey friends! Be a careful with the air quality out there today. The Quebec wildfires are blowing through, putting AQI levels into the “unsafe for sensitive groups” category.
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⚡️ What to know
» 100 acres of food grown in a half-acre of land. Bedrock and Vertical Harvest are partnering to explore the development of Vertical Harvest Detroit in Detroit's Milwaukee Junction neighborhood. The vertical farm looks to produce 2.2 million pounds of fresh produce annually, using sustainable practices and employing people with disabilities.
It would be 74 feet tall and have a 205,000 square foot growing canopy that uses “hydroponic, vertical and controlled environmental agricultural practices.”
An estimated 2.2 million pounds of fresh vegetables, including lettuces, petite greens, microgreens and herbs would be produced year-round.
The goal is that 70% of what is grown would be consumed within 100 miles.
The renderings (by my estimation) put the project at John R. and Piquette, a little east of Woodward and just south of the railroad tracks. They’ll also be across the intersection from Bucharest Grill.
It’d “launch” according to press materials in 2025. There’s no price tag on this one yet.
Vertical Harvest has done this before and has an operating farm in Jackson Hole, WY. Here’s a virtual tour of that facility.
I’ve seen designs for vertical farms in Detroit in the past, but with Bedrock involved there’s a better chance this is actually happening, and not just going to mist away. It’s kinda wild to me it’s in greater Downtown Detroit, instead of somewhere I’d think land would be cheaper. Which leads me to the next story…
» Solar panels may be coming to vacant land in Detroit’s neighborhoods. According to a press release, Mayor Mike Duggan will unveil a plan during a meeting at 7p on June 28 at Second Ebeneezer Church to allow neighborhoods and block clubs to apply for converting vacant land into solar farms. The city says they want to generate clean energy, reduce the city's carbon footprint, and fight blight. Residents can attend the meeting in person or virtually, and applications for hosting solar farms will open on July 1st.
A follow-up report says that the project would be limited to areas 20 acres or more. [Detroit News]
Solar regulations are very pro-utility in the state of Michigan, and the state overall lags behind most of our neighbors as far as solar installations and generation. So I’m curious how this would come together. Also, if the land is being used for solar investment, I wonder how that impacts possibilities for future development.
» “We need more people.” That’s what Ned Staebler, Techtown’s head and Wayne State University’s VP of Economic Development said on a recent episode of our Daily Detroit podcast about Detroit, metro Detroit, and Michigan. Here’s one of the things Ned said I thought was important:
“…When I was in the Granholm administration 4,000 years ago, there were about 90,000 open jobs in the state of Michigan. Today, there’s more like 350,000 open jobs. And you say “oh! it’s a sign of an expanding economy!” No, here’s the problem. Our workforce is down by 300,000 people … We haven’t changed our population over the last 20 years, but we’ve gotten older. People retired. And we haven’t replaced them with new workers. So our workforce is actually down a ton. And that’s really slowing down the growth of our economy, and small businesses, big businesses. Because they can’t find the workers here to grow. So they’re going elsewhere to find talent now.”
Have a listen to the whole show below:
» High-rise apartments downriver? A former bank headquarters will be converted into 215 apartments. “The Bank Tower” at will also include a new park, pedestrian bridge, and restored midcentury features from the former bank headquarters. It’s expected to be completed by 2025. [Urbanize Detroit] [Southgate Facebook]
» The USS Carl M. Levin was commissioned on Saturday in Baltimore, MD. Named after the U.S. Senator from Michigan, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer honors the longtime Chairman of the Committee on Armed Services. Levin died in 2021.
Bonus: I did one of the last interviews with Levin before he passed on. [Hour Detroit]
» Renovations to Clark Park in Southwest Detroit are complete. [Urbanize Detroit]
🛻 Ford layoffs, pricing pushback, strike prep
» Ford is cutting several hundred white-collar jobs to reduce costs as the company moves to electric vehicles. CEO Jim Farley says much of Ford’s workforce doesn’t have the right skills to make the transition from gas- and diesel- over to battery-powered vehicles. This is in addition to 200 Ford contract employees losing their jobs last week. [Wall Street Journal] [ClickOnDetroit] [Detroit News]
» Customers are cancelling Ford F-150 Lightning orders because of cost. The all-electric truck launched with a lot of fanfare and 200,000 pre-orders back in 2021, but when the base model recently went from $40k to $60-65k, some potential buyers bolted out the door. [The Verge]
I’ll be the first to say I like electric cars and trucks, but I’m very concerned about the high prices — not just of electrics, but vehicles in general. Buyers can only do so much, and these trucks are now so expensive that they don’t qualify for the tax breaks anymore.
» Strike storm clouds are brewing. New United Auto Workers leader Shawn Fain wants to get rid of two-tier wages, get pay raises, and get the union into joint-venture plants that are focused on battery and electric vehicle production. The current contracts with the so-called “big three” automakers are up in September. [Facebook live] [AP]
🍴 News bites
» There’s more Indian food coming to Wayne County. Pink Garlic’s first spot in Oak Park is a favorite of some of our podcast team as it hits both the “tasty” and “worth the money” boxes.
An eagle-eyed listener told me their second spot is coming to Allen Park on Ecorse Road, just a bit west of their downtown. I can confirm this — and that they’re looking to open within the next two months.
Here’s our conversation about the Oak Park spot from about a year ago.
» There’s a new Dominican place in Lincoln Park. La Bodega is part fresh food and Dominican staples and part restaurant, with a walk-up counter and some tables in the back. Their juices are great (I didn’t know about a Horchata but with Pineapple? And the Tamarind!) This has the true feel of a New York-style bodega, but at Outer Drive and Toledo.
More on the podcast:
» A new coffeeshop is coming to downtown Wyandotte. The coffee truck Kekoa Brew is getting a brick and mortar location. The other day I tried one of seven limited-edition Taylor Swift Eras-inspired concoctions. You can go most days and check out their coffee truck while the buildout happens at 3351 Third in Wyandotte. [Instagram]
» Popular Detroit-style pizza spot Michigan and Trumbull is popping up at the WAB in Ferndale. This temporary spot (serving round pizzas only) will be in operation while their new spot near Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit gets built. [Detroit News]
🎙 On the podcast
Monday through Friday we do an all-local podcast sharing what to know and where to go in Metro Detroit. Here are a few highlights since we last talked.
» Michigan State University has bought a majority stake in the Fisher Building. We discuss the impact.
» How Detroit’s “Arsenal of Democracy” helped win WWII.
» Angelique Power from the Skillman Foundation talked with me about the power of investing in the people already here - our children.
» Is the proposed Midtown Target project in peril?
» Detroit-style Pizza Day was Friday. I caught up with friend of the podcast Karen Dybis and Buddy’s long-time pizza slinger Wesley Pikula to talk stories of old and one of Detroit’s most popular food exports.
Karen also has a book you might want to check out: “Detroit Style Pizza: A Doughtown History.” [Amazon] [Bookshop]
Thanks so much for reading! If you enjoy the work or find it valuable, consider buying me a coffee or two. Anything and everything helps.
Remember that you are somebody — and I’ll see you around Detroit.
-Jer
