“The dot” Project Gets it’s Own Spot on Downtown Ferndale Website

(Crystal A. Proxmire, Nov. 28, 2017)

Ferndale, MI – As the community prepares for the arrival of the Development On Troy, aka “the dot”,  the Ferndale Downtown Development Authority (DDA) is getting ready to help businesses through the potential tough time of construction.

DDA Director Barry Hicks shared a crucial communications component at the City Council meeting Monday, announcing The dot Project section of the DowntownFerndale.com website.  The site will help business owners and visitors with important updates such as timelines, detours, events and promotions.  It also gives facts about the project.

The dot is a mixed use development that will add parking to the Downtown as well as retail space.  Construction begins in early 2018 at the SW corner of Troy and Allen and will result in a 50 foot structure with 397 parking spaces and approximately 11,500 sq ft of retail space. A potential future addition could add 24 residential units and two stories of office space. Construction is expected to take 12-15 months.

The DDA has contracted with Pulp Detroit, a Ferndale-based communications company, to assist with the website and social media, as well as to produce content that features local businesses.  Each week two businesses will be featured on facebook and the DowntownFerndale.com website.  “90% of this is going to be geared towards highlighting the businesses,” said Pulp’s Anthony Morrow.

Businesses, vendors, shoppers and residents can sign up for email updates and there will be a weekend preview that showcases events.

The website also contains a Business Support page with resources such as Main Street Oakland County, the Oakland County One Stop Business Center and the Build Institute.

Through the pre-construction process, the DDA’s outreach team has done retention visits with all 60 businesses that have been identified as being most impacted by the project.  The website will be the place to get the most up to date information.  “This is a living website, that will be growing along with the DOT project and the needs of the businesses,” Hicks said.

In addition to the communications efforts, the DDA has been working to identify alternative parking options, such as use of the Ferndale United Methodist parking lot, shuttle and valet services, and a promotion with Lyft for ride-sharing.

For all the latest dot information visit www.DowntownFerndale.com and look for the DOT PROJECT link in the upper right corner of the page.  There is also a place at the top of the page to sign up for “business newsletter” or the “consumer newsletter,” which will send “Ferndale Forward” emails with news and updates.