A Vacant Hubbard Richard Victorian House Will Transform Into a Cozy Breakfast and Lunch Spot

A long-vacant 1890s-era Victorian house and adjoining brick storefront in the Hubbard Richard that once served as a neighborhood candy shop is realizing a new chapter. The ownership behind Cafe Sous Terre is transforming the space at 3620 Porter into a daytime restaurant and cafe called the Grand Porter, with hopes to open sometime this year. Owner Reimer Priester tells Eater that the project is still under construction and that he’s not yet identified a chef to work with. He wants to offer visitors breakfast and lunch staples, baked goods made on-site by pastry chef Camrey Smith’s Halcyon Patisserie, and a coffee program headed by general manager Joel Jones. In 2023, Jones was the recipient of an Eater Award for Best Bartender, designing a menu of beer, wine, tea, coffee, and cocktails that incorporate aspects of French culture and how its impact permeates throughout the globe as a result of colonialism. The space won’t open with a liquor license, but Priester says he hopes to explore a way to change that at a future date. The new space is equipped with a full kitchen, something Cafe Sous Terre lacks, and will have room for about 30 people. Priester is hoping to work with the owner of a neighboring empty lot to offer outdoor seating. Plans to open a second food and drink establishment weren’t on the horizon for Priester, but he says he was contacted by the property ownership, Hubbard Richard residents Louisa and Devon Caldwell, in late 2024 to inform him that the space was available and if he wanted to take a look. “I’ll be honest, I make a lot of my decisions based on emotion, for better or worse, and I walked into this space and it was just terrific,” says Priester. For him, the lower barrier to entry to get the space up and running made the decision for expansion an easy one. Priester opened Cafe Sous Terre in 2023 on the garden level of another 19th-century mansion at 445 W. Forest. He had to secure funding for that project to completely renovate the basement into a jewelbox-sized bistro. This time, most of the remodeling work had already been completed. Priester’s wife, Rebecca Priester of Rebecca Priester Design, gave Sous Terre its charming, midcentury aesthetic, and will also develop the look for the Grand Porter. Before Priester’s involvement, Rohani Foulkes, owner of Folk in Corktown, sought to rebuild the place into a daytime cafe to be called Abode. In November 2024, she sent a letter to supporters announcing that the plans had fallen through, noting that the real estate development partner withdrew from the agreement in its final stages. In a message to Eater on Wednesday, May 14, Foulkes says she’s glad that the developer was able to find a good fit for the space. Priester worked in real estate development and was involved in a contentious landlord-tenant dispute in 2021 on the city’s eastside that gained media attention before being dismissed. A lawsuit was filed by three Detroiters in the U.S. Eastern District Court of Michigan alleging that defendants Nokel LLC, DVI 2 LLC, Villages Property Management LLC, and their co-owners, Alex DeCamp and Priester, did not lease properties they owned in or near the city’s Islandview neighborhood to Black prospective tenants. The plaintiffs, two of whom are white and one Asian American, claimed the defendants engaged in anti-Black practices and deprived them of living in a racially diverse community. Senior U.S. District Judge Bernard A. Friedman dismissed the case in July 2021. Challenges in Detroit real estate aside, Priester wants to fill a void in Southwest Detroit, home to a vast number of restaurants, bakeries, and other food establishments, but lacking in cafes where one can meet up with friends or spend an afternoon of co-working. The Grand Porter, 3620 Porter, planned to open later this year.