Homegrown coffee shop coming to Village

GROSSE POINTE CITY — Starbucks might be moving to a new home in The Village, but coffee lovers will still be able to head to their old haunt for a cup of Joe.

Lucky Detroit Coffee is opening a location in the coming months at 17001 Kercheval Ave. The Grosse Pointe City Council, sitting as the Planning Commission, voted unanimously Aug. 19 in favor of a site plan for the new business, which included approval for outdoor seating and a walk-up window.

Lucky Detroit Coffee owner Chad Buchanan said they’re “trying to activate that outdoor space” by offering outdoor seating.

“We’re trying to give a bright and lively appearance to the building,” Buchanan said.

Laura Haw, a senior principal planner and project manager with the City’s planning firm, McKenna, said the new owners have proposed painting the brick a light color, with dark accents.

“This is already painted brick, so this will be an enhancement,” Haw said.

This will be Lucky Detroit Coffee’s fifth location; the others are in Birmingham, Royal Oak, Detroit’s Corktown district and Grosse Pointe Park.

The current space in Grosse Pointe Park is a combination barbershop/coffeeshop; Buchanan said it’s too small to house a full café, which is why they were interested in the Grosse Pointe City space.

“We do everything in house,” said Buchanan, noting that they make their own syrups and roast their own coffee beans.

When the City location opens, Buchanan said the Park location will stay open but will likely have more limited hours.

The walk-up window will be on Notre Dame Street, at the far west end of the building, planners said. Because the walk-up window is new, Haw recommended a license agreement between the city and the business so that the city could restrict hours of operation to make sure the line for the window didn’t cause backups in the public right of way.

“The concern is cars idling and sending somebody to the walk-up window,” City Councilman Christopher Walsh said. “I suspect that could be a problem.”

Buchanan said they plan to direct customers to the municipal parking lot, put up “some really good signage” and train café staff to prevent this.

As one of the conditions for approval, the council/Planning Commission concurred with the recommendation of the city planners, which states: “The city will monitor the activity at the walk-up window and may, at its discretion, direct the applicant to modify the operation to address any potential impacts.”

Buchanan said customers will have the option of coming inside the business or using the window to place an order. Besides various coffees and teas, the business will serve pastries, croissants, sandwiches and other light fare.

As to delivering orders, Buchanan said they won’t offer delivery or use delivery apps.

“There’s going to be no worry about outdoor congestion” as a result, Buchanan told the council.

Buchanan said it would likely take about 120 days from when Starbucks vacates the space circa early September to do renovations.

“The building needs quite a bit of love,” Buchanan said.