Renovation Spree Hits Detroit Area Masonic and Hindu Temples

By Veronica Grecu, Associate Editor

The Detroit Masonic Temple in the lower Midtown area and several blighted properties in the surrounding area could embark on a $38 million renovation project. According to The Detroit News, a team of state and local brokers is currently establishing the financial aspects of the investment, which could get the green light by the end of 2012.

Despite the dense cloud of secrecy that surrounds the deal, it appears that the world’s largest masonic temple could get a new $9.3 million parking garage, while nearly $10 million could be invested in interior upgrades and outdoor public lighting and improvements to Cass Park. As for funding for such an investment, the News bets on a combination of tax credits, state grants and loans, and a $20 million gift from a private investor—we couldn’t help noticing that Curbed Detroit bets on Dan Gilbert or the Ilitch family, the city’s real estate tycoons.

Another major project that caught our attention is the seven-year-long renovation and expansion of the Bharatiya Hindu Temple at 6850 N. Adams Road in Troy, one of Detroit’s northern suburbs. As reported by the News, the temple was expanded from nearly 30,000 square feet to 70,000 square feet of space serving around 800 Hindu families who gather here to worship.

The temple’s centerpiece is a 10,000-square-foot prayer hall where the five-day inaugural ceremonies will take place. The upgraded facility also features a 7,500-square-foot banquet room and seven marble mini-temples that were built in Ahemadabad, India, and then shipped to the U.S. where they were assembled by local masons over the course of more than one year.

Click here for more Detroit market data.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia author Einar Einarsson Kvaran