Hazel Park Mayor Touts New Businesses and Housing in Annual State of City Speech
(City of Hazel Park, April 11, 2025)
Hazel Park, MI – City of Hazel Park Mayor Mike Webb recently shared his annual State of the City Speech, touting new businesses in the city and increases in housing. Here’s what Mayor Webb had to say:
Good morning everyone! Welcome back to Hazel Park, the Friendly City – We are pleased to host this year’s Madison Heights Hazel Park Chamber of Commerce State of the Cities Event. I would like to thank Linda Williams and the Chamber Board of Directors for all of their hard work in putting on this event, as well as thank Madison Heights Mayor Rosilyn Grafstein and the City staffs at both Madison Heights and Hazel Park for all of their efforts to make this breakfast successful.
Our host today, Boozy’s Bar & Grill, is a great example of the new and exciting things happening in the City of Hazel Park. Let’s have a round of applause for this beautiful venue!
2024 was another exciting year for the City of Hazel Park and we expect 2025 to be even better. We welcomed new businesses, and watched existing businesses grow. We received hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants, and now, we’re working to put those funds to use to serve our residents. We have exciting new recreation opportunities, and we’re continuing to upgrade our community recreation center for the first time in decades! We continue to work collaboratively with other cities, as well as the State of Michigan and Oakland County government, to improve services and to be fiscally responsible with Hazel Park’s tax dollars.
We love our businesses! Kazkara coffee roastery, a Mediterranean restaurant, and a pizzeria have all decided to call our city home as well. So too did various retail and service businesses like Luxe Perfumes, Phyx Performance training, VIP Wear, Fresh Spin, and Kid Caves Development Center. The Grilled Wrap, a much-beloved local food truck, has received site plan approval for a brick-and-mortar location on the S. Chrysler Service Drive. Mabel Gray, one of our shining stars, was named Michigan’s Restaurant of the Year by Hour Magazine! Deepening their commitment to Hazel Park, their owners recently constructed a 1,000 square-foot wine bar addition, La Cave, which, to quote them, is “reminiscent of the wine caves of old Europe.”
Another of our shinning stars is Exclterra Corporation. We have frequently highlighted them in past state of the city addresses, and they continue to do amazing things. They have expanded their activities from three states to 12, and they are now active in five foreign countries. Their Sustainable Agriculture Passive System could revolutionize agriculture, reducing the need for fertilizers and excessive irrigation. This is the fifth anniversary of the installation of their radioactivity decontamination project at Chernobyl, the results will be announced in the fall of 2025.
In terms of construction and renovation, nearly 1,300 permits were issued by the Building Department. This included 14 new homes, 188 rehabs and additions, 122 new roofs, and a total of more than 750 Electrical, Mechanical, and Plumbing Permits. All told, this work required nearly 3,500 inspections.
Our designated “Main Street” corridor of John R Rd. witnessed ongoing construction of what will become the Corktown Health center and the new storefront at Gameday Detroit. The North John R Road Diet was a big change as well, complete with bike lanes and a pedestrian island to improve non-motorized transit and walkability.
Five public projects saw over two hundred thousand of investment into John R, while 9 private building rehabs totaled $7.5 million. 20 new businesses moved in along John R, and two dozen pole banners went up at no cost to the City. Last but not least, our inaugural “Main Street District” gateway sign was installed just south of 10 Mile Rd.
Over one hundred thousand was awarded by the DDA to local businesses as part of the 2024 Façade Improvement Grant Program. Three of these projects have been completed and reimbursed, with multiple others underway. Additionally, more than one million dollars in federal and County grant funds have been secured for future placemaking efforts along John R.
I’m excited to report that many of the plans we’ve talked about during the past couple State of the City addresses have now come to fruition!
Remember, two years ago, we were across the street at Eastern Palace, proudly highlighting Hazel Park’s South-end. As you can see, with the addition of Boozy’s, My Town Market, Hazel Perk Café, and Zaytoona restaurant, the South End of Hazel Park is thriving according to plan! Eastern Palace and Smoked Lotus continue to be successful, and My Town Market has renovated its interior. Hazel Perk Café is becoming a popular destination, and we will soon welcome Pop-Up Hazel Park, a grant-funded storefront opportunity for new startup businesses. Also coming to the South-end, is a brand-new ice cream shop that will undoubtedly become a family friendly destination for all of Hazel Park.
Last year, I announced that we were working with Madison Heights, Ferndale, and Royal Oak to establish a co-responder program that will enable trained mental health professionals to respond, along with our police officers, to incidents that are better handled by the mental health system rather than the criminal justice system. This year, I’m proud to report, the program is up and running. Thanks to funding from Oakland County, Oakland Community Mental Health now provides two clinicians to provide this important service. Police Chief William Hamel indicates that our officers use the program on a daily basis to help those with mental health, substance abuse, and trauma-related issues. The program needs continued state and county support for it to continue.
