The Brooke

Borrower Name

Cliff Brown

Project Location

Detroit

Project Type

Mixed Use

Project Partners

Invest Detroit, Capital Impact Partners

The Brooke on Bagley is a $23 million mixed-use project located in Southwest Detroit in the Hubbard/Vernor neighborhood, near the newly redeveloped historic Michigan Central Station. The project was supported through Invest Detroit’s Strategic Neighborhood Fund, a public- private-philanthropic partnership that concentrates and coordinates high volumes of investment into 10 disinvested target neighborhoods, guided by comprehensive community planning and resident engagement to ensure investment reflects the needs and objectives of each community.

The Brooke is a 50,000-square-foot, mixed-use, mixed-income project that offers 78 apartments, 16 of which are affordable units at 80% AMI; four 500-square-foot retail bays; and 20 parking spaces. The project includes amenities such as 24-hour emergency maintenance, a fitness center, and a dog park, as well as a two-tiered outdoor space with an indoor lounge that will be open to the community for special events.

Emerging developer and owner of Woodborn Partners Cliff Brown purchased three parcels from the City of Detroit through a Request for Purchase (“RFP”) in 2018 and received a pre-development loan for the project from Invest Detroit in 2019. Construction began in 2022, with investment from several partners, including Invest Detroit, Capital Impact Partners, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC), Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), as well as support from the Detroit Brownfield Redevelopment Authority and the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE).

Additionally, this project was supported by Ebiara, an $11M fund co-founded by Invest Detroit, URGE Imprint, and the Kresge Foundation in 2022 to support emerging Black and Brown developers in the city of Detroit. Ebiara provides low-cost capital and technical assistance to accelerate a developer’s ability to scale and create a greater economic impact in Detroit. Ebiara was launched in June 2022 and The Brooke/Woodborn Partners was Ebiara’s first investment. The project is also Cliff’s second with Invest Detroit as part of its SNF work.

On June 20, 2024, The Brooke on Bagley held its grand opening and event and is now filling up with tenants.