AGI turns historic Southwest home into hub for Detroit contractors

In 2019, Tanya Saldivar-Ali and her husband, Luis Ali set out to find the perfect commercial space to grow their business, AGI Construction.

Committed to staying in Southwest Detroit—the neighborhood where they had grown up—they faced a tough challenge: finding affordable property in an area where prices were rapidly rising.

“We just couldn’t keep up with the skyrocketing costs,” Saldivar-Ali said.

Around the same time, AGI was hired to repair the foundation of a 120-year-old Queen Anne home in the Hubbard-Richard neighborhood. During the project, Saldivar-Ali had a sudden realization: instead of purchasing commercial space, why not transform a house into a training center?

“It was kind of an aha moment for us; there was this connection to the family who had been part of the community, and it just made sense to purchase the property,” Saldivar-Ali said. “I really feel like the house chose us.”

They purchased the home and began renovations, drawing inspiration from a recent hybrid green construction project on Campbell Street in Southwest Detroit. They envisioned bringing the same approach to the Queen Anne -style home.

The Campbell Street project was “challenging for many reasons,” Saldivar-Ali said. “The market did not value and still does not support green development.” 

A few months later, in 2020, America was consumed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Construction and the cost of materials skyrocketed. “At that point, our budget doubled,” Saldivar-Ali said. 

AGI slowly continued to work on the house for two years, pouring their own money into the project until they received a $65,000 Motor City Match grant. The money allowed them to get going and turn the home into a training hub. 

With some financing in place, AGI intended to incorporate eco-friendly building practices wherever possible during the renovation. The couple hired Kevin McNeely, a green consultant with expertise in energy-efficient construction, to help them incorporate sustainable building practices throughout the renovation.

The Aliss wanted permeable pavers, a type of pavement that allows water to seep into the ground. They received a grant from Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision and collaborated with engineers Hemp and Mathews and Citizen Robotics, a 3D printing company, to create a green stormwater infrastructure system. 

Six feet below the pavers is a bioswale, a landscaped drainage feature designed to collect water on days with heavy rainfall that allows the water to evaporate slowly, reducing water bills.

“Knowing that we created something tangible that is managing the stormwater that is preventing flooding and can be duplicated in the city as a solution is my favorite feature,” Luis Ali said.

Green construction, historic preservation

Bricks from the original basement structure were placed along the perimeter of the house as an accent wall at knee height. The metal roof is extra durable and low maintenance compared to asphalt shingles. It helps keep energy costs low due to the reflection of the sun’s rays during the hot months. 

Inside, Tanya and Luis were determined to retain the wood detailing beneath the bay windows, including the original banister, which makes a bold, classic statement as you walk in. 

Reinforced by metal, a brick column from the original chimney stack runs through to the second floor. It’s a beautiful metaphor for the building as a whole—old held up by new. An ethos of preservation winds along the entire structure of the home. 

“The house is 120 years old, and we believe between the work that we invested in this house, it will be standing for another hundred years at a minimum,” Saldivar-Ali said.

There’s a wonderfully crafted wood table in the kitchen made by master carpenter Joey Troisi. Around this table, many conversations will be had about the sustainable future of Detroit building—at least, Saldivar-Ali hopes so. 

“When you think about exposure and having minority contractors get into green work when it’s a very special niche, expensive work, how do we break those barriers and how do we expose more of our local Detroit contractors to that type of work?” Saldivar-Ali said.

AGI has already taken up residence at the Hub. The six bedrooms on the second floor were transformed into three offices and an open meeting space. The second floor’s ceiling still shows spray foam insulation, which lasts longer than regular insulation and reduces energy costs.

After five years of rehabbing, the Design Build Green Hub launched Real Talk, a a monthly gathering of contractors to connect and discuss issues that prevent them from growing their businesses.

 “The project itself was a hands-on training project,” Saldivar-Ali said. “We were also able to create jobs for small contractors…I would say at least 15 different Detroit subcontractors were able to work on it.”

Neighborhood Reporting Lab is supported by the Americana and Kresge Foundations. See more stories from Planet Detroit’s Neighborhood Reporters.