Eastern Market Could Draw Food-Related Business Expansions
DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - Officials say a 10-year plan for Detroit's Eastern Market could help create up to 3,000 new food-related jobs and prompt up to $300 million in new food-related business expansions.
Projects being planned include creating a $7 million to $12 million Detroit Regional Food Accelerator; new buildings in a Food Innovation Zone; $10 million to $15 million to enclose Shed 4 and build residences atop it; and expanding the Market Garden, according to a report in The Detroit Free Press.
The current market occupies about 315 acres, and the plans could add another 100 to 150 acres through expansion into mostly vacant area property. Rob Ruhlig, a member of the Eastern Market board, says the plans increase not only the market's footprint, but also the opportunities.
"We've seen expansion, we've seen growth, we've seen improvement to the facilities here in Eastern Market proper, and the goal is to see an expansion and improvements in the district," Ruhlig told WWJ's Ron Dewey.
It's now just a matter of lining up the businesses to go forward, Ruhlig said.
"For all the farmers who want to bring their produce, not only from the east side of Michigan but also the west side and from all over the state -- bring in different growers, bring in different people from the produce terminal all together so the farmers and the wholesale distributors are all together in one terminal market," he said.
The plans could also help bigger grocery stores do business in Michigan, too.
"Everything has to go out-of-town to their distribution centers in Ohio or Indiana or where ever it may be, and then come back into Michigan," said Ruhlig. "So, if they were able to locate themselves here on the Eastern Market Terminal where they could purchase the produce direct from the farmers and then get it to their stores -- it could be the same day."
Other plans call for efforts to help expand urban farming with an area to grow produce, flowers and herbs, along with a regional food accelerator for food entrepreneurs to nurture their businesses.
"When you pull the produce out of a cooled environment, currently the conditions are you set it down on the floor and buyers come up and buy them, but they sit there for a while until the trucks come and pick it up," said Ruhlig. "We need a facility that is modern and refrigerated so that the cold chain is never broken. It's better for the quality of the produce and it's better for the consumer in the end, buying something that is fresher for longer."
The nonprofit Eastern Market Corp. operates and promotes the market. The plans come as the market this year celebrates its 125th anniversary.
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