Finding a Site…

Now that we can visualize what we’re looking for, we need a place to put it all! So over several months, we’ve been looking at potential sites for what will become known as the Kintsugi Village. We’re picturing a site of approximately two acres, where we could house the school and a few adjoining buildings for the other initiatives. We also want to be in an underserved area, where we can recruit students directly from the surrounding neighborhood.. And we needed to find a spot where we would be welcomed by the local community. We picture trees, walkways and an inviting entrance to the Village.

A few years ago, plots of land and buildings needing renovation could be snapped up for next to nothing in Detroit, but that’s not the case anymore. There’s a revitalization going on that is making its way from downtown into the local neighborhoods. Although we could build from the ground up, we preferred to find a site that had existing buildings that could be preserved, updated and used for our purpose. Finding such a site was more difficult than we imagined.

We saw lots of different buildings, but time and time again, something seemed to hold us back. There were lots of abandoned schools in the city of Detroit, many targeted for demolition because they were eyesores in the community, but rehabbing them would have taken a herculean effort. Many had been stripped and vandalized over the years, so in some cases it was probably better to start from scratch. We realized that we had to look past the peeled walls and dirty floors of some of these buildings and keep an open mind. But if we could see past that, we could imagine what some TLC could do to create the right existing structure. We hoped to preserve some of the historic charm and personality that many of these buildings exhibited.

We saw some examples where people were way ahead of us in recreating beauty and functionality in an existing structure. Our friend Chris Lambert, CEO of Life Remodeled, had taken a 140,000 sq ft abandoned school in Detroit, and built a non-profit incubator called Durfee Innovation Society* that was incredibly impressive. Some impactful non-profits like Big Brothers Big Sisters, Starfish Family Services, The Lawn Academy, etc…are serving the public in these spaces and the various organizations are collaborating with each other. It’s quite a success story.

In another case, we were introduced to Anthony Curis, who with his wife was heading up a project on the east side of Detroit called The Shepherd*. They took an old church and adjoining buildings and built an incredible art and gathering space. They’ve also recruited well-known Detroit restaurants to join them and even built a skate park with Tony Hawk. They’re rehabbing houses in the community and are clearly making a difference.

These examples inspired us and we kept looking and searching, braving the frigid temperatures on many days where the inside of these abandoned buildings was even colder than the outside!

One positive of doing such an exhaustive search is that all the walking and touring of facilities makes us hungry! And two foodies in the city of Detroit can be dangerous! So we felt that each day was also a bit of a culinary tour and we did our best to sample cuisines from all over the world. Some of our favorites included.

Ultimately, we decided to revisit a site that we had seen on one of our first days on the road. It was an abandoned church on the east side of town with a school connected by an underground tunnel. The church was beautiful, but needed a lot of work. The school was in better shape, and we felt confident that with some minor work it could be opened with the first couple of grades within the timeline that we were hoping for. There was even an adjoining parking lot that would be included in the deal! The property was also on a major street with several retail properties on the block also for sale. We looked at the property right next door and thought it would be perfect for our retreat/mindfulness center, especially the outdoor grassy area that would be a great gathering place in the spring and summer months. Lots of old brick and a beautiful facade that we could be proud of.

So we started to think…this could be it! Fast forward and we now have signed letters of intent on both properties! Scary and exciting at the same time…