West side native Michelle Allen hasn’t been home to Detroit in a decade, but her Tuesday visit to Greektown came at the right time.
The historic district is celebrating major strides in its lengthy streetscape renovation project, with the launch of the Monroe Street Summer Series and reopening of a section of Monroe Street to pedestrians with wider sidewalks, outdoor seating, lighting and landscape and other amenities. The progress is bringing a much-needed infusion to the business district strained by more than a year-and-a-half of construction for the $20 million project. This month, work on a second block of Monroe is substantially complete and the full project is slated to wrap up by mid-November.
“We’re making the rounds … walking the new Greektown and we’re loving it,” Allen told BridgeDetroit while exploring with her husband, Charles Allen, and friend, Mable Jones. “The fact that it’s walkable makes it more attractive, safer for pedestrians and accessible for the restaurants.”
Charles Allen, who formerly owned a restaurant at Gratiot and Randolph, said he believes that the updates are “in sync with the new Detroit.”
The heart of Greektown has been closed to vehicular traffic during construction of the Monroe Streetscape Transformation Project. But now, the nonprofit steward for the district is asking visitors whether they believe it should stay that way.
Ayesha Maxwell, executive director of Greektown Neighborhood Partnership, told BridgeDetroit that the organization is taking public feedback on the prospect of eliminating vehicle traffic long-term and on the recent enhancements as the conclusion of the 1.5-year project nears.
“We’re moving steadfast and almost to the finish line,” said Maxwell, who joined the partnership in November. The partnership, she said, will survey the public through next spring to make an informed decision on whether to reopen the street to vehicles. Currently, it’ll remain closed for pedestrian use only until a broader plan is in place. The city ultimately has the final say on whether the district will be pedestrian only, she added.
The streetscape project was fueled by a community-led, privately funded framework plan that began with talks dating back to 2017. The development area spans three-and-a-half blocks of Monroe from Randolph to the mid-block before the I-375 interchange.
Greektown is home to close to 20 businesses, including mainstays like Golden Fleece, Pegasus and Astoria Pastry Shop as well as the Firebird Tavern and newer establishments like Table No. 2 at Brush and Monroe streets.
Yanni Dionisopoulos, who co-owns Golden Fleece, the district’s longest-running restaurant, said his business was disrupted first during the COVID-19 pandemic and then was down about 50% with the streetscape construction, but it’s now back on track and looking to bring in more staff.
“That myth that there’s no Greektown anymore is false,” he said. “The patio expansion is an added value daily, not just on the weekends. We’re inviting everyone to come back down and check out Greektown.”
Dionisopoulos is affiliated with seven businesses in the district. The overall offerings in Greektown, he said, are vast and thriving, with a market, taverna, bakeries, coffee shop and more on the horizon, including upper-level housing options.
He said there are activations on Monroe every weekend with live music and entertainment, vendors, activities for families and more. He, too, supports a continuation of a vehicle-less district.
“We’d been shut down (street) for about two years, and the influx we’ve been receiving demonstrates that being closed off to vehicular traffic is a no-brainer,” he said. “If it’s working with no cars, then why mess with it?”
Maxwell said fall and winter events will continue in Greektown and are in the planning stages.
“Everything we’re doing in Greektown is to really draw people back into the district and give them an opportunity to experience the newly designed street,” she said. “Keeping traffic out has been one great asset and an opportunity to come explore from one end of the block to the other.”
Maxwell touted a social media buzz as visitors post online about enjoying the new aspects of the district. That’s what piqued the interest of 28-year-old Layne Van Buskirk of Windsor.
She visited Greektown for lunch Tuesday with her mother, Dana Van Buskirk, 61, who noted that she visited the district’s bars and restaurants when she was younger.
“I was just telling my sister-in-law, ‘This is where we used to hang out. We’ve definitely got to go back,’” Dana Van Buskirk said. “I love Detroit and I love coming back here. It’s coming alive.”
During the heaviest of the construction phases, the district was crowded with mounds of dirt, fencing and narrow walkways with prominent wayfinding signage and notices that the shops were in fact open for business. Maxwell said during that time, sales were down for just about every business, but none of them closed during the construction. The block is now seeing revival, she said, with patios often filled from lunchtime until 1 a.m. every night since the reopening in early July. It was then that the partnership also unveiled the Gratiot-Randolph Plaza, a transformational public space that serves as the eastern gateway into Greektown.
The district’s summer series runs every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 6-10 p.m. through the end of September. This weekend’s theme is “Magic on Monroe” with dancing and a strolling accordion.
Maxwell said the streetscape revamp is aimed at preserving the cultural relevance of the district and the legacies of the mainstays and the future additions to come. She and Dionisopoulos said there’s already an influx of new and returning visitors, but they want to spread awareness.
“A lot of people are hesitant or haven’t checked it out yet (following the construction),” he said. “We’e got a lot of work to do to get the word out there. We’re open for business.”
