All the news from the November DDA board meeting and beyond….
Downtown Businesses
- 41 E. 14 Mile site plan for the restyling of White Wolf/ Noble Fish into Noble Village which spans three storefronts including the former Flipside Records received approval from the Planning Commission on October 24
- 278 E. 14 Mile, Old Port Restaurant, received conditional site plan approval on November 14 from the Planning Commission for facade improvements.
- Hips, 10 S. Main, the owner has made the difficult decision to close after 13 years in business and is moving on to non-retail ventures
- 36 E. 14 Mile, Let’s Art About It, has changed the business format and will vacate the space as a storefront for the business is no longer required
- 38 S. Main, Gus’ Snug Irish Pub is hiring. They are holding open, in person, interviews daily 12pm-7pm and aiming for opening the first week of December.
- 1 E. 14 Mile, Grand River Brewery, staff onsite everyday 10a-6p for mug club membership purchases. They are waiting for permanent signage to be installed and are planning on an early December opening.
- 25 W. 14 Mile; Main Street Rocks has opened for business. This is the third location for the business with other Michigan locations in Durand and Lake City
- Coming Soon:
- 76-84 W. 14 Mile (former Lim’s), has been leased to PanDeMonium, a restaurant specializing in Filipino food
- 25 & 29 S. Main have been leased to Blumz. This location will join their others in Holly and Ferndale
- Recent new businesses
- 141 E. 14 Mile; Dr. Bruce Millman, Pulmomary & Critical Care Medicine
- 145 E. 14 Mile; Exclusive Nails
- 247 E. 14 Mile; Mada Hair Salon
- Available for lease:
- 36 E. 14 Mile (Let’s Art About It)
- 10 S. Main (HIps)
Commercial construction projects continue in and around the downtown
- Broadway Square; Work continues on apartment units while tenants have begun moving in to competed units. Leasing information for The Clawsonian apartments can be found at https://www.clawsonian.com
- 400 S. Main continues renovation for potential Loaded Dice brewery location
- 76-84 W. 14 Mile (former Lim’s) renovations underway for the new tenant
- 516 N. Main; townhome development building exterior nearly complete
- Clawson Manor, 255 E. 14 Mile; (senior high rise); interior & exterior renovations continue and project remains on schedule with exterior renovation nearly completed
- 436-456 W. 14 Mile, plans have been approved by Planning Commission for an apartment development. Demolition of the existing vacant residential properties will be the next step with plans to have that completed before winter
Main Street
- A workshop was held on October 23 for the Downtown Master Plan Update. Planners from Giffels Webster presented the draft plan and concepts to the DDA. Those will form the public survey which will be live later today. The concept boards were available last night for viewing and we will offer another date for public viewing and in-person comment during the survey window
- Local Gems Sweepstakes was offered through Oakland County and Genysis Credit Union through Small Business Saturday. Consumers had the opportunity to win the cash prizes by entering a selfie outside or inside of any small, independent business and submitting it to: com/ShopSmall
Grant follow ups
- Pedestrian crossing signal update: Still waiting for results from Traffic Engineering Consultants (TEC) on the scan of the island signal base, as requested by the Road Commission, following the auto colliding with the base earlier this year
- Alley Heart Artwork: Miss Dig has marked the site. Waiting for the fabricator to complete the final two pole base supports.
Other News
- Small Business Saturday on November 25 was celebrated with many business specials and our volunteer ‘downtown elves’ traveled through the downtown giving out gift cards to shoppers to thank them for Shopping Small.
- The DDA is again working with Yiftee to offer Downtown Clawson Dollars. The DDA invested funds to the program in order to offer bonus gift cards with all gift card purchases. Gift cards are available on the homepage of the DDA website: https://www.downtownclawson.com.
Bonus cards are available while funding lasts. Gift cards have no expiration date. Bonus cards expire after 3-31-2024
Committee Reports
Landscaping
- New 5MM LED string lights in warm white were purchased for the streetlights and DPW continues to finish up installation
- The Santa sleigh is in place at the 14 & Main intersection for photo ops.
- Our thanks to DDA volunteers for decorating the flower pots and clock tower with winter festive lights and decor