[Exodus]

Hey, you get a pleasant view of the Southfield skyline!

Seriously, why would that be included on the site? Ain't a damn thing there.

Downtown Southeast Michigan's main thoroughfare doesn't even come close to anything in the outer Las Vegas valley when it comes to urbanity. Troy is delusional.Those are other buildings in Troy, not Southfield.

[cabasse]

Numbers due on Nov. 8 for Ann Arbor-Detroit transit
(http://www.mlive.com/news/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-20/1162107695182910.xml&coll=2)
Sunday, October 29, 2006

BY JOHN MULCAHY

While Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje tries to jump-start a commuter rail line between the city and points north, a second commuter rail initiative continues for the Ann Arbor to Detroit corridor.

After delays due to technical problems with a computer model, the steering committee for the Ann Arbor-Detroit Rapid Transit Study will get data Nov. 8 on likely capital and operating costs and ridership for five possible ways to provide the service.

Those ways include:

# Two using rapid transit buses traveling on Michigan Avenue, I-94 and possibly Washtenaw Avenue.

# One using a light rail line to be built along Michigan Avenue, Washtenaw Avenue, Huron Street and Jackson Road.

# Two using heavier commuter trains, either on existing tracks used by Amtrak or on existing tracks between Detroit and Metro Airport, with bus connections to Ann Arbor and light rail or bus connections in Detroit.

Carmine Palombo, director of transportation programs for the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, said that once they have viewed the ridership and cost data, the steering committee members can begin work on choosing a preferred option. "We'll have enough information to start to see if everybody can rally behind one (option),'' he said.

There is no definite timetable for choosing that option, Palombo said. He said that would be up to the steering committee members.

Ultimately, SEMCOG will have to approach the Federal Transit Administration with the chosen option for approval to begin preliminary engineering. Only after that, when the project is ready for design and construction, would backers be able to begin drawing on $100 million approved in 2005 federal transportation legislation for the project, Palombo said.

The proposal for rapid transit between Ann Arbor and Detroit began in the late 1990s as a proposal for a Lansing to Detroit commuter service that would have passed through Ann Arbor. The Lansing to Ann Arbor portion was dropped after studies of potential ridership showed it would not attract enough customers.

John Mulcahy can be reached at jmulcahy@annarbornews.com or 734-994-6858.

*****

(rubs hands eagerly together)

[Michi]

Another floor added ?
Yes.

Tim, I can't understand why Ann Arbor is even considering commuter rail north of the city. I realize the commuter patterns, but in effort to prioritize, it would seem like Ann Arbor would have its eyes set on the east first and foremost.

Supposedly, there is extensive study being done by a San Francisco area firm on which type of transit system, and on which route would be the first to be built. So far, the tone is very positive for light rail, as well as a recognition that Detroit's transportation corridors play a vital role in what many believe can be a very successful system if planned and built correctly.

[skyfan]

Chene West has changed its name to the Watermark.
http://watermarkdetroit.com/

[cabasse]

lots of lights on inside the detroit life building. this one snuck up on me. what a pleasant suprise.

(i see other rehabs going on in the vicinity also)

[Michi]

Chene West has changed its name to the Watermark.
http://watermarkdetroit.com/
Too bad it wasn't @Water Lofts. I frickin hate that name!

[LMich]

You read my mind. @water is a disgrace of a name. It's not "cool" or "hip," it's stupid. But, that's my only complaint about the entire project. lol

[skyfan]

lots of lights on inside the detroit life building. this one snuck up on me. what a pleasant suprise.

(i see other rehabs going on in the vicinity also)

This is really a surprise given who owns the building and their recent track record. I had very little expectation that this would ever get done, let alone in less than a year.

[BVictor1]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/realestate/realestate/chi-0611120172nov12,0,3981671.story?coll=chi-classifiedrealestate-hed

THE MIDWEST
Cadillac of hotels in Detroit on road back to grandeur

By Sarah Karush
Associated Press
Published November 12, 2006

DETROIT -- The Book-Cadillac Hotel was the epitome of glamor when it opened in 1924. The world's tallest hotel, it boasted an opulent, Italian Renaissance-inspired design, and over the years hosted presidents, Hollywood stars and famous gangsters.

But after a 60-year run, the declining metropolis could no longer sustain the Book-Cadillac, and it became yet another empty landmark in Detroit's once-bustling downtown.

After standing vacant for more than two decades--the gilded interior stripped by scavengers, the once-impeccable ballrooms exposed to the elements--the Book-Cadillac is poised to again become Detroit's ultimate luxury destination. Following several hiccups, the building is at last on its way to a new incarnation: a 455-room Westin hotel, set to open in 2008 and topped by eight floors of pricey condos, most of which already have sold.



Downtown reviving slowly

The long-awaited project is the latest piece of good news for downtown Detroit, which has been undergoing a slow revival, with new baseball and football stadiums, more restaurants and converted lofts. It's also a victory for preservationists, who mourned the famous hotel's decline.

Around Detroit, the Book-Cadillac is an icon.

"Everybody's got a story about the Book," said John Ferchill, the Cleveland-based developer behind the renovation. "I think that's probably our No. 1 marketing tool."

These days, the inside of the hotel is little more than a dusty construction site. The empty, second-floor space that was once the Grand Ballroom still has its dramatically arched windows, but it takes some imagination to picture the gold-leaf ceiling, the crystal chandeliers and the Juliet balconies.

The Grand Ballroom is one of two public spaces whose original look is to be recreated. The other is the Italian Garden, which was "designed to be, as its name suggests, a garden transported from some villa of sunny Italy," according to a 1925 issue of the industry magazine Hotel Bulletin devoted to the Book-Cadillac.

Aside from replicating those rooms and restoring the facade, the current developers are essentially using the building as an empty shell to install a brand new hotel.

Still, says Francis Grunow, who heads the group Preservation Wayne and was among the activists who lobbied for the hotel's restoration, "the psychic space is intact."

During a visit in the spring of 2004, when workers were just preparing to gut the place, signs of lost grandeur were everywhere. Intricate plaster work bordered the ceilings, which in some places were beginning to crumble, revealing rusted pipes. Pigeons roosted in the corners, and a mattress lay in the center of one of the ballrooms, apparently left by a squatter.

On one floor that had been used for offices, the carpeting was still soft underfoot and nameplates on doors advertised "Joe Maas Auctioneer" and other long-defunct businesses. Inside what was once a gym, the sauna smelled of pine and looked ready to welcome loungers.



Host to history

The Book-Cadillac was one of several Washington Boulevard projects of James, Herbert and Frank Book. The brothers purchased the old Cadillac Hotel, tore it down and hired their favorite architect, the German-born Louis Kamper, to build a new one.

The 33-floor hotel had more than 1,000 rooms and cost about $14 million to build.

It prided itself on its superior service. At one point, in a marketing scheme deemed original enough to be noted in a 1925 issue of Time magazine, the hotel announced it was giving a free 48-hour life insurance policy to all guests at checkout.

The Book-Cadillac frequently played host to history. Presidents John F. Kennedy and Harry S. Truman stayed there, as did the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Scenes from the Frank Capra movie "State of the Union," starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, were filmed at the hotel.

In 1927, leaders of Detroit's infamous Purple Gang met with Chicago mobster Al Capone at the Book-Cadillac, warning him to stay off their turf, writes Richard Bak in "Detroit Across Three Centuries."

One of the biggest stories in sports came to a dramatic climax at the Book-Cadillac. In 1939, when the New York Yankees were staying there, Lou Gehrig sought out Yankee manager Joe McCarthy for an urgent talk, according to Gehrig biographer Jonathan Eig. The player known as the Iron Horse had been struggling to hit the ball. Though he didn't know it at the time, he was losing coordination because of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the disease that would later kill him and become known by his name.

Sitting in McCarthy's room at the Book-Cadillac, Gehrig said he wanted to bench himself that day, thus ending his consecutive-game streak at 2,130. McCarthy solemnly announced the decision to reporters in the hotel lobby. After the Yankees left Detroit, a rumor spread throughout the league that Gehrig had fallen on the Book-Cadillac's lobby staircase.

The hotel changed hands several times over its life, and its interior evolved too. The staircase rumored to have tripped up Gehrig was replaced with an escalator in the 1950s. In the 1970s, the Italian Garden was divided into two floors in an attempt to gain more convention space.

The Book-Cadillac closed in 1984 for renovations, but the project soon fell apart and the hotel was liquidated in 1986.

By that time, much of Detroit was in decline after decades of middle-class flight, fueled by racial tensions and the rise of suburbia. By the time the Book-Cadillac closed, the nearby Statler Hotel, the J.L. Hudson department store and several theaters had already been shuttered.

Saved by the Super Bowl

In recent years, efforts to revive downtown Detroit have picked up steam, particularly ahead of the Super Bowl played this year at Ford Field.

In the 1990s, city officials began legal procedures to wrest control of the Book-Cadillac from absentee landlords and began shopping the site to developers. In 2003, the city reached a deal with a subsidiary of the Kimberly-Clark Corp. to restore the grand hotel, hoping it would be ready for the Super Bowl.

Kimberly-Clark soon dropped out of the project, saying the costs were higher than initially expected. The Ferchill Group was ready to step in, but officials soon ran into problems with the financing, which relies on a variety of tax credits, one of which had been thrown into question and was awaiting a ruling from the Internal Revenue Service. The deal wasn't finalized until June.

As of the end of October, 50 of the 67 condos had been sold.



Then

- Year completed: 1924

- Cost to build: $14 million (about $166 million in today's dollars)

- Guest rooms: 1,136, including 1,035 bedrooms

- Past names: Book-Cadillac, Sheraton-Cadillac, Radisson-Cadillac



Now

- Estimated completion date: Fall 2008

- Estimated cost of restoration: $180 million

- Guest rooms: 455, plus 67 condos

- Current name: Westin Book-Cadillac Detroit

E-mail this story
Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune

[detroit_alive]

Some news from modeldmedia.com:

Crews start work on Detroit Life Building rehab
http://www.modeldmedia.com/galleries/Default/Dev%20News/Issue%2069/detroitlife01.jpg

Work has begun on the rehabilitation of the Detroit Life Building.

Crews are currently removing asbestos from the building. A timeline for the restoration of the 10-story office building on Park Avenue behind the Fox Theatre has not been set, but a spokeswoman from Ilitch Holdings expects that to be announced later this month.

Ilitch Holdings is restoring the 82-year-old office tower at 2210 Park Ave. into a mixed-use facility. Ilitch Holdings will use some office space for its growing business units but is also looking for other potential tenants. Retail is planned for the ground floor.

J.C. Beal Construction of Ann Arbor and Kraemer Design Group have been retained to develop renovation plans.

Source: Karen Cullen, Vice President of Corporate Communications for Ilitch Holdings
Writer: Jon Zemke


Bidding begins on 34-story Broderick Tower project; work to start soon
http://www.modeldmedia.com/galleries/Default/Dev%20News/Issue%2070/broderick.jpg

The Broderick Tower rehabilitation project has been put out to bid and construction is expected to begin in three to six months, according to Fred J. Beal of J.C. Beal Construction.

