The eyebrows of this writer rose when the developer of the 409 Center Street building said in August that construction on the downtown Royal Oak structure would be finished by December. Like the promises of so many other developers, the timeline seemed overly ambitious and destined for a delay or two.
But I'm happy to report that's not the case for the newest addition to downtown Royal Oak's skyline. True to the developer's word, the Douglas J Aveda Institute branch of the Center Street building is set to open its ground floor space in the third week of December and then in its entirely by the New Year.
"It's been a long journey," says Mark Lisenby, spokesman for Douglas J Aveda Institute. "But yes, we're almost to the end."
When finished, the beauty school will occupy 15,000 square feet of the 35,000-square-foot development. The project is adding about 12,000 square feet to an existing structure, building on a vacant lot, and pumping the structure up to three stories.
The rest of the retail space in the building is still up for lease to retail or office occupants that would complement the beauty salon. The developer has a verbal commitment for about half that space and it negotiating with other interested parties looking at it for either retail or office space.
"It can be either one," Lisenby says. "We can go with office or retail. It doesn't really matter."
For information, call Lisenby at (800) 442-3933.
Source: Mark Lisenby, spokesman for Douglas J Aveda Institute
Writer: Jon Zemke
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