Eastpointe chosen to participate in downtown revitalization program

EASTPOINTE — The city of Eastpointe will be joining six other communities to participate in an effort aimed at revitalizing downtowns.

The program, called Michigan Recast, is an initiative of Recast City, a consulting firm specializing in small-scale manufacturing and place-based economic development, according to a press release announcing the program.

Eastpointe was one of six cities chosen to participate.

As part of the program, Eastpointe will appoint three or four people to serve on a community team that will meet twice a month with representatives from the other communities. Recast City will provide twice-monthly coaching and mentoring to the community teams, as well as direct one-on-one support for each community’s challenges.

The $20,000 cost to participate in the program will be paid for by the Michigan Municipal League Foundation, using funding provided by the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation, according to the press release.

The 10-month program begins in February and will run through November. The five other municipalities chosen to participate are Gibraltar, Lathrup Village, Marysville, Pinckney and Ypsilanti.

Ian McCain, Eastpointe’s economic development manager, said the program will help identify an area of the city and work to find businesses — usually small-scale manufacturing — to fill vacancies in that area.

“(Ilana Preuss, founder and CEO of Recast City) likes to use the examples of hot sauce, handbags and hardware,” McCain said of small-scale manufacturing businesses. “I like to use the example of a candle shop, where you’re selling things in the front and then making them in the back.”

Part of the process, he said, could involve getting a vacant property into the hands of someone who wants to fix it up instead of holding it for investment purposes.

According to the press release, the six cities were selected through an open process that began in November 2025, which solicited expressions of interest and subsequent applications.

In a statement, Preuss said it will be special to bring together communities that are spread out geographically. The program is aimed at energizing downtowns and growing local business communities, she said.

“This work is even more urgent today in the face of tight fiscal budgets,” she said. “The need to grow local tax revenues through local investments is at the heart of this work.”

McCain said the program is building on something the city has already been doing. He added that there are more than 60 home-based businesses in Eastpointe, and the program would help offer them an opportunity to grow beyond their homes.

“I think it ties in very well with the process the city is going through right now with rewriting our master plan and creating an economic development strategy and kind of baking this into that,” he said.

At the City Council’s Feb. 17 meeting, the council members voted unanimously to accept the memorandum of understanding to join the program.

“We’re just super excited and also excited to share our lessons learned, as well as learn from the five other communities that are involved in this as well,” McCain said.