Design work on the project is finished. Management is still working out final loan approvals and nailing down an agreement to use the Grand Circus Park underground parking garage, similar to the one for the Kales Building. The project is expected to take about 18 months to complete.

Once finished, the 34-story building will be transformed into 127 apartments, ranging in size from 560-square-foot studios to 2,700-square-foot penthouses. The first floor will be converted into as much as 7,500 to 10,000 square feet of restaurant space. The second, third and fourth floors will be designated as 12,000 square feet of office space. All of the floors above that will be apartments.

The apartments will be rentals initially, but management expects to eventually convert them to for-sale condos.

The Broderick Tower was built in 1928 as the Eaton Tower under the direction Louis and Paul Kamper of Detroit. David Broderick acquired the building in 1945, renaming and managing it until his death in 1957. The building sold numerous times over the next 20 years. It lost most of its tenants in the collapse of the Detroit office market in the mid 1980s. It has been mostly vacant since.

For information, visit www.brodericktower.com.


Source: Fred J. Beal, President of J.C. Beal Construction and Motown Construction Partners LT.
Writer: Jon Zemke


Park Bar to open near Cliff Bells on Park Avenue
http://www.modeldmedia.com/galleries/Default/Dev%20News/Issue%2070/parkbar.jpg

The Park Bar is set to open by the end of the month at the corner of Park Avenue and West Elizabeth Street, adjacent to Cliff Bells.

The bar decor features 17-foot-high ceilings and exposed concrete columns. A central circular bar will feature Motor City Brewery beers on tap.

All of the work is being done by Detroit craftsmen. Owner Jerry Belanger observes that many of the bars in the Grand Circus Park area have a suburban feel, which will help his new watering hole stand out. "I want them to really feel like they’re in Detroit," he says.

The 1,800-square foot bar has a kitchen. It currently has a capacity of 70 people, but Belanger hopes to eventually expand into the building’s basement and second floor.

The building, built in 1924, has been vacant for more than 20 years. It originally had five storefronts but has now been consolidated into two.

Source: Jerry Belanger, The Park Bar
Writer: Jon Zemke

[skyfan]

I imagine this will look like Woodbridge Estates this style of deveopment should fit in better in Northwest Detroit.

Hope springs from Herman Gardens

Rebirth of the housing complex includes small retail stores, low-income and market-rate homes.

Christine MacDonald / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- After nearly a decade of missed deadlines, work could start as early as next month on replacing Herman Gardens, once one of the city's largest and most notorious public housing sites.

Today, the 139 acres along the Southfield Freeway on the city's west side resemble a tree-lined cemetery, with little trace of the complex that at its height was home to more than 2,100 families.

The federal government approved the teardown in 1996 as part of an effort called Hope VI to raze the country's worst public housing. The complex was plagued by drug dealers and asbestos contamination, and more than half the World War II-era buildings were boarded up by the mid-1990s. Nearly 500 residents were relocated and many have died waiting for it to be rebuilt.

But, since the federal government took over the troubled Detroit Housing Commission in August 2005, initial work has begun on the $230 million project of low-income and market-rate homes, making it potentially one of the city's largest housing developments. Infrastructure work is expected to begin this winter and building construction is to start in the summer.

Former residents, who miss the family atmosphere of their old Herman Gardens, are eager to see construction. But they're also skeptical.

"This is the seventh or eighth time we've been given dates of groundbreakings," said 66-year-old Ruth Williams, a former resident who organizes the annual Herman Gardens summer reunion. "I'll believe it when I see a shovel in the ground."

Lindsey Reames, the recovery administrator in Detroit for the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department, understands that doubt. But she says the project is closer than ever to becoming a reality.

The plan starts with a name change: Gardenview Estates. Close to 920 units total will be built: 496 rentals and 424 for-purchase homes, including single-family detached houses, lofts and condos. About half of the rentals and homes will be offered at market rate and the other half will be for low-income families. Prices have not yet been set. Small retail stores also are part of the plan.

While officials are promising quick work, total construction is expected to take up to five years. And HUD is still trying to finalize deals with private developers, who will bear the largest share of the cost at an estimated $126 million. They have a developer for the rentals and will put out bids in January for the home-ownership developer, Reames said. She wouldn't name the rental developer.

Reames said they will build the market rate and low-income units at the same time but said if there's more of a decline in the housing market, they may review whether to complete final phases.

Some work on the site has already started. The new NFL Youth Education Town Boys and Girls Club is about half done.

Reames said they've identified at least 400 people who could move back to the new development, if they still meet certain qualifications.

Evelyn Bradshaw, who lived in Herman Gardens for 30 years, said she's considering moving back. She remembers the good times at the complex, known for its vocal leaders and community activities, including landscaping contests and summer trips for kids to Cedar Point for 50 cents.

"There were a lot of wonderful times we had in Herman Gardens," she said. "A lot of people miss each other."

The road to the new Herman Gardens has been rocky. The project was never able to get traction under the Detroit Housing Commission, which repeatedly was accused of mismanagement.

Throughout the years, the federal government has threatened to take back millions from all three of Detroit's Hope VI projects, including Jeffries Homes and the Villages at Parkside, for lack of progress.

Ted Phillips, who was part of the Detroit Housing Commission team that put together the first proposal to redo Herman Gardens, worries that only about 230 units will be traditional public housing.

That doesn't go far to replace the more than 6,000 public housing units the city has lost since the mid-1990s, he said. The city has close to 4,000 units now, but an estimated third of those are vacant, many because they are so rundown.

"It's not replenishing (but) it's better than nothing," said Phillips, who is now the executive director of United Community Housing Coalition in Detroit.

Reames said there is a plan for an additional 2,000 to 2,500 additional public housing units in the next three to five years.

You can reach Christine MacDonald at (313) 222-2396 or cmacdonald@detnews.com.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061125/METRO/611250372

[skyfan]

From this weeks model D. I especially like news about DFI and Mezzanine it's very good sing that retails are slowly starting to take a chance on Detroit

November 28, 2006

Detroit Fashion Incubator to hold grand opening Dec. 1
Detroit Fashion Incubator has opened its doors at 4737 Grand River in Woodbridge. DFI is intended to serve as a retail outlet for local designers and a home-base where they can interact to learn about the business side of fashion.

DFI will celebrate its grand opening on Dec. 1 with a charity fashion event. 25 pieces of clothing and accessories—signifying 25 years since the first reported case of HIV—will be auctioned off to benefit local HIV and AIDS charities. DJ Minx will perform and the auction will be hosted by Charles Pugh.

DFI is currently working with 15 local designers, but has plans to include emerging designers from around North America as well as overseas.

Source: Michael Wislon, DFI


Neighborhoods: Woodbridge
(permanent link)


November 28, 2006

Odd Fellows Hall ready for occupancy
The $5.6 million renovation of the Odd Fellows building and the 50th anniversary of its developer, the Southwest Detroit Business Association, are being celebrated on Nov. 30. The event will take place in the building’s two-story Great Room from 4:30-7:30 pm with local music and a brief program at 6:00 pm.

Of the Great Room, Nancy Sizer, SDBA’s fund development director, says, "The room shines once again with its signature necklace of lights, wood floors rebuilt in their original pattern and large windows letting in light and views of the community."

The Odd Fellows development was financed through the purchase of $2.7 million in New Market tax credits by National City, a $1.8 million loan and a $600,000 grant from the City of Detroit and a $100,000 Cool Cities grant from the State of Michigan. The project was also supported by Detroit LISC as well as small business and brownfield tax credits. The building will provide 15,000 square feet of office space for non-profits and businesses, and the Great Room will continue to be a site for cultural and social events.

For more information about the project, check out Model D's previous coverage.

Source: Nancy Sizer, SDBA


Neighborhoods: Southwest Detroit
(permanent link)


November 28, 2006

First phase of Livernois boulevarding project wrapping up
Phase One of the Livernois Boulevard project is expected to wrap up by the end of the month, according to Sunny Jacob, traffic engineer with the Detroit Department of Public Works. Jacob has observed traffic in the area flowing smoothly and hopes the project will promote more pedestrian traffic along the corridor.

Phase One stretched between Eight Mile and McNichols, Phase Two will extend the boulevard south to Davison and Phase Three to Grand River. Both future phases will begin construction in 2008; reconstruction of the Lodge Freeway will prevent any work to occur during the 2007 construction season.

Source: Sunny Jacob, DPW


Neighborhoods: University Commons - Palmer Park
(permanent link)


November 28, 2006

Mezzanine to join downtown retail mix
Mezzanine, a high-end modern furniture, lighting and home accessories store has just finalized a lease arrangement downtown. The shop will be located at Broadway and Grand River, on the second floor above Rags.

Mezzanine originally opened in Ann Arbor in 1998 but has existed only in its online incarnation (www.mezzanine-online.com) since 2005 in anticipation of a move downtown. Proprietor Joe Posch plans to be open by the first of the year and looks forward his store becoming an "attraction for downtown dwellers as well as people in the suburbs.”

Mezzanine focuses on classic to contemporary modern, much of it European and most of it high-end. Posch hopes to add a tabletop section by spring including flatware, bar accessories and dinnerware.

He believes Mezzanine will be a healthy addition to the downtown retail mix. “Right now I’m working to make downtown Detroit the kind of place I want to be, and I’d like to see more stuff downtown.”

Source: Joe Posch, Mezzanine

[Michi]

re: Mezzanine, I wonder why they chose the location they did? Better rents maybe? I would have thought Merchants Row would have been more their desire. Anway, I wish the retail portion of the Opera House Garage would see retail. It's such a nice space...(for a parking garage). :)

Livernois Boulevarding earlier this summer.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/Universities/2006_0805Detroit08_04-05_060054.jpg

[derekski99]

I love that Detroit is getting cleaned up. City has so much rich industrial history and some amazing buildings. My only question is, are there any plans for any new towers to add to the skyline, and when is that whole deal with the lighting of detroit going to be complete. I heard they were trying to light up downtown, somewhat like vegas, so it would reflect off of the river.

[LMich]

It depends on what you define as a "tower," because in many regardless three are going up right now with the casino hotels, and there are quite a few mid and low-rises planned for the east riverfront.

The lighting of downtown was for the Superbowl.

[Michi]

Also, it is interesting to validate redevelopment into "building of new highrises". By that I mean, consider the David Broderick Tower. In essence, you can say that that is Detroit's tallest building to be constructed right now. It will be renovated/redeveloped into highrise apartments/condos. As or right now, and the past years, the building doesn't really exist other than something to look at and take up space. Putting it back together as a functioning structure is like constructing 30-some levels of new housing on the skyline.

Other than that, the only other high rise in Detroit's near future downtown would probably most likely be Rock Financial/Quicken Loans if they move downtown. Even then, I can't imagine them building a signiture tower. But who knows.