Last year, along with the City of Madison Heights, we also talked about the importance of changing the law at the state level so that local units of government could participate in the Ground Emergency Medical Transport Program. Thanks to the successful efforts of the bill’s sponsor, our own Representative Mike McFall, as well as the lobbying efforts of Hazel Park, Madison Heights, and the Michigan Municipal League, that bill was recently signed into law. Thank you, Representative McFall!
I want to recognize Judge Hartwell and his team at the 43rd District Court for their work in establishing a Treatment Court. According to Hartwell, the court is providing 18 months of accountability and support to our neighbors who want to overcome their dependence on drugs or alcohol. According to Hartwell, the plan is to set long-term goals, while expecting a few stumbles along the way. He plans to hold them accountable, but he also wants the courtroom to be a place of reward and celebration as participants accomplish stabilizing goals in their lives — for example, completing their education, maintaining sobriety, and finding employment.
We continue to move forward revitalizing our neighborhoods. Hazel Park has seen an expansion of residential housing construction. Robertson Brothers recently completed their new 54 unit condo housing project. Vacant residential lots are in high demand by developers, who are continuing to build new homes across our city.
Looking ahead, the recent adoption of our new Zoning Ordinance will usher in major changes, including moving to a largely “form-based” approach. Addressing “missing middle” housing by greatly increasing flexibility for things like duplexes, cottages, and accessory dwelling units will lead to increased housing options. Our efforts are definitely paying off. In 2024, Hazel Park led every city in Oakland County in increased residential property values.
Thanks to our administration, led by City Manager Edward Klobucher, Hazel Park has been amazingly successful at tapping into an array of public and private grant opportunities in the past few years. Now, our staff is in the process of managing these grants and ensuring a successful completion of construction.
Hazel Park has received multiple grants from Oakland County for our recreation department, including $300,000 for our recreation center, and $400,000 for Green Acres Park. Last spring, we cut the ribbon on a beautiful, brand-new playground at Green Acres Park. This was the first serious upgrade to Hazel Park’s largest park in over 30 years. Our late County Commissioner, Gary McGillivary, was instrumental in helping Hazel Park win these grants, as was County Executive Coulter, Board Chair Woodward, and Oakland County Parks Director Chris Ward.
Hazel Park is also on schedule in the pre-construction phase of managing a HUD Community Funding federal grant to turn the underutilized pole barn next to our recreation department into a beautiful new community meeting space. This project will add much needed space for community groups and events hosted in our area. The recreation center is also being upgraded, and Hazel Park will host a satellite office of Oakland County Parks and Recreation.
Speaking of recreation, the City of Hazel Park is continuing to partner with the Hazel Park School District to improve recreation opportunities for our community’s young people. The jointly funded Junior Vikings sports program has been wildly popular with our youth, restoring football & cheerleading programs, and helping fund our amazing youth wrestling program. Look for even more sports and recreation opportunities to be added soon, not just for our youth, but for people of all ages.
Hazel Park is a very safe community. I want to thank our Police and Fire Departments for their hard work protecting our city. I also want to thank our residents for being supportive of those departments. Likewise, our Department of Public Works continues to keep us safe and strives to maintain our infrastructure. Let’s hear an update from our new Police Chief, Fire Chief, and Director of Public Works and some other department heads.
In the coming year, we will continue to provide excellent police and fire services, work on further improving our recreation programs, and upgrade our infrastructure. One area of special concern will be local road repair. This will be the beginning of a multi-year program that will address the worst roads first. The state has historically underfunded local roads, so we will be undertaking many repairs on our own, so we ask for your patience.
Every year, I thank our community groups, because we couldn’t run our city without our dedicated volunteers. I want to thank all the people of Hazel Park who donate their time to make our city a better place. Community groups like the Lions Club and the Hazel Park Eagles provide important volunteer resources for our city. Whether you’re a member of one of our service clubs, or sit on a city board or commission, coach a youth sports team, plant and water with the Flower Club or Beautification Commission, or serve on the Police Reserves, your contributions to Hazel Park are important.
I have to thank our amazing administration and department heads, as well as the hardworking members of our police, fire, public works, water, recreation and City Hall employees. Serving our residents is our number one mission. I want to recognize a couple of employees who had major significant accomplishments. Finance Director/Assistant City Manager Laci Christiansen completed Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program at Harvard University last year, joining City Manager Ed Klobucher and County Executive Dave Coulter as a graduate of that prestigious program. HR Director Jared Gajos was named a Notable Non-Profit Board Member by Crains Detroit Business for his work with the Oakland County Alliance of Coalitions for Healthy Communities Board of Directors.
I am pleased to work with a great City Council that includes Alissa Sullivan, Andy LeCureaux, Luke Londo, and our newest member Andrea Washington. I want to thank them their hard work and cooperative attitude. We work well together, along with our talented staff to try make Hazel Park a great place to live, work, and raise a family. I’m pleased to report, that in 2025, the state of our city is strong!
