Help Save a Detroit Coffee Institution (appointed, foreclosure, lease)

[ForStarters]

"Broadway is dark tonight..." And, no, I am not talking about the Goo Goo Dolls. 1515 is a neighborhood cafe located on Broadway between the wrinkling Wurlitzer Building and the trendy Eureka Lofts (where the vacuum cleaner was invented). 1515 is a place where I have spent at least a few evenings hammering away on work or reading the newspaper on Saturday mornings.

1515 has a kind of charm that cannot be replicated, and if that weren't enough, the cafe doubles as a community theater that is almost completely hidden in the back behind a stage curtain. A truly unique place that has served as a Detroit gathering spot since the 1980s. Today, 1515 faces imminent foreclosure by Citi Bank and some thoughtful people are making an effort to rally around it.

I suggest that this is an important cause not because you share my personal love for this little bodega, but because 1515 has become an institution in downtown Detroit. It is one of the first places us locals take out-of-towners to show off the city because everyone enjoys its unique charm. It is a wonderful place to sit and read, order a coffee, and eat a danish. It is the place where many people meet, make small talk, and feel at home in a city often devoid of such places like it. Dare I say, it a bastion of Detroit vibe.

Simply put 1515 "just fits." It is as critical to the Detroit Broadway strip as the Opera House, Small Plates, and the Detroit Beer Company. You can't pass by in the summer without seeing friendly folks sitting at the tables out front. You can't pass by on a winter morning without seeing someone interesting in the dimly lit windows. Maybe it's a cop, maybe it's your neighbor, maybe it's that girl from Tokyo.

Whatever the case, I urge you support 1515 in any way that you can. It's worth it to keep this place alive.

More information available here: Save 1515 Broadway

http://fromthekage.blogspot.com/2010...-stage-in.html

[Tyveker]

Ahhhhh that's such a drag. Wish I could be there to support. I love that strip. Downtown can't afford to lose a coffee shop!

No surprise to see citibank be a dick, though. They SUCK.

[johnr83]

I don't understand banks. Foreclosing on a business brings down the property values of all the surrounding businesses (and vacant properties), which, in turn, harms the bank's bottom line when they need to sell or lease property. Hopefully they can negotiate a payment plan now that there is some publicity.

[detwahDJ]

How about a plea to somebody like Dan Gilbert.

[zthatzmanz28]

Those nasty citi-banks folks. Fore closing on a legitimate business that was paying its bills. I thought it was illegal to foreclose on someone who was paying the mortgage?!

[Retroit]

Originally Posted by zthatzmanz28

Those nasty citi-banks folks. Fore closing on a legitimate business that was paying its bills. I thought it was illegal to foreclose on someone who was paying the mortgage?!

From DetroitNO! article:

...he fell behind on the payments on his 11.25% interest mortgage loan...

I would like to thank CitiBank for protecting my 401k and IRA investments in their company. If banks kept unprofitable businesses in operation, we would have no banks. If people don't want to be closed down by banks then they should not take out mortgages with them or else pay their bills.

[zthatzmanz28]

Originally Posted by Retroit

From DetroitNO! article:


I would like to thank CitiBank for protecting my 401k and IRA investments in their company. If banks kept unprofitable businesses in operation, we would have no banks. If people don't want to be closed down by banks then they should not take out mortgages with them or else pay their bills.

Now there is a novel idea. Open a business that makes money so you can pay your bills...but hey--it's DETROIT, can we let them slide? Why not just forgive the loan?

Hmmmm..what happened when I fell behind in my payments?

[ForStarters]

Actually, my intention for this thread was to encourage people to patronize 1515 as a business, not to protest the foreclosure. A mortgage is a contract, and if you default as a mortgagor, you are responsible for the consequences. In many circumstances, it may be financially stupid to the highest degree for the bank to foreclose, but it is their right to do so. Nobody ever said bankers were intelligent.

Unlike the DetroitYes article, I am urging people to go and patronize 1515 in the hope that they can bolster their business and save the company. In return, you will be getting a warm cup of coffee and a nice experience.

[Retroit]

^ Understood and well said. Leave it to DetroitNO! to twist reality to fit their distorted liberal-minded agenda.

If only I drank coffee, I might lend my support.

[zthatzmanz28]

Originally Posted by ForStarters

Actually, my intention for this thread was to encourage people to patronize 1515 as a business, not to protest the foreclosure. A mortgage is a contract, and if you default as a mortgagor, you are responsible for the consequences. In many circumstances, it may be financially stupid to the highest degree for the bank to foreclose, but it is their right to do so. Nobody ever said bankers were intelligent.

Unlike the DetroitYes article, I am urging people to go and patronize 1515 in the hope that they can bolster their business and save the company. In return, you will be getting a warm cup of coffee and a nice experience.

My unclearity. I just thought if there was a customer base, why be in trouble? Too bad more people do not patronize the city. But so many time my wife and I would go out and just be disappointed. We loved going to the shows and events, but the dinner choices afterwards were so limited. We tried "small plates" but seriously...we looked at each other and ROFLOAO it was so (speechless). And these business are cutting edge?
Detroit needs business that wil bring people into the city. Remember the Gothic Club at the foot of Grand River and Woodward? I used to go on the weekends and it was wall to wall people from midnight to 3 or 4:00 A.M. Not sure what happened to that place.

Where can you go after 8:00 p.m. other than Greek Town, Union Street, Majestic (gag) or Marios? I guess there is Henry's (it is still open?) and drive down Michigan to SLow's (are they open after 8:00 p.m.? Traffic Jams was sinking fast the last time we were there. Our waitress snatched up our plates without even checking if we were going to finish the salad and half a sandwhich still on the plate. Then the witch chased us into the parking lot because I refused to leave a tip?