Hopefully, some Portofini-esque buildings will be constructed sometime soon along the riverfront, particularly GMs end of the deal at River East.

[toog05]

Well as least if Rock Financial does build downtown they will build something in the consideration of their ever growing company, and if they pick the Statler site, we might see something in the 30-story range since the site is not all that large. We will have to see. But for now our next highrise will be the Greektown hotel at around 30 stories.

[Michi]

^ True, but nothing has stopped Detroit from being demolition-happy recently. Though I like to remain optimistic, the United Artists footprint could add a lot of square footage to a squat corporate headquarters.

[the pope]

huzah for livernois! you can even see my parents house. (well okay, maybe not)

[derekski99]

I didn't realize Rock Financial/Quicken Loans was interested in moving downtown. I'm highly considering moving back to Detroit following college. My family is all from there and we all moved to Connecticut, and while Hartford is a decent little city, it never could compare to Detroit. I love going out to visit, and like I said, depending on how much some of those condos are going for like in the Broderick Tower I'd definitely be interested. Anyone have any renderings of any of the main 3 casino's? I've seen the construction but no final drafts.

[Michi]

Funny, you mention the Broderick. I emailed the "info" link on their website the other day asking for rental price points, but have not heard back from them yet. :(

Well, here is the expansion to the current space of the Greektown Casino:
http://www.saulttribe.com/images/stories/news/20050920/20050830pr_casino.jpg

...and the new portion (hotel and garage) at Monroe and St. Antoine
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j280/BarGal/greektownrendering.jpg

MGM Grand Detroit Casino
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/andy112129/mgm.jpg

The rendering for the Motor City Casino can be seen on Emporis by following this link:
http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=149256

[apbest]

From DetroitYES.com...Ill post source when I get it, a google search turned up nothing, but loots like the B-C garage will get 80 condos on top


The Detroit Downtown Development Authority has entered into an agreement in principle to sell the “air rights” from a parking garage being built as part of the Book Cadillac redevelopment to a firm that wants to build 80 units of condos on top of the garage.

Detroit-based Roxbury Development L.L.C., an arm of The Roxbury Group P.L.L.C., is the developer for this proposed Griswold/Capitol Park project. The company’s offices are in the Stott Building on Griswold.

The 528-space garage will be at 150 Michigan Ave., the site of the soon-to-be-demolished Commerce Building. The Book Cadillac is at Michigan Avenue and Washington Boulevard.

The “air rights,” the ability to develop space above a property, are being sold for the incremental costs the DDA might spend to support the condominium development such as increases in construction or garage design costs. Roxbury estimated this cost to be $750,000 and the DDA will receive the funding on or before the completion of the garage.

Gary Brown, design and construction consultant for Detroit Economic Growth Corp., said the Commerce Building destruction began Dec. 1 and he expects it to be finished by the end of the month. He said the designs of a parking garage supporting a condominium structure on top still aren’t finished. Construction of the garage is expected to start in February, Brown said.

The DDA is a branch of the DEGC, which is a public/private partnership with the city government to attract, retain and govern over business and economic initiatives in Detroit.

Though the deal is still in negotiation, here is the current framework of it:





Roxbury would buy the “air rights.”


Roxbury would buy or lease 120 garage parking spaces at a rate to be determined later.


Both parties agree to share a percentage of the profit from the sale of the condos.


The DDA has to approve the design of the condo development. The deal will be finalized when Roxbury receives more information on project construction and when the development agreement is negotiated and approved by the board. The memorandum of understanding expires next June.




DEGC staff member Brian Holdwick said this memorandum of understanding was important for Roxbury because now the company can obtain third-party financing for the project using the document as proof of ownership of the “air rights.”

The DDA board of directors approved the resolution to enter into an agreement with Roxbury at Wednesday’s development meeting.

David DiRita, president of Roxbury Group, and Brown said this condo project might be the first in Detroit’s central business district that didn’t involve any restoration or conversion of an existing building.

Holdwick said Roxbury has been working with the DDA for about six months on the project. On Aug. 25, the DDA sent a letter to Roxbury allowing them to investigate the feasibility of condo construction project. Holdwick sent a memo regarding the sale of the garage’s air rights to the DDA board of directors Nov. 28.

Mimi Pledl, the DEGC’s brownfield redevelopment associate director, said a key piece of the financing Roxbury hopes to receive will come from a decision at a Dec. 19 Michigan Economic Growth Authority board meeting to grant more than $3.6 million in brownfield tax credits to the company.

[testdrive]

:tup: :tup: It is good to see some changes finally taking place. Grew up there. Lets hope that this is the beginning of something really good. Now if the job market there can redevelop so people can live there then anything is possible. Hopefully Detroit is beginning to think regionally so everyone feels a part of what need sto be done..........rooting for ya

[skyfan]

More good news for SW Detroit


http://cmsimg.freep.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Dato=20061208&Kategori=BUSINESS04&Lopenr=612080354&Ref=AR&Q=80&MaxW=450&MaxH=450&site=c4&Border=1&title=0&logo=0
Landmark building springs back to life
Another revival in southwest Detroit
BY JOHN GALLAGHER
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

December 8, 2006

Lithuanian Hall, a southwest Detroit landmark for decades that sat vacant for the past 15 years, is back in business after a $2.1-million restoration.

Located in the city's Mexicantown district at 3564 West Vernor Highway, Lithuanian Hall is the latest in a series of redevelopment projects that have made the southwest one of Detroit's liveliest locales of neighborhood revitalization.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061208/BUSINESS04/612080354




http://cmsimg.detnews.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=C3&Date=20061207&Category=BIZ&ArtNo=612070390&Ref=V2Q=100&MaxW=500[/URL]

Restoring a faded treasure

Hard work transforms Odd Fellows Building from eyesore to asset for Detroit neighborhood.

Jennifer Youssef / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- A southwest Detroit neighborhood has a gleaming new community center and retail space thanks to a decade-long effort by the Southwest Detroit Business Association to save the historical Odd Fellows Building at the corner of West Vernor Highway and Lawndale.

The former eyesore was restored to its original glory and opened to the public last week.

[URL]http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061207/BIZ/612070390&SearchID=73265362496830 (http://cmsimg.detnews.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=C3&Date=20061207&Category=BIZ&ArtNo=612070390&Ref=V2Q=100&MaxW=500)

[Michi]

December 15, 2006 (The last 2006 construction installment for me).

South Wing of the DIA Expansion
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060001.jpg

Lofts at New Amsterdam - now moving in
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060003.jpg

Security system good to go
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060005.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060006.jpg

Nice little pedestrian corridor between the two buildings
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060007.jpg

What's across the street you ask? Who want to make renovation bets? :)
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060008.jpg

The changing face of TechOne
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060009.jpg

The future of the auto industry - NextEnergy fuel cell laboratories
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060010.jpg

New Amsterdam/New Center Lofts
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060011.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060012.jpg

The windows look increadible. It's hard to believe the blight this building use to be.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060013.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060014.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060018.jpg

Sorry, I got a little carried away:
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060021.jpg

It's the place to live if you like to watch trains go by (like me)! :P
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060029.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060039.jpg

The Argonaut Building...when, when, and when?
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060016.jpg

'Skuse me a second...
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060040.jpg

Ok.

Could the future of the NBC Building be near?
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060043.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060045.jpg

Research Lofts, North Trumbull Avenue.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060050.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060051.jpg

Bonnie Bridge Townhouses, Woodbridge. Ok, I can work with that. :)
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060057.jpg

A fun rehab I haven't noticed until now (on Trumbull).
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060060.jpg

The Motor City Casino serves as the backdrop to Detroit's Miracle Mile.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060067.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060069.jpg

Wondering who's bright idea was the 3-story wall. Seriously, what tragedy would windows do?
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060070.jpg

From the Lodge Fwy.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060071.jpg

Mantra moved in to Cass & Peterboro from Hamtramck (I believe). Some of you may remember the old pet store that use to be here.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060076.jpg

Willy's looking as sharp as ever! I LOVE this development.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060079.jpg

...as I do 55 W. Canfield...installing the balconies.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060080.jpg

Canfield frontage
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060081.jpg

Woodward side. Lights on at night!
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060082.jpg

MidMed, also on Canfield (E).
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060083.jpg

Got carried away again. ;)
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060084.jpg

John R. and Canfield
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060085.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1215DetDev12_15_060086.jpg

More to come Saturday.

[the pope]

horay for michi and his camera. or is it still tony's camera?

[Michi]

Hey, it NEVER was Tony's camera!

Here's the rest. I couldn't access the forum yesterday.

Saturday, December 16, 2006

The Ellington in its completed state.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060001.jpg

http://www.ellingtonlofts.com/ellingtonsite164.jpg

http://www.ellingtonlofts.com/ellingtonsite168.jpg

http://www.ellingtonlofts.com/ellingtonsite175.jpg

That one...:shrug:
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060003.jpg

I ride past here every day and believe me when I say they are going very speedily through this building!
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060005.jpg

This lot across from the photo above has recently been "preped".
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060004.jpg

I'm not sure what this rehab is in Brush Park. Looks interesting though.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060006.jpg

Still waiting on this one. :sly:
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060007.jpg

OOOOH...A SURPRISE!! Detroiters love surprises!
http://hipcityliving.com/
(That is Patterson Terrace in the background)
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060009.jpg

The land parcel. Now, I won't be able to sleep at night. :slob:
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060010.jpg

This parcel across from the Carrola has just been ridded of all its overgrown weeds...Makes me wonder...??
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060011.jpg

More new windows.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060012.jpg

Carrolton occupancy!
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060013.jpg

Garden Lofts, Brush Park. Sold out in 12 hours.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060019.jpg

Balconies = not good but great!
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060017.jpg

What will be the main enterance on Winder Street.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060020.jpg

The back faces the Fisher Freeway and downtown.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060021.jpg

New signage on Broadway. Ho-hum
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060022.jpg

A furniture store (supposedly from Ann Arbor) was suppose to be on the second level of this building. However, I haven't seen anything yet.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060024.jpg

A new entertainment venue, Lot 1210, Broadway.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060026.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060027.jpg

The many faces of the Book Cadillac:
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060030.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060040.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060047.jpg

Up Shelby from Jefferson
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060053.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060055.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060056.jpg

Down comes more Detroit Local Color, up goes another parking garage.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060058.jpg

I'm going to marry the Book Cadillac
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060060.jpg

Accompanied by the Laffayette Building (renovation (and parking garage) pending).
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060064.jpg

New Merchant's Row retailers: Studio Couture.
http://www.after5detroit.com/06/favorites_map.php?c_id=54
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060033.jpg

Texas-based Woodhouse Day Spa in the 1400 block of Merchant's Row.
http://www.woodhousespas.com/
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060034.jpg

Hmmm, a new facade improvement in Capitol Park?
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060036.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060037.jpg

Caring for aesthetics and facades in Capitol Park, a future hotspot in downtown.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060041.jpg

The new Campus Martius Park extension along Cadillac Square, aka Cadillac Square Park. Opening to the public in the spring of 07.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060042.jpg

The resurrected Bagley Fountain.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060044.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060046.jpg

Park and relatively new One Kennedy Square, begging for tenants.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060045.jpg

Greektown Casino site
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060049.jpg

Officially Beaubien Place.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060050.jpg

The Asian Village. :rolleyes:
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060051.jpg

Signage approval!
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060052.jpg

MGM Grand Detroit Casino
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060066.jpg

Looks like the trimming will be stainless steel (silver) not gold. (seen on the lower left)
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060067.jpg

The north end along 3rd Street.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060068.jpg

The space ship has landed.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060069.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060070.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060080.jpg

Grinnell Place Lofts (center), Corktown.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060077.jpg

Grand Army of the Republic Building (GAR). Built in 1899 and announced for renovation this month, 2006. Location: Grand River and Adams.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060089.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060092.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060094.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060095.jpg

Methinks there may have been statues on the two platforms above the entry at one time. These are also on the Grand River side.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060097.jpg

The butt.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060098.jpg

Showing location relation to Central Business District.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060100.jpg

The back of the United Artists Theater. Renovation/demolition pending.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060101.jpg

Detroit Life Building, Park Avenue District. Renovation progressing.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060102.jpg

New windows. Full renovation??
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060104.jpg

And finally, the Iodent Building full renovation in the Park Avenue District.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060108.jpg

That concludes.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Long Live the rebirth of Detroit.

