GRAND RAPIDS (WZZM) -- Microbrew entrepreneur Mark Sellers is bringing his trendy HopCat brand to Detroit this summer, with plans to open a 130-tap beer bar, Michigan's largest, on the site of the former Agave restaurant at 4265 Woodward Ave. in Midtown.
Hopcat Detroit, with an investment of $3.3 million, will include an outdoor beer garden and live music on the second floor. It will employ 120 people.
The new venture adds another spark to an arts, dining and entertainment strip that includes the Majestic Cafe, Union Street and the Whitney restaurants, with TechTown and Wayne State University and MOCAD (Museum of Contemporary Art), nearby.
Sellers hopes to turn on the taps at HopCat Detroit by August. There are some zoning board actions still ahead, but Midtown Detroit, a nonprofit group that used a grant from the state to buy and protect the property, has already done advance work on brownfield tax credits and other steps to pave the way.
