iburger lounge will soon open in the West Village Commons

Those in search of a burger joint other than Miller’s will soon have a new place to visit in Dearborn.

No, Fatburger isn’t opening, despite the sign that still proclaims it is “coming soon.”

Instead, get ready for the iburger lounge, which will soon open in the West Village Commons.

Hassan Aoun, owner/chef who worked as a chef at Ciao before it closed, is opening the new iburger with Houssam Aoude.

Aoun says his new iburger, which is moving into the space once occupied by Hot Spot, will serve burgers, gourmet pizzas, soups and salads. All of the items will be organic and nothing he serves will come from a freezer, he promises.

iburger will move into the space once occupied by Hot Spot.

The iburger will open in two stages. The restaurant portion will open in about a month, Aoun says. The “lounge” part, the second stage, will open in the now vacant space next to Hot Spot, where patrons can enjoy their food in a more relaxed space, he says.

To attract some of the bar crowd, Aoun says the restaurant could be open until 4 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.

Moose's Martini Pub in Deaborn is now open for business.

After nearly seven months of renovations and paper work, Dearborn’s newest bar is now open.

Moose’s Martini Pub, 22217 Michigan Ave., officially opened its doors this afternoon. Hisam Elawad who owns and operates the pub with his brother, Chad, says their new place is a mix between a martini pub and a bar.

“It has a northern lodge feel,” says Elawad, a Dearborn resident. “I wanted something casual and fun.”

We wrote that the pub was coming back in January  We will have more to say about this newest martini pub but here are some facts about the club until then:

- “Happy Hour” 3pm-7pm‎ Half Off All Food Items‎‎ (Drink Specials begin Monday, July 19)

- “The Nooner” Noon-3pm‎ $1 Domestic Bottles everyday‎‎ (Drink Specials begin Monday, July 19)

- Corporate Parties‎ Yes.‎‎

- Food Yes. Oven Baked Appetizers

- Drink Specials‎ All Day, Every Day‎‎ (Drink Specials begin Monday, July 19)

- Email‎ info@moosesmartinipub.com‎‎

- Music‎ Adult Contemporary/Classic Rock/Motown by day & 70s, 80s, 90s Hits‎‎ by night

- Outdoor Seating‎ Yes.‎‎

- Payment Accepted‎ American Express‎‎, Cash‎‎, Discover‎‎, MasterCard‎‎, Visa‎‎

- Sport Friendly‎ Yes. Six 50-inch LED TVs‎‎

Deli owner Vicki Barndollar, left, and her niece, Heather VanOast, began serving sandwiches in December.

Rather than try to sell her business (she did consider it), for personal reasons Barndollar says she is simply going to sell the equipment in her deli, 949 Military, and move on to the next chapter in her life.

We wrote about her Deli on the Avenue when it opened in December and again in May when city officials approved the deli’s request for outdoor seating.  Barndollar said closing was a tough decision to make but a necessary one at this point in her life.

“It saddens me to say that I have had to close it due to personal reasons,” said Barndollar, a 1978 Fordson High School grad. “I do want to thank everyone who came in and supported us. We had so many regular faces each and everyday. They had honestly become our friends. It was a hard battle to get where we had become but it was so worth every minute of it.

“I think it would be wonderful if someone could do the same type of thing that I did, but right now for me the timing was just off.”

Down the road might there be a Deli on The Avenue Two? “Who knows,” Barndollar says.

Best of luck . . .

The building that was once home to first-run motion picture films on Michigan Avenue in Dearborn is now but a pile of rubble.

Dearborn Theater, which later became Showcase Cinemas, is expected to be replaced with a Hampton Inn hotel, if all goes according to plan.

Construction on a Sonic burgers still is slated to begin this summer next door to the razed theater. City officials say construction likely will begin once the theater site is cleared. The front of the building, shown in this photo, was taken down late last week. For our earlier story, click HERE.

We earlier wrote that his site was coming (click HERE for that story). Now it’s officially open for business.

Blohm says MyNewMarketplace.com offers easy navigation and a variety of options to buy and sell products and services, promote new businesses, post and search job openings, and support the local economy. He stresses that the site does not include personal ads.

Individuals and businesses can use the beta version of the web site as much as possible and place ads, at no cost, until Aug. 1, 2010. After that Blohm says charging low fees will help to ensure accountability and prevent people from hiding behind fake identities that have plagued other web sites such as Craigslist.

To promote the site, Blohm is holding a social media contest to enable users to refer others locally and nationwide to the new site with the winner receiving up to $1,000 in advertising.

“It’s important that we receive everyone’s comments and suggestions, so that we can make continuing improvements on the site,” said Blohm. “It’s going to be an evolution.”

Blohm’s partner in developing the new web site is Essential IT, founded by Brian Surowiec, a Michigan entrepreneur and technology consultant who has more than 15 years of experience providing IT and Internet-related services for a variety of industries.

Blohm says he and his partner utilized all Michigan-based businesses in developing the site, including the award winning firm of JCI Design and the public relations firm of Margaux & Associates, LLC.

“We want to show that Michigan is still the birthplace of innovation,” Blohm said. “Our goal is that by earning customers’ trust and confidence, we can take MyNewMarketplace.com from southeast Michigan to local markets nationwide.”

Blohm's new site goes live June 23.

