A once-empty corner in Detroit’s Martin Park neighborhood just got its second act, courtesy of a local family that refused to let the building sit and rot.
Yesterday, the Williams family cut the ribbon on Wildemere Bar and Grill, officially transforming a long-vacant storefront into a sit-down restaurant and neighborhood bar. The opening follows a multi-year rehab, and the team says the pub-style menu and community-focused programming are built to welcome both families and late-night regulars. All told, the new spot has brought about 17 jobs to the block.
Corey Williams and his family bought the building back in 2016 and spent years getting it ready for reuse, carving out apartments and a maker’s space before finally adding the restaurant. At the ceremony, Williams publicly thanked the Motor City Match program for help with the structural stuff, design, kitchen, and appliances, while part-owner Tony Williams summed up the vision as building “somewhere where you can laugh, live, have fun, great vibes.” City leaders joined the celebration and praised the family’s persistence and investment in the neighborhood, according to WXYZ.
Motor City Match cash covered key costs
To get Wildemere across the finish line, the family leaned on Motor City Match. Wildemere LLC received a $50,000 cash award as part of Round 21, money the owners say was crucial for structural work and equipment purchases that made opening possible. Round 21 handed out more than $1.3 million total to 32 new and existing Detroit businesses and paired that cash with design and technical support, per DEGC.
From vacant to viable
The restaurant sits at the intersection of Wildemere Avenue and West McNichols Road and is commercially listed as 3143 W. McNichols. Local ordering platforms show a bar-and-grill menu and confirm the address, indicating that Wildemere is already taking orders, according to ToastTab.
For the owners, the opening is part of a broader effort to make Detroit more comfortable and to reinvest in the neighborhood where they planted roots years ago. City-backed programs are aimed at bringing goods, services and jobs back to commercial corridors, with Motor City Match offering planning help, gap funding and other support to entrepreneurs trying to open or improve brick-and-mortar businesses, according to DEGC.
