Demolition made possible with Volvo Construction Equipment purchased from Alta

A developer is planning to open a new music-themed eatery and adjacent steakhouse in downtown Brighton late next summer.

On Tuesday, Dan Cheresko of the New Hudson-based Cheresko Development broke ground on the project and began demolition of a vacant building at 317 W. Main Street, where the new restaurants and second floor apartments and office space will be located. The Volvo excavator used for the demolition was purchased from Alta Equipment Company through construction sales rep Jason Glass.

While the details could change, Cheresko said plans currently call for a music-themed restaurant called Wynwoods, which will offer a small plates-style menu and potentially "the longest bar in Brighton."

Cheresko also plans to include the baby grand piano he purchased when downtown Brighton’s former Canopy restaurant closed in 1990.

“I’m thinking of hanging it upside down in the room we’re going to call the Canopy room,” he said. "It’ll be high up, with lights in it.”

The other restaurant will be called Main Street Steakhouse. Cheresko said he plans initially to be involved in both restaurants, but will step back when things are up and running the way he envisions.

On Tuesday, a crowd of Brighton city employees, council members, business owners and others gathered as contractors prepared to knock down the vacant building. Cheryl Mayday, a downtown property owner and proprietor of Alterations Unlimited, said demolition of the former law office, which has sat vacant for several years, was overdue. “It’s been an eyesore for a longtime,” she said.

The development was approved by the Brighton City Council in June. Cheresko plans to construct a new building in the same footprint, along with a second mirror-image building in the adjacent space.

In addition to the lower level restaurants, each building will include a recessed, L-shaped courtyard for outdoor dining – including seating around a gas fire pit and heated paver bricks for cooler weather comfort – to accommodate about 50 patrons at each eatery. The plan also calls for two loft-style apartments, about 900-square feet each, on the second floor of each building. “They will be high end lofts: wood, brick, granite, stainless and the like,” Cheresko said, noting each building will also include one studio office on the second floor; Cheresko Development plans to lease one of the two offices.\The upper level will have balconies, as well as access to private roof sundecks, as well.

Rental rates for the office and residential space have not been determined, Cheresko said.

Source: http://www.livingstondaily.com/story/news/local/co...