Mold Remediation in New Hudson, MI

NEW HUDSON — The former Kensington Grill is getting a new occupant.

The site of the restaurant and bar at 30712 Lyon Center Drive East, which closed its doors in September, will reopen this fall as SOKO Social, under the ownership of popular Brighton restaurateurs.

“Our plan is to do a kind of elevated, casual restaurant,” Hana Filipovic told the Lyon Township Board during its March 6 meeting. “We want to give the area and neighboring cities somewhere to have a business meeting, birthday parties, celebrate anniversaries, all those wonderful things in a very nice, casual atmosphere. We hope to do for our town what we’ve done for Brighton.”

Filipovic and her brother, Lou Lucaj, went before the board seeking a liquor license recommendation for SOKO Social, which they received as the board welcomed their plans to come to Lyon Township.

Treasurer Patty Carcone said she has been to both Brighton Bar & Grill and Bourbons, the siblings’ businesses in Brighton, “many, many times” and was excited.

Restaurant plans include interior remodeling, upscale experience

In their business plan submitted to the township, New Hudson resident Filipovic and Lucaj wrote they are planning $500,000 in improvements with the help of a professional interior decorator that will update the restaurant, including sliding windows that will be open during warm months. They expect to employ 50 workers, most of them locals.

The menu will offer a needed, slightly more upscale experience for the area, they said, with prices ranging from $10 to $25 for lunch and $14 to $38 meals for dinner.

Included in their business plan was a Bourbons menu, featuring steaks, seafood, pasta, pizza, burgers, soups and salads.

Filipovic and Lucaj said their mission is, “to celebrate the cultures that inspire us by using fresh ingredients and preparing them out of a scratch kitchen. Recipes crafted with purpose and traditional cooking techniques, and food served with honor. We relish providing an experience second to none. And treating our guests as if they were in our personal home.”

Contact reporter Susan Bromley at sbromley@hometownlife.com or 517-281-2412. Follow her on Twitter @SusanBromley10.

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Perhaps no community in Michigan has seen such rapid change like Lyon Township.

The community tucked in the southwest corner of Oakland County has become a destination, with a massive boom in development of both commercial and residential properties in the once sleepy township.

Now, the focus pivots to the northern end of the community where Grand River Avenue, Milford Road and Pontiac Trail all meet. The objective? Transform that part of the township into a destination, with business, retail and walkability.

"There's a need for local retail," said Amy Allen, Lyon Downtown Development Authority director. "Because right now, people are going outside of the community for some of the traditional services and shopping. And now we have a bigger base to support some of those businesses."

The desire to transform the region on the north end of the township into a more walkable, friendly environment is something years in the making, Allen said. So much attention has been paid to the industrial corridor of the township along Grand River west of Napier. Several new projects have arisen in that part of town, from Exotic Automation and Supply, Moba USA and even Amazon.

The area is so developed and flush with industry that the township recently opted to halt offering tax abatements. Allen said tax dollars captured in the DDA district can start going to support the development of the community that business owners and residents expect.

"Now, we're to the point where we have very little left, so our focus can shift to the downtown and what we can bring to service all those new employees, all those new community members," she said.

Lyon's population explosion

Lyon Township has a fascinating tale when it comes to development. The township — which stretches from Eight Mile to roughly Pontiac Trail and Interstate 96; and from Napier to Dixboro save for the portion occupied by the city of South Lyon — saw a 60% increase in its population in a 10-year span.

The township went from 14,545 residents to 23,271 residents according to the 2010 and 2020 Census records. No other Michigan community saw the percentage growth that Lyon Township saw in those 10 years.

That boom continues a trend of people moving farther out from the city: new residential developments are routinely proposed, including a major one in the works at the Erwin Orchards property near Pontiac Trail and Silver Lake Road.

Several new businesses have popped up in the last several years in the area, showing change is in the cards. Those shops include places like Jonna's Bar and Grill, Novella's Pizza, Jodea Bella and Whole Hearted Winery.

