Images Courtesy of Ball Point Offices Website
For more than a century, the brick building at 1451 Bagley sat at the edge of Corktown’s transformation, an 1860s structure waiting for its next chapter. Devon Caldwell and Ryan Zampardo of Inkwell Partners, together with Brian Mulloy, saw an opportunity to give it one: a full restoration that doubles the size of the original structure and turns it into Ballpoint Offices, a home for small businesses and entrepreneurs in the heart of the neighborhood.
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The redevelopment adds four ground-floor retail spaces and 18 private office suites above, each designed with natural light, sound-proofed walls, and neighborhood views, alongside shared amenities like a kitchenette, conference room, and lounge space. Inkwell Partners, a Detroit-based development firm founded in 2017, has built a track record of renovating buildings at attainable price points across the city, and Ballpoint reflects that same disciplined, neighborhood-first approach.
The redevelopment also drew support from the surrounding community, including Councilwoman Gabriela Santiago-Romero and the Corktown Business Association, who joined neighbors in celebrating the project’s opening.
Ballpoint Offices is now open and leasing, halfway between downtown Detroit and Michigan Central Station, in a neighborhood that continues to draw new entrepreneurs, restaurateurs, and makers to its historic streets.
Project Name: Ballpoint Offices
Borrower Name: Inkwell Partners
Project Location: Detroit, MI (Corktown) — 1451 Bagley St
Project Type: Commercial Real Estate / Mixed-Use
Project Partners: Corktown Business Association
Jobs: 10
Units: 18 office suites + 4 retail spaces
Size: 3,335 square feet
Technical Assistance: 6.5 hours
Capital: Commercial Real Estate
www.ballpointoffices.com