[DANTHEDISCOMAN]

GOOD GRIEF! That parking structure for the MGM looks like its five times the size of the casino, seems they could of done something a little less blatant. anyways nice pics, always love the Detroit updates!

[Michi]

^ You should see it at night. It's as if a full neutron star just set up shop on the northwest corner of downtown. If you notice the Detroit area got brighter the next time you see one of those nighttime satellite world images, now you know why.

[DANTHEDISCOMAN]

^:haha:

[LMich]

The funny this is that that photo only shows ONE section of the massive garage. It's actually even larger than shown in that photo:

http://static.flickr.com/91/252876573_450ae75cbb_o.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/89/252876570_fedf723899_o.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/93/252876572_8d35bf5ff9_o.jpg

Superblock-atcha!

[cabasse]

i absolutely despise that massive parking garage. it's like detroit's getting it up the butt from a big, wide, fat... parking garage. i mean that's seriously enough parking for the entire fucking cbd's daytime work population. almost.

anyway, enough of my parking structure hatred... things are coming along rather nicely. the amount of rehabs going on is pretty astounding - it's to the point now where new starts barely make a splash in the news anymore.

that fucking parking garage... ahhh!

(nice shots eric)

[cityguy]

Detroit's making some major progress.

[apbest]

a couple other major announcements

TechTown unviels a $1.3billion plan that includes other major property owners in the 43-acre, 12 square block area (Henry Ford, GM) (no renderings yet)
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061218/SUB/612150343/0/toc&Profile=0

SPECS OF THE PLAN
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061218/SUB/612150344/-1/toc

Stakeholders in the TechTown project envision development that would include:

- 616,500 square feet of office space.
- 115,300 square feet of retail.
- 951,100 square feet of laboratory space, including 140,000 square feet in the current Tech One tech-incubator building.
- Residential housing totaling 3,273 units, including 1,242 for market-rate housing and a mix of campus units: 857 dormitory rooms, 805 graduate student units and 169 units for faculty.
- A large passenger train station just west of Woodward to replace the cramped Amtrak station currently on West Baltimore, south of Grand Boulevard. The station could serve Amtrak as well as other uses, such as high-speed rail.
- A 72,500-square-foot conference center next to the train station.
- A 1,250-seat multiplex theater at Woodward and I-94.
- A 71,000 square foot student union at Cass Avenue and York Street.
- A 794-room hotel and condominiums at Woodward and Amsterdam Street.


AND
Northfolk Southern and Amtrak express tentative support for AA-Detroit Commuter rail
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061218/METRO/612180334/1003

however, there are currently no plans for New Center transit station-Downtown transit other than current bus routes

[Michi]

i absolutely despise that massive parking garage.

that fucking parking garage... ahhh!

(nice shots eric)

Thanks, Tim. I know, the parking garage is borderline offensive in its size.

Have fun in Atlanta over Xmas. Bring back some Sunbelt progressiveness for us! :)

On the flip side, the Tech Town announcement is just what I like to hear.

[illmatic774]

That garage is better than what was there before, thats for damn sure.

[LMich]

Some updates from Model D:

$25 million condo investment to top Book-Cadillac parking garagr

http://www.modeldmedia.com/developmentnews/roxbury75.aspx

All but 4 Book-Cadillac condos snapped up; construction progresses on schedule

http://www.modeldmedia.com/developmentnews/bookcadillac75.aspx

Lots of progress made at Vinton Building; move-in expected early 2007

http://www.modeldmedia.com/developmentnews/vinton75.aspx

Women's City Club building on Park Ave. gets facade upgrades

http://www.modeldmedia.com/developmentnews/wex75.aspx

Greening of Detroit to expand focus on local food and land use

http://www.modeldmedia.com/developmentnews/greening75.aspx

[Michi]

The best things about the new condos on top of the garage are

1. New construction

2. Location - Book Cadillac/Campus Martius/Capitol Park/CBD

3. Balconies - will face one of the parks

4. Parking is taken care of as a two-in-one

5. Attention to design - I'm thinking how nice Broadway looks despite "half of it" being a parking garage.

Though I'd most rather see the Commerce Building stay, I'm very excited about all the smart and progressive vocabulary behind all of this. Is David Stott in the near future? :tup:

[LMich]

It would be really nice if Roxbury could use this project as a stepping stone to buy the David Stott in which their office is currently located. You're right, there is a lot of smart and progressive vocabulary flying around. Hopefully, it's contagious, and we here more of it from Roxbury and other developers in the future.

[BANKofMANHATTAN]

They should start making more parking garages that blend in better w/ surrounding architecture so they're not such an eyesore.

[apbest]

Wayne's $34 million South Village Concept back on track, set to break ground in Spring with occupancy in Summer of 08, this comming directly after announcement of significant tax credit earlier in the day

Wayne State announces $34 million project
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061219/NEWS99/61219028

Renderings
http://www.taktixsolutions.com/Midtown%20Drawing.jpg
(PDF)
http://procard.wayne.edu/webfiles/FPM-South_Village_Parking_Structure_2006_Appendix_6_Rendering_and_Elevation.pdf

[Michi]

http://www.taktixsolutions.com/Midtown%20Drawing.jpg

[LMich]

They should start making more parking garages that blend in better w/ surrounding architecture so they're not such an eyesore.

They have been. By a city ordaninces that was created a year or two back almost all new garages built within downtown are required to have ground floor retail, and almost all are supposed to be built to fit into their respective surroundings. Make not of "almost all" because, as you see, there are exceptions, but you have to give credit where credit is due, and you need looking no further than the Opera House Garage and 1001 Garage to see how the city has forced developers to design more urban-minded parking structures:

Detroit Opera House Garage, which was required to have ground floor retail and to fits into its surroundings. Since it couldn't fit the retail into the actual garage because of the awkward shape of the site, they had to build a small standalone retail building adjacent to the structure on Broadway.

http://static.flickr.com/43/81671473_c23cfc2292_b.jpg
BuildingsofDetroit - http://www.flickr.com/photos/snweb/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ebaldy/89792277/

The 1001 Parking Structure, which was required to have ground floor retail and to fits into its surroundings.

http://static.flickr.com/38/78554181_01ce01c6d8_b.jpg
pdroze - http://flickr.com/photos/18169862@N00/

Merchant's Row did this without having to be told, I believe, and built and automated garage (this was before the ordinances, I believe).

http://static.flickr.com/13/15815380_978d549bc2_b.jpg
Allan M - http://www.flickr.com/photos/allanm/

[The-New-Tony-Detroit]

http://cmsimg.detnews.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=C3&Date=20061221&Category=BIZ&ArtNo=612210358&Ref=V2Q=100&MaxW=500


Pick-Fort Shelby to get second life

Hotel, convention space, apartments slated for building now in disrepair

Louis Aguilar / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- Another historic downtown Detroit building will likely go from empty eyesore back to its once lush self.

The former Pick-Fort Shelby Hotel secured the final piece of a $73 million deal Wednesday that will convert the central downtown building into a Doubletree Guest Suites Hotel, conference center and high-rise apartments. Work on the West Lafayette Boulevard building, between First and Second streets, begins next month with a target opening date in winter 2007.

"The building will be beautiful again," said Emmett Moten Jr., chief executive officer of The Moten Group, one of four developers behind the deal. "We are right on schedule."

The project will include:


A 204-room hotel operated by Doubletree, a division of the Hilton Group.

About 30,000 square feet of convention space -- enough to accommodate up to 200 people.

67 apartments that may eventually become condominiums.

Historic design will be preserved

On Wednesday, the board of the city's Downtown Development Authority agreed to accept the historic easement on the project, which essentially ensures the renovated building will look as much like its historic design as possible.

The building opened in 1917 and was originally called the Hotel Fort Shelby, named after a fort that once stood at the site. In 1927, the new taller addition was added, designed by the famed Albert Kahn. The hotel fell on hard times during the Depression but rebounded. In 1951, the Albert Pick Hotels chain bought the building and added Pick to the name.

It didn't survive the declining population of Detroit of the early 1970s. It shuttered in 1973. It briefly opened in 1974 for three months, then closed to guests. Its last tenant, a bar, left in 1998.

Interior looks like Titanic

Today, the building's inside resembles the sunken Titanic. There are shades of its former grandeur -- parts of the grand staircase remain, and patches of the once opulent ceiling can be seen in the former Crystal Ballroom.

But literally every piece of the interior looks like it will need to be restored -- much like the dramatic renovation going on at the Westin-Book Cadillac. The developers insist the building is structurally sound and the opening target date can be met.

Besides Moten, the other developers are Eugene M. Curtis and Associates; Leo D. Phillips and Co.; and RSC & Associates. Moten is a former director of Detroit's Department of Community and Economic Development under the late Mayor Coleman Young.

Project to help open doors

The planned hotel joins a rush to add 1,850 hotel rooms downtown by 2008, increasing the number of units currently available by 56 percent.

Detroit's three casinos plan to add a combined 1,200 hotel rooms at their permanent game sites. The Greektown, MGM Grand and Motor City casinos are in different stages of construction.

The long vacant Book-Cadillac Hotel on West Grand Boulevard is being converted into, among other things, a 455-room Westin Hotel.

The new hotel rooms will increase the number of downtown rooms to more than 5,100.

Area convention officials are hustling to double the number of citywide conventions in Detroit, looking to bring in tens of thousands of new visitors each year.

Michael O'Callaghan, chief operating officer and executive vice president for the Detroit Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau, has been enthusiastic about the Fort Shelby renovation project.

