8400 Harper Avenue
Apartments, Stanton’s Resale Shop
This building is a reminder of how much vacant housing stock remains in the City of Detroit. I haven’t found a ton on this structure, but dozens of similar-looking dwellings exist across the city.
8400 Harper was built in the 1920s. At one time, I believe there were multiple storefronts on Harper. At some point, they were converted into one larger space, or the others were closed, and the additional doorways and windows were covered. Over the years, there was a dry goods shop, men’s furnishings store, grocery store, and tire and rubber company here.
The last tenant was a one-stop shop called Stanton’s Resale Store. They carried everything from home appliances to barbeque pits. I don’t think it’s been open for at least a decade and a half.
The entrance to the apartments is around the corner at 6494 Iroquois Street. Depending on their size, I would guess there were at least 12 apartments, but maybe more.
Harper, at one time, was a bustling commercial corridor. The completion of I94 cut the neighborhood off from Gratiot, and the area has a fraction of the density that it once did.
Today, the section between Mt Elliott and McClellan only has a few operating businesses, but there is life remaining. Shantinique Music and Sportswear has sold records, tapes, musical instruments, and sporting equipment at Harper and Holcomb since 1997. The Food Exchange, home of the world-famous Big Baby, has been across the street since 1999. Numerous active churches dot the landscape. RVitaLife Juice Bar and Eatery recently opened at Harper and Van Dyke, offering healthy eats and drinks.
There hasn’t been much investment in this neighborhood in recent years, but there are a few mainstays here and evidence that folks are willing to test the waters. I’m not holding my breath for the renovation of these apartments, but every time I pass them, I think about how rad they could be.
