Beauty and the Beast

We’ve been excited for months after identifying a property that had a historic church and school that could house our Kintsugi Village campus. But as with anything in business and in life, things don’t always go as planned. During our due diligence period on the church and school property, we discovered asbestos and mold, and lots of water coming from a leaky roof. All of that could be fixed, but then we got the results of an environmental study that tests the air and the soil and the results were devastating! The inspector basically said that the soil was contaminated with pieces of metal and it would be incompatible for building a school property. Even if we could remediate, we would never want to look back years from now and discover we had an ongoing problem.

So we backed out! Back to the drawing board…

While we were bummed that we had to start over with site selection, we were no less committed to our project. And sometimes a turn of events can be a blessing in disguise. Just a few weeks ago another property came on the market in the oldest neighborhood of Detroit called Corktown. This area happens to be very vibrant right now because it has already gone through several years of revitalization and is home to many cool and funky bars, restaurants and businesses. In addition, the day we saw this property, there was a big evening event to celebrate the reopening of the Michigan Central Train Station building, which had been left empty for decades until Ford invested in the property as a new business innovation center. The property we looked at was literally next door! They even had a concert with Diana Ross on stage.

As soon as we walked into this property, we knew we found the home for Kintsugi Village. It was formerly a middle school called St. Vincent’s and then subsequently was used as a co-working space for local businesses. The owners decided to sell the building and the adjoining land after not being able to fund a more aggressive mixed-use development project. Here are a few photos so you can see the building and the area.

The building is in great shape and because it is in such a desirable location, we knew there would be other interested parties. But we worked fast and furiously to put together an offer we hoped the seller liked. But we also shared the story and vision of Kintsugi – and how our initiative would contribute to the wellbeing of the neighborhood. That helped bring the letter of intent over the finish line. The building has enough space to house all of our initiatives, with room to grow. And there is plenty of outdoor space for our children’s playground, a garden, and areas to simply roam and reflect.

After a quick due diligence period we just closed on the property, and next we’ll begin the design/construction phase of the project. Then we can turn our attention to putting the plan in place to launch our early childhood education center!