Old Soap Factory Near Riverwalk Looking for New Life
City of Detroit offers Stone Soap factory building with hopes of helping anchor neighborhood
The Stone Soap Building on Franklin Street near Detroit’s Riverwalk was built in 1907. The brink exterior of the 80,000 square foot building still stands tall but inside the building is in pretty rough shape.
Over the decades it has served as the soap factory and a number of industrial uses, but currently sits empty.
The Detroit Economic Growth Corporation is working with the City of Detroit to offer the building for redevelopment. Moddie Turay is Executive Vice President of Real Estate and Finance for DEGC. He says the city wants to offer its own real estate holdings to help anchor the neighborhood next to the newly completed Orleans Landing development and the Riverwalk.
“We’re looking for just the best ideas, if it ends up being office with ground floor retail. I think as long as it has, ya know, retail and as long as it increased density, then I think we’ll have something great there” says Turay. He adds that it is his hope that the next owner will keep the building and rehab it for added character in the area.
