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Harry Kefalonitis, a third generation bar owner, has a story about the good and bad of operating a business in the shadow of the Mike Ilitch empire. His bar sits next door to the new Red Wings hockey arena.
Kefalonitis bought Harry's Detroit at 2482 Clifford in 1994, figuring it would be the next slice of Detroit to take off. After all, it was near major freeways and situated between Wayne State and the central downtown district -- fertile ground for potential development.
But nothing happened for a long time. In fact, the immediate commercial area around him kept withering away, rather than blossoming. His business was uneven. Then Comerica Park opened in 2000, a few blocks away. Two years later, Ford Field opened. He got business from the games. But the business district immediately around him was still full of blight.
Around 2008, he says he learned that the city was suppressing development around him so the Illitch organization could snap up land at depressed prices and build a hockey arena. He was glad to hear about plans for the arena and the surrounding area, but not so happy to realize nothing was going to happen until Ilitch was ready to start building.
Now, with construction underway, and the new arena ready to open in the Fall 2017, he finally sees great promise. It's been a long wait for a shot at the pot of gold.
Kefalonitis recently sat down in his bar with Deadline Detroit's Allan Lengel and talked about the impact of the construction, and how the Ilitch organization blew off his request for "business interruption" compensation to help offset losses from construction and blocked streets.
It's a fairly common practice for a big developer to provide some financial compensation to help little businesses burdened by a major construction project.
"They're ignoring us," he says.
