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The city of Detroit welcomed a new nonprofit gathering place for women and nonbinary individuals to its Midtown neighborhood on Tuesday, Oct. 26. BasBlue debuted its newly renovated space in the 8,000 –square-foot historic 1887 Queen Anne mansion, formerly the Heritage House, a children’s art center.  

The new space features café, lounge areas, workspaces, conference rooms, and event spaces for health and wellness programming, with all services provided by women-owned businesses. Their goal is to create a space to recharge, network, and connect with other women, from seasoned executives to young professionals. 

Nancy Tellem, co-owner of BasBlue, shared that the new space is a culmination of a vision that started shortly after her husband moved to Detroit from Los Angeles to join the Detroit Pistons as vice chairman in 2015.  Tellem bought the mansion from Midtown Detroit Inc. in 2018 and partnered with Natacha Hildebrand, the other co-owner, who founded similar spaces in Los Angeles, New York, and London. 

 Hildebrand shared Detroit welcomed their business concept with open arms. 

“Detroit women don’t just invite you. They pull up a chair and say, ‘Let’s chat.’ It’s very unique to this city,” Hildebrand said. “It’s incredible … to know that’s the base you’re starting from.”  

 To enjoy the new BasBlue space, women can buy a membership that will include mentorship matching, mental health programming, meditation classes, book clubs, panel discussions, film screenings, and eventually, conferences and corporate retreats. Annual memberships are $600 for those 35 and under and $1,200 for women 35 and older.  Learn more about membership offerings and pricing here.  

Although most of the space will be limited to members, the first floor and café will be open to the public, and guests don’t have to be women. 

Learn more about BasBlue at basblueus.com.