First look at The Assembly mixed-use project in Corktown

A $39 million mixed-use project by Dan Gilbert’s Bedrock LLC is opening up for leasing on the residential side on Thursday.

I took a tour of The Assembly on West Fort Street near Corktown this morning along with other members of the media who got a peek at a few of the 32 apartments in the building, which will be home to Chicago-based Coyote Logistics LLC later this year.

The apartments generally range from 750 to 1,500 or so square feet, but there are a pair on the top floor that are more than 2,000 square feet with more than 1,000 feet of private outdoor space. At least one of those rents for $6,500 per month, but a more modest one-bedroom, one-bathroom unit a floor below is about $1,850 for 814 square feet, or about $2.27 per month.

The 1913 building was constructed for dry goods and wholesaler Edson, Moore & Co. and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2017, according to Bedrock’s website.

Project financing included about $6 million in historic tax credits, said Jonathan Mueller, Bedrock’s director of development. The Coyote space build-out received a $1.5 million Michigan Business Development Program grant from the Michigan Strategic Fund.

Birmingham-based McIntosh Poris Associates is the project architect, while Detroit-based Sachse Construction is the construction manager. Partners by Design is the architect on Coyote’s space.

The property is near the West Riverfront Park under development by the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy and about a mile from Ford Motor Co.’s Corktown campus anchored by Michigan Central Station.

Public records say Gilbert purchased the building in January 2016 for $5.2 million in a portfolio deal with Detroit-based The Display Group, which moved into the Packard Plant in May 2015.