Motor City Match grant helps Detroiter honor grandmother’s legacy with Miss Eva’s Detroit

• Miss Eva’s Detroit is a cocktail bar and performance venue inspired by the legacy of owner Jay Williams’ grandmother

• The business is the 198th Motor City Match winner to open

• Miss Eva’s Detroit received a $55,000 Motor City Match grant in Round 27

• The venue becomes the third Motor City Match-supported business to open in North Rosedale Park this year

• Motor City Match has awarded $21 million in cash grants, with 85% of winners minority-owned, 73% women-owned and 69% Detroit resident-owned

NOVEMBER 12, 2025 (DETROIT) – The Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC) and City of Detroit today celebrated the opening of Miss Eva’s Detroit in North Rosedale Park, the 198th Motor City Match business to open in the city.

Owner Jay Williams received a $55,000 grant from Motor City Match to transform a once-vacant space into a cocktail bar and intimate performance venue in District 1. Williams named the venue after his grandmother, Eva Franklin, a longtime Detroiter who opened her home for conversations about music, politics and everyday life. The Detroit native combined his years of experience in design, construction and project management to create the neighborhood gathering space.

“My grandmother was an incredible, multi-faceted woman not just for our family but for the community,” Williams said. “I may be biased, but I think she was one of the greatest women to walk this planet. She did not need to be a doctor, politician, or athlete to be part of Black history.”

Williams grew up a few blocks away from his establishment in Rosedale Park, where his mother still resides in the childhood home they shared. He conceived the venue before the pandemic based on his belief that Detroit is the number one music city in the world and neighborhoods deserve intimate stages where artists can shine close to home. Miss Eva’s is the third Motor City Match-supported business to open in North Rosedale Park within the past year, joining Jessica Blair Beauty and Vivacious Lady Luxury Spa.

The cocktail menu draws inspiration from the African Diaspora and features spirits, beers and wines sourced from Black-owned vendors, including Detroit-based distilleries like Two James Spirits. The Breckenridge, made with Two James Old Cockney Gin, house tamarind syrup, lime and a whisper of benne seed oil, has emerged as a crowd favorite. Detroit caterers and food trucks will rotate through the venue during events.

“Jay is creating a place for music, culture and connection in the neighborhood he calls home,” said Deputy Mayor Melia Howard. “Motor City Match investments like this prove that Detroit’s growth doesn’t just happen downtown. It happens in our neighborhood corridors.”

The Motor City Match investment covered equipment, a professional-grade sound system, construction, inventory, furniture, fixtures and other build-out costs. ProsperUs and Grandmont Rosedale Development Corporation provided additional guidance.

“Motor City Match is all about backing Detroiters with real vision,” said Sean Gray, vice president of Small Business Services at the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, which manages the Motor City Match program. “Jay brought the dream, we brought the support and now North Rosedale Park has a space that’s creating jobs and celebrating the culture that makes Detroit special.”

The venue expects to support about eight jobs across bartending, service, booking and sound engineering, with a focus on hiring Detroiters. Regular hours are Wednesday through Saturday from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m., with private events on Sunday. As part of the ribbon-cutting celebration, the venue will host notable musical acts Nov. 13-22, including Grammy-nominated producer Brandon Williams and legendary DJ and producer Nick Speed.

“Motor City Match believed in me before anyone else did,” Williams said. “As a first-time owner, I would not have been able to build Miss Eva’s Detroit without that support. They took a chance on me and on the concept, and the neighborhood now has a beautiful place to gather.”

Through 29 rounds of Motor City Match:

• Total cash grants: $21 million (Total leveraged investment: $110 million)

• 85% of awardees are minority-owned

• 73% are women-owned

• 69% are owned by Detroit residents

About Motor City Match

Motor City Match is a unique partnership between the City of Detroit, the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC), the Economic Development Corporation of the City of Detroit (EDC) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Competitive financial assistance is supported by a broad partnership of Southeast Michigan community development financial institutions and corporations including, Bank of America, Fifth Third Bank, Ford Foundation, Hudson Webber Foundation, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Knight Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, New Economy Initiative and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Motor City Match applications are available quarterly. More information is available at www.MotorCityMatch.com