"This opens the doors for us," he said in an earlier interview. "We will have the hotel space to accommodate the existing convention space and attract four more citywide conventions of 10,000 to 15,000. "Everyone will be able to benefit."

That would be a dramatic turn of events for a city where nearly half of the hotel rooms sit empty much of the year.

You can reach Louis Aguilar at (313) 222-2760 or laguilar@detnews.com.

[testdrive]

:notacrook: Thanks for all the photos. Am an ex Detroiter now in Seattle. Quite a building boom going on here but it is great to see the rehabs of some great buildings there. Hopefully if the transition from an auto economy to something else happens and new jobs are available the city can again become one of the great cities. I just hope the casino thing doesn't become the focal point but more of a way to get a nightlife going.....There is such a great opportunity there..........

[DIESELPOLO]

great job detroit. here in philly we will be getting casinos. what the heck is it like to have them in town? a lot of us are afraid they'll be uber-tacky and cause crazy traffic; what has happened there? i love that you guys are renovating some beautiful old buildings, they should be great (esp. the cadillac building). and how's crime doing there? here we're over 400, its ashame really...but we can hope and pray right? take care Detroit!

[toog05]

WHAT'S COMING UP: 2007 will be busy with construction, office space deals


The next 12 months promise to be a busy time in metro Detroit's real estate and urban development markets. Here are 10 stories you'll be reading about in 2007:

1. The biggest question is whether the historic decline in home sales will bottom out and reverse itself in 2007. With home sales in areas of metro Detroit off as much as 30% from the same periods a year before, people trying to sell their homes, along with builders and the agents who depend on sales commissions, are devoutly wishing for a market upswing -- and soon.

2. Detroit's long-awaited RiverWalk between Hart Plaza and Belle Isle should be close to 80% built by the end of this month. The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, the nonprofit group building it, expects to conduct a formal ribbon-cutting in the spring. The opening of the riverfront could have a big impact on how people perceive downtown and the city.

3. Speaking of the east riverfront, at least two of the three upscale condominium projects selected in 2006 to replace the now-gone cement silos should start construction by mid-2007.

To be built about a half-mile east of the Renaissance Center, the first projects to get under way include one headed by Detroit industrialist and sports legend Dave Bing and another by local developer Dwight Belyue.

A third, involving Detroit sports star Jerome Bettis, might also get started in 2007, although that's less certain.

4. Downtown's Campus Martius will see completion of new park space on an adjacent parcel at the old Cadillac Square site. The paving and some landscaping already have been completed. The balance of the work should be done by spring at the latest.

5. The MGM Grand and MotorCity Casino permanent versions are well on their way to completion by late 2007. Work is also continuing on the new Greektown Casino.

6. Phone giant AT&T recently said it would move 1,000 workers to metro Detroit, and this month the company began surveying possible office sites. Real estate insiders expect AT&T to choose a site in one of suburbia's major office locales -- Troy, Southfield or along the I-275 corridor. Look for a decision around midyear.

7. Online mortgage leader Rock Financial may confirm what industry insiders have expected for several weeks -- a move of a few hundred employees to leased space in downtown's Compuware headquarters. The move would allow Rock's boss, Dan Gilbert, to test the downtown waters without committing to moving his headquarters there from the suburbs, as Detroit's civic leaders have been imploring him to do for more than a year.

8. Detroit Metro Airport's planned North Terminal is under construction and will see major progress in 2007. Opening is scheduled for mid-2008.

9. The issue of expanding Cobo Center may come closer to a resolution next year, thanks to a new proposal unveiled this month by Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano. A huge amount of debate remains, but Ficano's plan was well-received on many fronts and seemed to offer at least a reasonable starting point for a new regional discussion.

10. Ficano's vision of a region-wide criminal justice campus may move closer to reality in 2007, particularly if all sides can agree on a location in or around downtown.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006612290397

[macmini]

Great photos Michi!!! There are so many great projects happening in Detroit, but what are theses things on the balconies of the Carrolton.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2006_1216DetDev12_16_060013.jpg


They have been. By a city ordaninces that was created a year or two back almost all new garages built within downtown are required to have ground floor retail, and almost all are supposed to be built to fit into their respective surroundings. Make not of "almost all" because, as you see, there are exceptions

This ordinances should be adopted by ever city, but developers should try and make garages look like they are apart of the building. I think it's Trump building in Atlanta you can't tell it's a garage it just looks like apart of the building.

[gsgeorge]

An update on the Detroit Commerce Building demolition and Book-Cadillac restoration.

Full worksite:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/125/345030374_4626227762.jpg

Detailing and facade about half-way cleaned on one side. Look at that!
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/129/345038894_e6f4291bd7_b.jpg

Closeup:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/156/345044229_ebfb242510.jpg

All photos (http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsgeorge/sets/72157594458281167/) taken by me on January 3, 2007.

[LMich]

Wow! The cleaning of the architectural elements on the B-C makes them look as if they are new additions. I didn't know how much a cleaning was going to do for this one.

[skyfan]

The B-C is really starting starting to shine and it's only been a few months since work started, I can't wait see to how it looks in 2008.

[detroit_alive]

153 single-family homes under construction in Hamtramck

A total of 153 single family homes are being built in Hamtramck to fulfill the obligations of a housing lawsuit that was settled back in 1981. Hamtramck’s director of community and economic development, Erick Tungate says the development is about “bringing justice to the plaintiff class [as well as] putting the city as a whole in the position of solid footing.” The market-rate homes will first be made available to plaintiffs from the lawsuit.

93 of the homes are scattered infill around the city. There are 5 different styles, and most are being constructed on lots that are 30-feet wide.

60 of the homes are centered in the Grand Haven-Dyer area of the city, west of I-75. There are 4 styles of houses that are of a “more suburban nature” describes Tungate.

Tungate notes that once this project is complete, Hamtramck will be “almost fully built out, creating more density, more walkability.”

Source: Erik Tungate, City of Hamtramck


Also, if Michi doesn't post some photos soon, I will try and put some up...

[LMich]

For such an incredibly small footprint, this is huge for Hamtrack. It's interesting to note that according to SEMCOG, who's estimates I take far more seriously than the Census', Hamtramck has grown something like almost 10% since 2000, which is more than most mid-ring suburbs, and more than every inner-ring suburb. In fact, the only inner-rings and enclaves growing are those that actively promote themselves as inclusive, immigrant-friendly cities. The only other one is Dearborn, who's reported to have broke the 100,000 mark for the first time in years.

I'd really like to see Hamtramck start filling in with a few low-rises, and that's really not too far off.

Hambone a.k.a. Hamtown a.k.a. Hamtramck:

http://terraserver.microsoft.com/download.ashx?t=4&s=12&x=411:414&y=5871:5869&z=17

[the pope]

egad, only 30 ft wide lots? But where will the three-car garage go?

[DetroitSky]

Spirit of Detroit gets $100,000 makeover
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070123/METRO/701230353/1003

Salvation Army receives grant to build $98 million community center
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070123/UPDATE/701230430

Dime Building gets new tenants
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070122/SUB/701190319/-1/toc

[apbest]

Rendering of the nwe B-C garage/condo development...looks absolutely amazing

http://atdetroit.net/forum/messages/5/91718.jpg

[detroit_alive]

Using the image Lmich posted, Hamtramck's boundaries are in red and the area where they plan to build 60 (more suburban styled) is outlined in yellow.

an outline of the project west of i75 (link to project outline)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v124/etlchow/map2.jpg

[Michi]

That's a pretty roughed up area over there bordering the freeway, Detroit, and the light industry.

[ManageMich]

Hamtramck does seem to be turning the corner. A light rail line would certainly put it over the edge. How comical that it once had a trolley line connecting it to a greater system. What about the city government there?

[LMich]

I don't think its comical, at all. In fact, it was even denser than it is now. I'd be surprised if it didn't once have a rail connecting to Detroit's mass transit system. In fact, the place is dense enough, now, to warrant a line through it.

[Michi]

What about the city government there?
My inside information tells me that it is very unfortunate in that the city can't get Wayne County to even acknowledge it. That's a shame, because the way the city's restructuring procedure goes (getting out of receivership), Wayne County plays an important roll in that process. A shame also because Hamtramck is one of Wayne County's greatest assets. We'll see what happens and who become who's bitch in the future.

Also, I will be doing some work in Hamtramck in the near future, so I may be alble to get some good leads on information coming out of that city.

[cabasse]

i absolutely despise that massive parking garage. it's like detroit's getting it up the butt from a big, wide, fat... parking garage. i mean that's seriously enough parking for the entire fucking cbd's daytime work population. almost.


to revise upon my original comment, they've installed what looks to be a curtain wall around the largest portion of the parking "city" - i'm thinking it might be surrounded by glass. i certainly hope...

[Michi]

^ I saw that too. It could either be some glass (highly doubtful) or screening (like on 1001 Woodward Garage). It looks like one part of the structure is done and only had some screening. True, it looks better than just wide open gaping holes of concrete, but alas it is still a parking city.

[toog05]

Can anyone snap a picture of this, or just post a picture of another garage that has something similar?

[Michi]

Here's the garage. Sorry, for the quality. I battled the -8 jillion degree temperatures today and won. February 4, 2007

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0204DevUpdate02_04_070023.jpg

And the big, nasty box on top of the hotel.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0204DevUpdate02_04_070026.jpg

I didn't realize the Workers' Rowhouse was under renovation in Corktown already.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0204DevUpdate02_04_070027.jpg

Different angles of the Greektown Casino crane
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0204DevUpdate02_04_070013.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0204DevUpdate02_04_070015.jpg

You can see the big Valentine heart on the BCBC Building. Might have to attempt an evening photo.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0204DevUpdate02_04_070017.jpg

I think the presence of a tower here will really make for a cosy, yet exciting urban environment.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0204DevUpdate02_04_070020.jpg

Looking in.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0204DevUpdate02_04_070022.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0204DevUpdate02_04_070039.jpg

Motor City Casino
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0204DevUpdate02_04_070028.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0204DevUpdate02_04_070030.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0204DevUpdate02_04_070031.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0204DevUpdate02_04_070025.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0204DevUpdate02_04_070038.jpg

Willy's Overland
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0204DevUpdate02_04_070032.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0204DevUpdate02_04_070037.jpg

Mid-Med
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0204DevUpdate02_04_070033.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0204DevUpdate02_04_070034.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0204DevUpdate02_04_070035.jpg

55 W. Canfield
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0204DevUpdate02_04_070036.jpg

And the Fifth Royal Oak
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0204DevUpdate02_04_070009.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0204DevUpdate02_04_070012.jpg


AAAAAAAAAAAand putting out the big fire that might set back the redevelopment of the old building directly behind the Garfield Lofts in the Medical Center (about 2 weeks ago).
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0204DevUpdate02_04_070002.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0204DevUpdate02_04_070003.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0204DevUpdate02_04_070004.jpg

[Michi]

Heh? Double post.