On June 23 we will find out. That’s when the beta version of his new website mynewmarketplace.com will officially be unveiled at a gathering of the Social Media Club of Detroit at the newly renovated Baronette Renaissance Hotel in Novi. The new site has been described as an eBay “without the auction” or a Craig’s list “without the creeps.” At the new site, visitors can now sign up to be on a mailing list. There also is a Facebook event link HERE.

“Our goal is to be more transparent than other websites that promote ‘free advertising’ because, in reality, nothing’s free,” Blohm said “Unlike Craiglist, we will charge a small fee for posting ads to help keep out the ‘riff raff’.”

Blohm says that “riff raff” includes not allowing adult personal ads on the new site. He says mynewmarketplace.com offers easy navigation and a variety of options to buy and sell products and services, promote new businesses, post and search job openings, and support the local economy.

To assist new businesses open less than 12 months and with limited marketing resources, Blohm says mynewmarketplace.com will offer a special place for these companies to promote themselves and attract new customers as well as employees and potential investors.

“We want to show that Michigan is still the birthplace of innovation,” Blohm said.

In order to build content, mynewmarketplace.com will not charge for ads during the first 30 days of launching the beta site.

“In today’s economy and with limited capital, you have to use all your creative resources to launch a new business,” said Blohm, who has previously launched new businesses in Michigan (including Laptop Design USA, LLC) and in his Swedish birthplace of Stockholm. “We’re planning for success.”

Blohm’s partner in developing the new website is Brian Surowiec, owner of Essential IT and a Michigan entrepreneur and technology consultant who has more than 15 years of experience providing IT and Internet-related services for a variety of industries.

We’re not sure how The Henry Ford feels about having a hotel that sounds an awful lot like their museum but the new sign at the hotel is expected to go up today.

For one of several stories written about this, you can click HERE.

The location was the former home of a muffler shop that was recently razed.

AT&T currently operates a store in the small strip mall (near CVS) on the east side of Telegraph that is accessible to northbound Telegraph traffic but that location doesn’t offer the company the kind of visibility they would like to have to attract customers.

It isn’t clear whether AT&T will keep both locations or simply close the store in the strip mall once the new location is built.

Separately, work is fast underway to transform the former golf store on Telegraph, just north of Cherry Hill, into a new medical office building. Half of the building was demolished and a new face has been bricked in already, revealing what looks to be much more attractive structure in that location.

The former site of Wendy's Hamburgers (foreground) was razed earlier this year for a yet-to-be-built Sonic burgers. Demolition of the Dearborn Theater (background) is now underway.

The building that was once home to first-run motion picture films on Michigan Avenue in Dearborn is in the process of being demolished to make way for a Hampton Inn hotel, if all goes according to plan.

Progress? Yes, considering the economic climate. And perhaps having two quality hotels within a block of each other (a new Holiday Inn Express, just west of the proposed Hampton, appears to be on the homestretch towards completion) might put some pressure on the Red Roof Inn, on the north side of Michigan, to upgrade its facility.

Growing up here, Dearborn Theater was one of the two key theaters on Michigan Avenue we visited as kids. The other was the Calvin Theater (my personal favorite), which was torn down long ago after a fire ripped through it only to be replaced with Buddy’s Pizzeria.

We have lost track of how many years it has been since downtown west Dearborn has been without a movie house or any other kind of non-eating or drinking entertainment venue (we aren’t counting the mega AMC Star at Fairlane). My father’s unsolicited assessment of our downtown, which he provides to me each time I drive him down Michigan Avenue, probably sums it up best: “It’s a shame.”

Dearborn developer Hakim Fakhoury did present plans several years ago to our City Council and Mayor for a theater to go into the space currently occupied by the decaying white brick building that once housed a Vic Tanny. For a host of reasons, those plans never took root. But as Dearborn talked and talked about it, nearby Royal Oak did it, landing an Emagine Entertainment near the corner of 11 Mile and Main Street, on the north edge of Royal Oak’s popular downtown area. (See earlier story, HERE.)

By the end of this summer, a new Sonic burgers will go in at the corner of Michigan and Telegraph. With the demolition of the Dearborn Theater, the burger joint will get a lot more visibility. Just when construction on a Hampton Inn might take place is anyone’s guess. The developer for the proposed Hampton Inn is Ned Hakim and right now he has his hands full getting his Holiday Inn Express readied for travelers.

Known as the Dearborn Atrium Office Center, the building at 835 Mason between Garrison and Morley, traded in 2005 for $19 million.

Traded in 2005 for $19 million, bidding for the Dearborn Atrium begins at $390,000.

As the listing for the buildings states: “This is an excellent opportunity for a user or investor to buy a quality office building at a substantial discount.” In this case, “substantial” seems like an understatement.

With its nearby parking deck, you could see this building being transformed into downtown lofts or how about student housing? There are lots of possibilities for this building that was built in 1916. The former school was completely renovated to the shell in 1994 and the listing says warranties still exist from those renovations.

The property consists of two three-story office buildings and a covered parking structure consisting of 90,774 square feet and 307 parking spaces. The two office buildings consist of 133,001 net rentable square feet and 154,104 square feet of gross building area and sit on 4.09 acres. The listing states that the average household incomes are more than $76,000 within one mile of the property and and the population is more than 103,000 people in a three mile radius.

Let the dreaming begin . . .