Dan Weiand, who owns the winery at 56808 Grand River with his wife Brenda, said they've seen massive growth since they began operations in 2019. They expanded their winery into the front of the old home built in the 1850s in the last year and added more seats.

They've found plenty of people — many of whom who are being redirected along Grand River because of area road construction — who live in the community who had no idea a winery operated on the north end of the township.

"I jokingly say no one from South Lyon ever turns right at Grand River because they go straight onto Milford Road. People from Milford never come south of I-96. So New Hudson's that little Bermuda Triangle of the area," he said. "And people are only finding out about us ... because they got stuck in traffic on Grand River."

Community park a big step

Instead of having those residents head to communities such as Novi, Milford or Brighton, the hope is to keep them engaged in the community they live in. One such step? The creation of a new community gathering space.

That comes in the form of Inspiration Park, a new joint venture between the township and New Hudson United Methodist Church. The two partnered on the wide open space at the church's property as a community park, hosting events such as concerts and holiday gatherings.

The Rev. John Pajak said the church began having conversations with the township about using the spacious front lawn several months back, and it recently culminated with a new sign and dedication at a short ceremony June 15 before the biweekly concert event.

Pajak said the collaboration not only gives the community a place to celebrate events and gather, but also brings some attention to the church, which has been in the area for many decades.

"It definitely already has kickstarted the energy. We've noticed a few people coming in and checking us out (on Sunday mornings)," he said. "We'll see if there's any staying power to that, but it's a win-win."

Challenges in creating a downtown atmosphere

It can be tricky to try and turn a vision into reality for a part of a community. Other communities, such as Novi and Livonia, have had conversations about the desire to create a "downtown" area similar to organically-grown ones in communities such as Plymouth, Farmington and Northville.

Allen acknowledges there are plenty of issues to achieving that vision, including walkability.

While there are some sidewalks in the Grand River/Milford Road area, there are plenty of gaps, which could prompt some to walk closer to the fast-moving cars traveling along the road. Much of those gaps could be filled as businesses change use, though that could take a substantial amount of time.

"What happens is that buildings that were in place previously, we can't really dictate what they do now, so we have to wait for either that building to have a change of use or a new development goes up and then we can mandate per zoning what they're having to build," she said. "So if a new business comes in, yes, you have to build a sidewalk connection or if it's not possible at the time, you might contribute to the sidewalk fund, so when we do that project later, that money can go toward it."

The area will become even more defined with the completion of the ring road, which will eventually connect Lyon Center Drive with New Hudson Drive.

Also at issue? What to call the area. While the municipality is Lyon Township, the area has long gone by the New Hudson moniker, a vestige dating back to its days as a village when the first settlers moved there in the 1830s. Today, the area is served by a ZIP code that dons the New Hudson name in the area's mailing addresses, and road signs along I-96 direct drivers to New Hudson, not Lyon Township.

That mailing address issue is one Allen recognizes could challenge efforts, especially for businesses trying to market themselves to people not from the area searching for their shops on Google.

"The reason that that's such an issue that we have to be proactive about is because you have companies like Draught Horse (Brewing Company) that, when they're advertising, you see a lot more advertising for specific businesses," she said. "When they're advertising, they're utilizing New Hudson. And that's not a slight on Lyon Township."

Whole Hearted Winery pushes the New Hudson name when telling people where they are, something they don't anticipate changing. Given the name ID, especially with the nearby New Hudson Inn, Weiand said it doesn't make sense to him to advertise without that name.

"You can't call it the Lyon Township Inn," he said. "You have to call it New Hudson."

Despite the challenges, there's a feeling needing to not get left behind as communities along I-96 continue to expand and attract residents seeking places to work, restaurants to eat at and shops to peruse. Building a sense of place can take time, Allen said, but the township wants to keep moving forward, even tiny steps at a time.

"We can't continue to have big ideas and no action," Allen said. "Even if it's small improvements, we need to start seeing some progress. And I think that's what we're all onboard for."

Contact reporter David Veselenak at dveselenak@hometownlife.com or 734-678-6728. Follow him on Twitter @davidveselenak.