[DANTHEDISCOMAN]

Here's the garage. Sorry, for the quality. I battled the -8 jillion degree temperatures today and won. February 4, 2007



And the big, nasty box on top of the hotel.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0204DevUpdate02_04_070026.jpg


And the Fifth Royal Oak
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0204DevUpdate02_04_070009.jpg

Are you kidding me!...They are seriously going to leave that top mechanical penthouse exposed like that! Cmon! I HATE IT WHAT A DISGRACE.

As Far as The Fifth Royal Oak...I LOVE IT. It looks amazing. Modern pure and simple, this is the tallest structure in Royal Oak correct?

[Michi]

I can't imagine the casino spending money to dress up the top just to cover the elevator shaft, but I don't know for sure. It seems like it would be difficult and would look stupid if they did, considering how high the box is.

I think the Fifth is the tallest in R.O.

Another update: I drove past The Woodward, Ferndale's condo development along Woodward north of 9 Mile and there is still no activity there. Hmmm...

[toog05]

Thanks for the update Michi! You are appreciated.

[the pope]

Another update: I drove past The Woodward, Ferndale's condo development along Woodward north of 9 Mile and there is still no activity there. Hmmm...

just call the sales center, I'm sure they know why.

[skyfan]

Sale of air rights in Detroit is a new development opportunity
Space above skyline attracts buyers
February 7, 2007

BY JOHN GALLAGHER

FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

Sometimes, the only way to go is up.

The recent announcement that Detroit-based Roxbury Group would build upscale condominiums atop a planned city-owned garage near the Book-Cadillac Hotel has sparked interest in the novel idea of air rights.

Widely sold and traded in New York and other leading cities, air rights have been virtually unknown in Detroit up to now. Air rights can allow developers to build taller buildings than zoning codes normally allow, or, in some cases, allow development to take place above railroad yards, freeways or parking garages.

The use of air rights in Detroit development is in its infancy, but more examples may be on the way, now that Roxbury's project, known as the Griswold, is in the works.

"It is an extremely positive statement about the market," George Jackson, president of the quasi-public Detroit Economic Growth Corp., said Tuesday. "It would not have been financially feasible five to 10 years ago, so to have it happening really is a good sign that the market can bear these types of projects."

Air rights have come into play in three deals downtown in the past year. In two of the cases, developers of the Book-Cadillac and Pick-Ft. Shelby hotel renovation projects donated their air rights -- essentially promising never to build on top of their buildings -- in exchange for tax credits.

In the third, the Roxbury Group is paying the city's Downtown Development Authority for the right to build its condo project on top of DDA's planned garage that will rise next to the Book-Cadillac.

To obtain the DDA's approval, Roxbury agreed to pay the extra cost of reinforcing the garage so it could support the condos on top -- a figure still to be determined but something under $1 million. The Griswold project in total costs about $26 million, so the air rights added less than 5% to the overall cost.

Like any property owner, the DDA had the right to sell its air space as long as it doesn't interfere with air traffic and conforms to normal zoning and building codes.

The deal is being cited as another step toward reviving Detroit's once-moribund central business district. "At least some part of downtown now is starting to function like other major cities do," David Di Rita, a partner in Roxbury, said Tuesday. "It says that the market is maturing and evolving to a potentially high-end value market."

As a sign of how quickly the concept of air rights has taken hold here, even relatively new parking garages built downtown, like the 1001 Woodward and Detroit Opera House garages, both of which opened in the past two years, were built without the reinforcing that would allow future development on top of them.

"We're going to encourage garages to be more than just a garage," Jackson said. "We're asking already for ground floor retail, and I think it makes sense for us now to also have garages that have foundations that allow you to build on top."

In crowded cities like New York and Chicago, air rights have long played an important role in development. In Chicago, the city's new Millennium Park was built using air rights over downtown rail yards.

In New York, height limits on new development have created a brisk market in air rights. Frequently, air rights are sold or traded to preserve historic churches and other landmarks.

In one common scenario in Manhattan, developers buy the air rights to build in the space over, say, a historic church, then transfer those rights to another site nearby, and there build a building higher than normally would be allowed.

In a record-setting deal, in November 2005 the Christ Church on Park Avenue in Manhattan sold the air rights over the church to developers for more than $30 million so a high-rise residential tower could be built not far away.

[Michi]

Sunday, February 11, 2007

The back door of the Westin Book Cadillac gets some attention like the front. Here, heavy machinery are preparing the land parcel for the large addition (conference space, and I think pool, etc) that will soon be build along State Street.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0211DetWntrBlast02_11_070002.jpg

The front of the Book Cadillac is difficult to photograph on occassion, as angles of other buildings get in the way.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0211DetWntrBlast02_11_070004.jpg

The David Stott Tower appears to be chomping on the Detroit Commerce Building.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0211DetWntrBlast02_11_070005.jpg

It's a yummy facade.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0211DetWntrBlast02_11_070006.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0211DetWntrBlast02_11_070007.jpg

Insert parking garage here.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0211DetWntrBlast02_11_070008.jpg

Ok, ok...so there will be condos on top. And designers are getting more sophisticated.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0211DetWntrBlast02_11_070010.jpg

Had enough?
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0211DetWntrBlast02_11_070011.jpg

okdone.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0211DetWntrBlast02_11_070013.jpg

Hiiiiigh!
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0211DetWntrBlast02_11_070022.jpg

Greektown Casino Construction (garage first) Gotta get our priorities straight!
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0211DetWntrBlast02_11_070025.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0211DetWntrBlast02_11_070026.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0211DetWntrBlast02_11_070028.jpg

Should be a great view when project's complete!
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0211DetWntrBlast02_11_070030.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0211DetWntrBlast02_11_070039.jpg

Oh yes, and the Michigan Welcome Center Mexicantown Supermercado!
Don't you love the Spanish iron artwork found in Southwest Detroit! :)
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0211DetWntrBlast02_11_070052.jpg

Until the next photo update...

[the pope]

chomping, giggle.

[skyfan]

West end of river plan gets key piece

February 14, 2007

BY TOM WALSH

FREE PRESS COLUMNIST

The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy will acquire a prime 22-acre parcel of waterfront land, snapping into place another key piece of the 5-mile bridge-to-bridge redevelopment vision being driven by Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, General Motors Corp., the Kresge Foundation and others.

The land, owned by Gannett Co. Inc., is midway between Cobo Center and the Ambassador Bridge, with 2,160 feet of Detroit River frontage. Development plans for the site include an extension of the RiverWalk for jogging, walking and cycling. The RiverWalk's east riverfront stretch, between GM's Renaissance Center headquarters and Belle Isle, is about 75% complete.

The property contains a dormant printing plant that was built by the Free Press in 1979, expanded in 1986 but shut down for good in 2005 as printing operations were consolidated in Sterling Heights by the Detroit Newspaper Partnership, which runs business operations for the Free Press and the Detroit News. The conservancy intends to demolish the existing buildings and use the land mostly for green space and public access.

Newspaper and conservancy officials confirmed that a purchase agreement was signed by both parties Jan. 24. The sale is expected to close after a 120-day period to review legal, environmental and other details. Neither party would discuss the sale price.

Levin, D-Mich., who has complained about the city's run-down riverfront ever since he was a Detroit city councilman in the 1970s, has championed the effort to expand the ambitious $500-million east riverfront plan unveiled in 2002 as far west as the Ambassador Bridge or beyond.

Levin secured $29 million in federal money for land acquisition, RiverWalk construction and other spending on the west riverfront, by attaching an add-on to a transportation bill in 2005.

"This is a fabulous development for the city," Levin said Tuesday of the newspaper land sale. "Our riverfront, which has been underdeveloped for 50 or 100 years, is now blossoming. Soon people and families are going to be able to walk it and fish it and have a place to congregate."

David Hunke, publisher of the Free Press and chief executive officer of the Detroit Newspaper Partnership, said, "We're thrilled to be a partner, to help add one more piece to the strategic plan for this fabulous riverfront." Gannett owns the Free Press and is the controlling partner in the DNP.

The Free Press purchased its riverfront land in 1974 from the Penn Central railroad.

The move to reclaim Detroit's riverfront for public enjoyment after decades of industrial use and decay took shape in mid-2002 when Kilpatrick formed a study group headed by GM executive Matt Cullen and Derrick Miller, one of the mayor's top aides.

A few months later, a plan followed to build a 3.1-mile RiverWalk east of the RenCen, paid for largely by a $50-million series of grants from the Kresge Foundation. The State of Michigan pledged to build a state park on the river, and proposals were sought to develop other spots, including the long-vacant site of the Uniroyal tire plant near the MacArthur Bridge to Belle Isle.

The Riverfront Conservancy was formed to oversee development and continue fund-raising, with Cullen and Miller as cochairmen and Faye Nelson as CEO.

Nelson said 2007 will be the year the public really starts to notice the changes along the east riverfront. A 5-day celebration in late June called "River Days," led by GM and the Parade Co., will be the first big signature event.

Cullen said it makes sense now to focus on the west riverfront.

"Sen. Levin challenged us to go west, from bridge to bridge, and we couldn't miss out on this opportunity," Cullen said.

Other key landowners along the west riverfront include Riverfront Associates, which owns three residential towers just west of Joe Louis Arena, and CSX Transportation Inc., a railroad firm whose property includes about three-quarters of a mile of shoreline between the printing plant and the Ambassador Bridge. The city owns a 7-acre slice next to the apartments.

If the conservancy eventually strikes a deal to acquire the CSX property -- Cullen expects that will take awhile -- the RiverWalk could hug the water along the western stretch except at the Riverfront residential towers, which are built at the water's edge. There, the RiverWalk would presumably be routed behind the towers.

Other question marks along the west riverfront include the futures of the Cobo Center convention complex and Joe Louis Arena, home of the Detroit Red Wings. Cobo is constantly the subject of expansion schemes, and Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch is considering whether to renovate the arena or build a new one for his hockey team.

So as one more piece of the riverfront puzzle snaps into place, some big pieces are still missing.

http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070214/COL06/702140417/1019&template=printart

[Michi]

Thanks for posting that. I'm excited about the west riverfront (and the west end of downtown too!)

[hudkina]

Come on Michi. It's almost spring! We need another update!;)

[skyfan]

This weeks and last weeks Model D development news. It's very encouraging that people are now willing to take on the risk of opening new retail downtown

March 13, 2007

New retailer, Loft of Fashions, opens in Capitol Park
A new retailer specializing in women's clothing for both the boardroom and the bedroom has opened downtown.

The Loft of Fashions, 25 W. Grand River Ave., sells professional suits, business casual clothing and lingerie for women. Brands include Cartise, Lima Collection, Linda Lundstrom, Nada, Donnatella, Maxxsell, Abdul Designs and Soprano.

The shop is in a formerly vacant storefront called Clark Lofts on the block between Woodward Avenue and Capitol Park. The store is open 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Friday and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday.

