Construction is set to finish in October on a $450,000 shipping container development for pop-up entrepreneur space in Detroit's Russell Woods neighborhood.

The project on a city-owned vacant lot at the corner of Dexter Avenue and Tyler Street is among the city's plans aimed at commercial corridor improvement in a cluster of neighborhoods on the west side.

Russell Woods-Nardin Park is an area targeted under Mayor Mike Duggan's Strategic Neighborhood Fund, a public-private investment machine aimed at revitalizing specific areas outside downtown. It started more than six years ago and has grown to 10 sectors, though the pandemic slowed progress. Efforts generally range from renovating buildings in shopping districts to bringing in new development, demolishing homes and improving streets.

The retail center at 13200 Dexter Ave. will house around a half-dozen shipping containers that small businesses can temporarily occupy starting around next spring. The city plans around November to select a company or other entity to operate the space. Quasi-governmental development agency Detroit Economic Growth Corp. will help connect with small businesses to participate.

The city has hired Kimberly Dokes of Dokes Design Architecture LLC as the architect on the project and KEO & Associates Inc. for construction.

The pop-up containers are a mid-term plan for the site that may later be targeted for permanent development, said Katy Trudeau, acting director of Detroit's Planning and Development Department.

Also as part of the Russell Woods-Nardin Park plan, laid out in a framework document available on the city's website, the city anticipates putting out a request for proposals this fall for development on an empty 5-acre site that was home to the Birney Elementary School. It closed in 2009.

Those interested in the neighborhood's future should watch what happens with the substantial site. City planners see it as a "blank slate," and "the largest contiguous parcel of vacant land that could act as an anchor for the neighborhood, providing amenities to residents, creating a safe route to nearby schools, and introducing a productive land use," the 2019 framework document says.

There's no definite plan for how the former school land should be used, Trudeau said. But the city has been looking into ideas submitted during community engagement, like housing, urban agriculture and solar.

Another piece of the plan is complete: The city renovated Zussman Park for $850,000: $250,000 from bonds and $600,000 raised through the Strategic Neighborhood Fund.

Duggan and City Council member Janeé Ayers unveiled the park changes late Wednesday morning. They include a new playground, fitness equipment, art and picnic space.

The arts were a focus for planning in the neighborhood where famous musicians have lived, including the Supremes and Dinah Washington. One of the Zussman updates is a mural by Mario Moore, an artist whose grandmother is activist Helen Moore.

The city also expects to start $2.7 million in construction work next spring on Dexter Avenue, from Fullerton to Davison. Changes should be familiar to those who have seen updates made to other streetscapes including Kercheval Avenue, with protected bike lanes.

Crain's requested more information on costs.

Four hundred homes in the area will also be demolished or secured for potential future, separately funded renovation under Proposal N, a $250 million bond-funded blight removal campaign that started this year.

The Strategic Neighborhood Fund started in 2014, pouring more than $40 million into three sections of the city: Livernois/McNichols, Southwest/West Vernor and Islandview/Greater Villages. The $130 million SNF 2.0 began in 2018. Crain's reported last year on how it works, how the pandemic affected it and who it benefits.

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