The Michigan Economic Development Corp. on Wednesday announced that it will provide $413,000 in funding to help pave the way for the redevelopment of one of Detroit’s landmark buildings and the former home of the Dell Pryor Art Gallery on Randolph St. in the famed Paradise Valley.
The MEDC Michigan Strategic fund approved the plan to provide grant dollars toward the renovation of the three-story building which will become the home of the historic Michigan Chronicle newspaper. Building plans include a new roof, HVAC, an additional staircase and required improvements to bring the building up to local building and fire codes. The building will also house a restaurant.
The entire cost of the Michigan Chronicle building project is $3.1 million and the project is slated to create 35 new jobs, a proviso of the Michigan Community Revitalization Program grant.
Real Times Media, the parent company of the Michigan Chronicle bought the building for $550,000 from the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation. Capital cost of the building project is $3.1 million, the MEDC said, and it’s expected to create 35 jobs — the performance measurement tied to the grant.
Other project funding includes a $200,000 acquisition loan from the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. and a 12-year Obsolete Property Rehabilitation Act abatement valued at $42,000 per year, and $900,000 in Community Development Block Grant funding.
The third floor in the building will be used as headquarters for Real Times Media, the newspaper’s parent company, which also owns several other iconic black press brands including; the Chicago Defender, the Atlanta Daily World and the New Pittsburgh Courier, along with Who’s Who Publishing Company.
A project time frame wasn’t immediately available.
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