For information, visit loftoffashions.com or call (313) 964-5966.

Source: The Loft of Fashions
Writer: Jon Zemke


Neighborhoods: Downtown
(permanent link) (http://modeldmedia.com/developmentnews/loft85.aspx)


March 13, 2007

Construction on West Vernor/Livernois retail center near completion
Work on a new 23,000-square-foot retail center near the West Vernor and Livernois intersection is expected to finish by the end of March.

The retail center’s anchor tenant will be a National City Bank branch, with space available for up to 12 additional units. Belal Mheisen, the owner of the retail center, said his team is also working on signing leases with other national firms for the rest of the space.

Since 1997, Mheisen’s MBD Group has developed other properties in Southwest Detroit, including a Murray’s Discount Auto and a Citgo gas station. Plans for another shopping center for the western corner of the busy triangular intersection are also being discussed with potential developers.

Source: Belal Mheisen, MBD Group
Writer: Jon Zemke


Neighborhoods: Southwest Detroit
(permanent link) (http://modeldmedia.com/developmentnews/wvernorliv85.aspx)


March 13, 2007

Shield's Pizza opening downtown location in Kales Building
Shield’s Pizza will open its eighth Detroit-area location in the Kales Building this summer. The 7,000-square foot first floor space will feature separate bar/lounge and restaurant spaces connected only via the basement, which is also where the restrooms will be located.

Paul Andoni, who co-owns the chain with his brother, describes the look of the restaurant, which is currently being designed, as “a comfortable setting with a chic and trendy urban feeling—as opposed to our suburban locations.”

The restaurant will be operated by franchisee Tony DiGirolamo, who had to convince the Andoni brothers that downtown was a good location for a Shield’s Pizza. DiGirolamo says when he brought the owners downtown "and they looked at the location — where it’s situated near the ballpark, the Fox Theatre, the Opera House and State Theatre, and with 118 apartments above us and there really isn’t a pizza location downtown — we put two and two together, and it made sense.”

Andoni admits that he and his brother had not envisioned opening a Shield’s in the city but now knows that they made the right decision. He says, “There is a lot of synergy, a lot of night spots that have opened in the last few years. The more eateries and bars that locate to this immediate area, we view that as a positive: more interest, more awareness.”

Besides pizza, the restaurant will serve pasta, chicken and salads. Catering service, that can include delivery to downtown office buildings, will start at $5 per person.

DiGirolamo hopes to begin build-out on the space in approximately two weeks.

Sources: Paul Andoni and Tony DiGirolamo, Shield’s Pizza


Neighborhoods: Downtown
(permanent link) (http://modeldmedia.com/developmentnews/shields85.aspx)


March 13, 2007

1 new tenant, 1 relocation and 2 lease renewals for downtown office towers
211 West Fort Street has gained two new tenants after recent lease negotiations. Black & Veatch Corporation, a global engineering, consulting and construction company, has returned to the building after a five-year absence. The company is occupying approximately 2,000 square feet.

U.S. Customs and Border Control have also relocated to the building, and are leasing 22,000 square feet—about 1-¼ floors of the building, according to Fred Klugman of Klugman Commercial, who represented both tenants in their negotiations.

As for renewals, Walton & Donnelly, P.C. will remain on the 15th floor of the Buhl Building and Carls Foundation at 333 W. Fort.

Source: Fred Klugman, Klugman Commercial


Neighborhoods: Downtown
(permanent link) (http://modeldmedia.com/developmentnews/dtlease85.aspx)

March 13, 2007

Work begins on first, 30-unit phase of Silvercup Condominiums on East Side
Construction has begun on the first six units of the Silvercup Condominiums located at the former site of the Silvercup Bakery at Chene and Hendricks. The initial phase of the development, which consists of 30 units, is being financed by the Detroit Investment Fund (DIF) and LaSalle Bank.

More units will be built as units are sold. The DIF’s Dave Blaskiewicz estimates absorption at a rate of approximately two a month, meaning phase one completion in just over a year.

The development includes four-unit ranch-style stacked and 2-unit duplex condominiums ranging in size from 1,170 to 2,016 square feet. Blaskiewicz characterizes the units as “affordable market-rate,” priced at $150,000 to $240,000 each.

As for the relatively unique stacked model of housing, Blaskiewicz says, “I think developers are adapting to the marketplace. They are getting more creative with some of the products, making sure that it pairs up with the marketplace. And, with the style of housing, they are customizing it to specific lot pieces.” Stacked units are also being planned for the far east side.

Silvercup JV is a partnership between St. Paul CDC, Ferrari Investments and DPG Silvercup. The St. Paul arm of the team offers credit enhancement and homeownership classes to potential buyers.

The entire project will eventually consist of 86 units on the six-acre site. Blaskiewicz anticipates that, once the first phase is near completion, his organization will help the developer, Silvercup JV, LLC “get financing in place for the second phase. We really like the product and the project.”

Source: Dave Blaskiewicz, DIF


Neighborhoods: East Side
(permanent link) (http://modeldmedia.com/developmentnews/silvercup85.aspx)


March 13, 2007

Eph McNally's Deli opens second location on Woodward Ave.
Downtowners can now save themselves the long trek to Corktown for Eph McNally’s infamous sandwiches: the deli’s second location has opened downtown at 608 Woodward.

The menu is exactly the same as the original’s, with corned beef, chicken and tuna salads and bread pudding as specialties. As the restaurant's capacity is twice that of the original's, there are small nods to a higher volume business: fountain soda, paper napkins and available tap water, but the heart and soul of what makes McNally’s a perennial favorite remain intact.

The long and narrow space is richly colored and decorated with original art from local talents like Chris Turner as well as unique historic Detroit artifacts. In addition to tabletop seating, there is a counter that seats six. The front facade of the building is lit with an unusual neon sign that dates back to the 1930’s, according to co-owner Tom Arndt.

Hours are Monday – Friday 11 a.m.-8 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday noon – 6 p.m. The Corktown location is open Monday – Tuesday 11 a.m. – 4 p.m., Wednesday - Friday 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Saturday 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Source: Tom Arndt, Eph McNally's


Neighborhoods: Downtown
(permanent link) (http://modeldmedia.com/developmentnews/mcnallys85.aspx)


March 6, 2007

Rice Bowl to open in Millender Center this summer
Rice Bowl Asian Kitchen plans to open a second Detroit location in the Millender Center late this summer.

The Detroit-based Chinese restaurant will open in the former location of the old Fu Wah Chinese restaurant on the second level of Millender Center near the elevated pedestrian tunnel to the Ren Cen. The owners plan to redo and update the 1,800 square feet of space into a completely new restaurant.

"We feel there is a great demand for this type of restaurant," said Paul Kado, who co-owns the Rice Bowl with Freddy Liu. "There is no other place to get a General Tso’s chicken or chicken teriyaki in the central business district."

Rice Bowl operates a restaurant out of the Fisher Building complex in New Center. It serves primarily Chinese food along with Thai, Japanese and Korean dishes.

Source: Alex Bieri, leasing representative for Bieri Co., and Paul Kado, co-owner of the Rice Bowl.
Neighborhoods: Downtown
(permanent link) (http://modeldmedia.com/developmentnews/ricebowl84.aspx)


March 6, 2007

New clothing retailer, Exclusive Customs Clothier, opens on Woodward downtown
Downtown has attracted another retailer with the opening of Exclusive Customs Clothier just south of Grand Circus Park.

The men and women’s clothier opened its doors this winter at 1529 Woodward, occupying 2,300 square feet of previously vacant retail space. The shop specializes in high-end clothing. It features brand names, such as Tayion Collection suits, Gionfriddo sweaters and Casilda.

The owners decided to open up a location downtown because the “area is returning to the way it used to be,” said Charles Betts, the store’s manager.

Source: Charles Betts, manager of Exclusive Customs Clothier


Neighborhoods: Downtown
(permanent link) (http://modeldmedia.com/developmentnews/exclusive84.aspx)


March 6, 2007

Opera House undergoing $350,000 exterior renovations
The Detroit Opera House is undergoing extensive exterior renovations as part of the ongoing renovations of the historic downtown building.

Workers will focus on cleaning and repairing the brick and terra cotta on the ornate side of the opera house facing Madison Street. The $350,000 project is set to finish by the end of March.

The Opera House, located at Broadway and Madison streets overlooking Grand Circus Park, originally opened as the Capitol Theater in 1922 as the fifth-largest theater in the world, with 4,250 seats.

Source: Rebekah Johnson, communications coordinator for the Detroit Opera House.

Neighborhoods: Downtown
(permanent link) (http://modeldmedia.com/developmentnews/ohouse84.aspx)

[toog05]

Nice to see retail moving into the downtown area, now lets try to get practical retail downtown such as drug stores, grocery stores, and department stores.

[skyfan]

Faith in urban living is building


March 18, 2007

BY JOHN GALLAGHER

FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

During Michigan's current real estate downturn, the long-beleaguered city of Detroit has provided a rare and unexpected bright spot.

Julie Fielek, who founded her family-owned construction business 22 years ago building custom homes in far-suburban Livingston County, has been working in the city for the last few years. That work has kept her company afloat.

"I wake up every morning and say, 'Thank God for Detroit,' " she said last week on the site of Woodbridge Estates, a development of single-family houses and townhomes near Wayne State University.

For decades, Detroit was known more for population flight and abandoned homes than for new construction. Today, the Detroit market is keeping some home builders and real-estate agents in business.

Sales of existing houses were up 6% in Detroit last year, compared with a drop of 14% for all of Michigan and declines of 20% or more in Oakland, Monroe and Livingston counties.
New residential construction in the city, meanwhile, is at its highest point in more than 30 years. New permits for single-family construction are more than 10 times higher than a decade ago, while the total for southeast Michigan as a whole is down more than 60% over the same period. The city of Detroit led the seven-county metro region in new residential construction in 2006, the regional planning group SEMCOG reported Friday.

Detroit issued 739 permits for new single-family houses, townhouses and multifamily units, the most of any community in the region.

The reasons for Detroit's emergence are complex. Builders like Fielek mostly attribute the upbeat market to a desire for urban living. That trend remade downtowns from Seattle to Baltimore during the last 25 years and has finally arrived in Detroit and suburbs like Royal Oak and Birmingham.

Builders say their typical customers are empty nesters and young professionals and other people who want to live, work, shop and be entertained in a pedestrian-friendly area.

"Everybody wants walkability," said Herb Strather, a Detroit-based developer and partner in Woodbridge Estates.

Stephen Taglione, a partner in Abbey Homes, a Bingham Farms company that is building residential units in Detroit's St. Anne's Gate project in Mexicantown, agrees.

"There's a growing segment of the market that wants that in-town lifestyle," he said.

Believing in urban living

Urban living certainly attracted C. Morgan Houston and her husband, Lorenzo, who paid about $300,000 for a home in Woodbridge Estates more than a year ago.

