Facilities and Storage

Our kitchens are located in a 10,000 square foot facility in Ann Arbor Township. In addition to the kitchens, this building has 2 loading docks, a warehouse, coolers, and an attached event space. For frequent and regular clients, lockable dry storage and larger scale temperature controlled storage areas are available for a monthly fee. 

If you would like to use the commercial kitchens as a licensed operator and Food Hub tenant, please submit the form below, or contact Deb directly on her cell (734) 385-6748 to help us learn a little about your business. See below for descriptions of the two processing kitchens available for hourly rental. Please note, we are not a traditional kitchen.  Our tenants make a diligent attempt to use only locally sourced ingredients whenever possible.  We are open to the long term lease of these spaces for a business that is the right fit with our goals and values.

The Washtenaw Food Hub is grateful to the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for our award of $200,000 from the 2012 Regional Food Systems Grant program that helped us establish these kitchens.

Yellow Bakery Kitchen

This south-facing kitchen is filled with natural light, has outdoor access to a covered patio, and is capable of hosting full culinary operations, such as baking and pastry, commissary and catering, and heat treated processing.

Equipment List for Yellow Bakery Kitchen

• 3/4 Combi oven, used with convection, steam, or combination, has a rolling rack insert
• Full size deck oven, three decks 30” x 48” x 7”
• 60 quart mixer, with 30 quart attachment
• 24” range with 4 burners
• 2 compartment prep sink
• 2 hand washing sinks
• Movable tables and speed racks
• Access to dish room with 16’ dish line and 3 compartment sink

Green Commissary Kitchen

This south-facing kitchen is filled with natural light, has outdoor access to a covered patio, offers ultra-pure reverse osmosis-treated water, a tilt skillet for braising and searing, ample open space for produce wash/pack and equipment for heat-treated canning operations.

Equipment List for Green Commissary Kitchen

• 60 gallon steam-jacket kettle
• 30 gallon tilt skillet/braising pan
• 5 ft. range with 10 burners and 2 ovens
• 3 compartment prep sink with sprayer arm
• 2 hand sinks
• Movable tables and speed racks
• Reverse osmosis treated water – by arrangement
• Access to dish room with 16’ dish line and 3 compartment sink

You provide:

• Smallwares (anything you need to get the job done that is not listed above)
• Test strips
• Date marking materials
• Hand towels, aprons, and plastic gloves
• Compost buckets

Dish Room and Clean Up

Each kitchen area has access to a 300 sq.ft. common dish washing room. This area includes a 16′ dish line with spray arm and a Hobart automatic dish machine capable of washing full size sheet trays and large pots up to 17″ in height.

Location

Located at 4175 Whitmore Lake Road, just north of Ann Arbor, our facility is easily accessible from the downtown district and the University of Michigan’s central and north campus areas. Major highway connections to the surrounding area and Michigan’s southeastern region, via US-23 and M-14, are a few minutes drive both south and north from the property, providing a convenient destination for staff, transport to markets and vendor delivery. Ample parking on the grounds is available for multiple users at any given time. On the south side of the grounds is a three acre pond that offers a peaceful destination.

Summary

The Washtenaw Food Hub is committed to continuing to provide the physical infrastructure and develop a network of relationships to strengthen and grow the local food system in southeast Michigan. We currently operate three commercial kitchens for value-added food processing, along with food storage, and a large event space. We intend to work with our area’s best farm and food businesses and to establish a unique local brand and diverse market outlets.