Downtown Clawson Growing Up with Mixed Use Expansion of Ace Hardware
(Lara Mossa, Sept. 29, 2019)
CLAWSON, MI – Ace Hardware will remain open as the store undergoes a major renovation and expansion.
Margulies Investment Company, based in Bloomfield Hills, purchased the 20,000-square-foot building within the last year and plans to have the construction done in 18 months.
“We’re excited about it,” said Andrew Margulies, Principal of the 63-year-old business. “I think it will be a great addition to Clawson’s downtown and definitely a great thing for Ace Hardware.”
The retail store has been on 14-Mile Road east of Main Street since it opened in 1963. Two stores in the back of the building, which have been vacant for a while, will be demolished to make room for more parking and loading. When complete, the structure will be 56,000 square feet.
The project also will include 31 apartment units on top of the building – a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments that will range from 500 to 1,200 square feet.
Although unclear on the actual budget, the investment company has been working on plans for more than two years and will start demolition and environmental remediation in April or May. The addition will include a new exoskeleton around the existing store, which will remain open during the process. The front will be revamped, and Ace Hardware will do an interior remodeling of the store as well. The project will be phased in a way that it won’t disturb the parking.
The apartments will be loft style with high, open ceilings and exposed duct work. Each unit will have an outdoor space including balconies, and there will be a common outdoor area on the back of the structure. Gated parking will be available, and the rent will be market rate, Margulies said.
“While there are a lot of apartments around the Clawson, Troy, Royal Oak area, there are not very many right downtown,” he added. “The younger generation likes to live in an urban setting. I think it’s a good fit for the downtown.”
The project is everything the community hoped for and fits in with the Downtown Master Plan, said Joan Horton, the Downtown Development Authority’s Executive Director.
“It gives us new construction, which we haven’t had in a long time in the downtown,” she said. “It creates connectivity along the sidewalk.”
Also in the corridor, there will be a new building across the street as Weiss Distilling Company tore down a vacant structure that used to be a coffee shop and will erect another one in its place. This project should be started within the next year. In addition, the business owns an adjacent building and will complete interior renovations there with two new businesses – a coffee roasting company and a kosher workspace – moving in by the end of the year.
Redevelopment in the community spurs more investment from nearby business owners, Horton said, something that happened when the downtown did a streetscape project in 2012. That project led to another million and a half dollars of improvements in the downtown facades and structures.
In addition, the apartments will be desired by young adults as well as senior citizens, she said, who like to be able to walk to shops and restaurants.
“We’re so glad Ace Hardware is staying, and the fact that we’re getting a new and improved Ace Hardware is awesome.”