"We are two minutes from everything that's happening in Detroit," she said. "We just came from the DSO the other night. We go to the different theaters, hot restaurants all up and down. It is great. My feet don't even have time to hurt."

Michael Dunne, a Seattle-based investor, said Detroit's somewhat belated entry into the urban-living trend enticed him to bankroll several projects in the city done by Detroit developer Dwight Belyue, including the @water Lofts condominium project expected to break ground on the east riverfront in the spring.

"I saw it in Seattle in the '80s, and I thought the developers were crazy," Belyue said last week. "Detroit may be the last big city to go through that, but it's just following the country. Having seen it, I'm a believer."

To meet this demand, builders have provided new niche products, such as high-end condos at the Book-Cadillac Hotel. Moreover, the houses Fielek is building in Woodbridge Estates offer more high-end finishes and amenities than the lower-priced product previously offered in the city. Her units range from about $180,000 to almost $400,000.

Trend changes in big way

Tax abatements and other subsidies that support developments in the city make them more affordable. About 80% of all certifications for Neighborhood Enterprise Zone tax abatements in Michigan are for projects in Detroit.

Then there is the pent-up demand. Having built out Detroit to its borders in the 1950s and 1960s, homebuilders left the city for 30 years to concentrate on the suburbs. From 1985 to 1990, fewer than 10 permits for new single-family houses were issued in the city.

That's changing in a big way. Homebuilders pulled 461 permits for new single-family houses in Detroit last year, the highest total since 1971. Most projects sell out at a brisk pace.

"Demand is twice the supply right now," said Strather, the Detroit-based developer.

Of course, building in the city comes with challenges not found in suburban cornfields.

The Woodbridge Estates project, with streets named for Motown music stars, replaced the old Jeffries housing project, which already had been built atop previous construction. Digging basements for the new houses required clearing out generations of debris, including brick water mains from the 19th Century.

"The first basement we dug," Fielek said, "I was out of town, and my son Matt called and said, 'Well, we're not in Kansas anymore.' "

Contact JOHN GALLAGHER at 313-222-5173 or gallagher@freepress.com.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070318/BUSINESS04/703180650

[LMich]

It really is an interesting dynamic, what is happening right now.

I have to comment on Strather's comment, though. If things are so great, than he should have had no problem bringing his stalled Grand River Place project, off the ground.

[skyfan]

http://www.media.wayne.edu/images/SouthVillageA.jpg

DETROIT, MI — Wayne State’s South University Village, hailed as the first major market-rate residential project of its kind in Detroit in more than 30 years, is about to become a reality. On March 21, 2007 Grand Rapids-based developer, Prime Development, and the University will break ground at 3:30 p.m. on the $36 million residential and retail establishment and parking structure.

Located on the former site of the old Vernors ginger ale factory, South University Village will be a major commercial corridor marked by exciting shops and restaurants, state-of-the-art residential facilities and a thriving gateway to the Wayne State University campus.

Studio One Apartments, LLC will build and finance the new 155,000 square-foot five-story mixed-use building -- of which 26,217 square-foot is first-floor commercial plus four levels of market rate residential rental units -- projected to cost $20 million. The University will build and finance a four level parking garage –projected to cost $15.9 million—to serve the needs of the general public, the residential/retail complex and the university. The planned completion dates and openings are set for spring/summer of 2008. The project, including the residential/retail building and public parking structure will be located on four acres on the west side of Woodward and the south side of Forest, between Canfield and Forest, immediately north of The Whitney Restaurant. The parking deck and apartment building will be connected, enabling residents to park and walk to their building.

Phase Two will add another $20 million of new construction in 2010-2012 with a second five-story apartment or condominium project along Canfield just west of The Whitney Restaurant. Thus, South University Village represents more than a $50 million investment in the city of Detroit over the next five years.

According to Wayne State University President Irvin D. Reid, South University Village highlights Wayne State’s role as a lead partner in the development of Midtown and the revitalization of Detroit. “South University Village will create 195 temporary construction-related jobs and approximately 65 new jobs associated with the bank, retail operations and parking structure,” Reid noted. “This is a significant achievement in the history of our city and a model for the economic benefits of public-private partnerships in our state.”

Gov. Jennifer Granholm believes Wayne State serves as a model for how research institutions are helping shape Michigan’s economy. “Wayne State is helping to drive our state’s 21st economy forward by educating students and conducting cutting edge research,” Granholm said. “Now the university is, once again, demonstrating just how valuable it can be in shaping a vibrant community with economic development projects that are building on the successful Tech Town project.”

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick concurred, citing the infusion of investment that South University Village attracted from the Western side of the state. “The fact that a Grand Rapids-based developer chose to invest major dollars and resources into this project demonstrates that business opportunities abound for companies across the state that have yet to do business here.”

Marcel Burgler, principal of Prime Development, noted that, in addition to recognizing economic opportunity, he and his partners were welcomed by the city. “Wayne State, the Mayor’s office and the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC) went to great lengths to make developing Studio One Apartments a painless endeavor,” he said. “More over, extensive market research proved to us that there is a great demand in the city of Detroit for high quality rental apartments. We expect to be very successful.”

“There is great potential for South University Village,” added David Egner, president of the Hudson-Webber Foundation, which funded the initial feasibility study for the project. “South University Village made sense as a property that filled a void for much-needed housing, public parking and retail,” he noted. “Moreover, it represents a sound economic investment for all parties involved.”

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), the DEGC, TAKTIX, a Detroit-based real estate consulting company, and Prime Development, as well as private and public corporations and foundations, shared the vision that led to the efforts to make South University Village happen. “TAKTIX worked with Wayne State on the plans for the old Vernor’s site to accelerate the university’s master plan to provide market-rate residential housing on campus for faculty, staff and the community at large,” said TAKTIX principal Larry Marantette. “In this way, we and the other South University Village partners are contributing to a vibrant Midtown.”

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) granted approval for Brownfield tax credits to support the South University Village project last December. Since that time, Prime Development has confirmed Fifth Third Bank as an anchor tenant and is working diligently to secure other retailers to service the $20 million residential apartment and retail establishment on Woodward and the supporting WSU public parking structure on Forest (Phase One).

“We believe in Wayne State’s ability to transform Midtown into a thriving residential and retail center,” noted Gregory Kosch, president and CEO of Fifth Third Bank Eastern Michigan. “Fifth Third is growing and we’re here to stay. Upon learning of South University Village we jumped on the chance to solidify our roots in this growing community with a substantial financial investment and a bank branch and lending office right in the complex.”

According to the Michigan Department of Transportation, traffic on Woodward at the site is 23,500 vehicles per day. Midtown Detroit, in particular, has experienced more than $1.6 billion in new residential and commercial construction over the past ten years, according to the University Cultural Center Association.

Wayne State University is a premier institution of higher education offering more than 350 academic programs through 11 schools and colleges to more than 33,000 students.

http://www.media.wayne.edu/release.php?id=2529

[Michi]

Come on Michi. It's almost spring! We need another update!;)

Okok! Spring is here at 8:o'something this pm, and it is 8:15 as I type this. Am I on the ball or what?

We'll start in the urbs.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0311DetPty03_10-11_070047.jpg

The windows at MidMed everyone's been complaining about on detroityes.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0311DetPty03_10-11_070011.jpg

If you're going to own a car and live here, this is where you park.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0311DetPty03_10-11_070012.jpg

As of Sunday, March 18, 2007
Hello Greektown Casino storage unit.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0318DetDev03_18_070053.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0318DetDev03_18_070075.jpg

:repeat
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0318DetDev03_18_070076.jpg

From the not-so-traveled north side of Greektown.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0318DetDev03_18_070078.jpg

The orb of Ste. Mary's is to blame.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0318DetDev03_18_070079.jpg

These columns are for the hotel tower.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0318DetDev03_18_070080.jpg

Good Grief! That's like level 13 up there! Let's hope they don't forget to install the elevators.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0318DetDev03_18_070081.jpg

Front entrance of the Vinton is progressing near completion.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0318DetDev03_18_070060.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0318DetDev03_18_070061.jpg

The 2 inches left of the Detroit Commerce Building. As of today, it is a part of our history.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0318DetDev03_18_070062.jpg

The replacement has been catching the eyes of passersby.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0318DetDev03_18_070063.jpg

Count yourself lucky: A never before seen picture of Detroit.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0318DetDev03_18_070064.jpg

It was a nice (but frigid) day.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0318DetDev03_18_070065.jpg

Die, bi*ch!
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0318DetDev03_18_070066.jpg

Another never before seen...only to be in existance temporarily.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0318DetDev03_18_070067.jpg

? (the day after St. Patty's)
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0318DetDev03_18_070068.jpg

This is downtown's first furniture company: MEZZANINE.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0318DetDev03_18_070069.jpg

Bee-Boo!
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0318DetDev03_18_070070.jpg

Mmmkay...Intermission to Windsor. This thing does not grow vertically. It will be the city's new tallest. (Second hotel tower to Ceasars somethingsomething Windsor Casino).
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0318DetDev03_18_070082.jpg

And this thing has been sitting without a face for months now too. Hello Windsor! You aren't Detroit! ;)
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0318DetDev03_18_070084.jpg

There will be a ceremony in the spring (which is now) for the grand opening of Rivard Plaza, just east of the Renaissance Center on the East Riverfront.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0318DetDev03_18_070083.jpg

Making Detroit a lovely city is the new Michigan Welcome Center and Mercado at the Ambassador Bridge Customs Plaza on the Southwest side. It looks very nice.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0318DetDev03_18_070085.jpg

The two buildings here comprise the project.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0318DetDev03_18_070086.jpg

A zoom out.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0318DetDev03_18_070087.jpg

The historic preservation project at Vernor and ____ in Mexicantown. This area of town should be applauded for embarking on a large number of preservation projects. Way to go SW side!! :)
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0318DetDev03_18_070088.jpg

Yawn. The Motor City from the train station.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0318DetDev03_18_070089.jpg

The Motor City from my apartment.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0318DetDev03_18_070099.jpg

The only thing going on in Grosse Pointe these days is this duck.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0318DetDev03_18_070092.jpg

In-bound from the Pointes, I came across this project on Jefferson. I'm sure you guys know what it is, but I do not. I was surprised to see windows on a large structure in a part of town where most large structures do not have any. This is around Jefferson/Dickinson. Somebody please enlighten me.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0318DetDev03_18_070095.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0318DetDev03_18_070096.jpg

http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0318DetDev03_18_070097.jpg

Liquor store anyone? You have a choice of about 5,000 on Jefferson alone.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0318DetDev03_18_070098.jpg

AND FINALLY...The site of the highly-anticipated South University Village project! I drove by there today on my bike on my way home from work and noticed yellow tape sectioning off the area for tomorrow's official ground breaking ceremonies at 3:pm.

As long as I'm at this location, which may not be for much longer, I will post periodic updates, given the speed or lack-there-of of the progress.
http://downtownmotown.8k.com/DetroitDevelopment/2007_0318DetDev03_18_070100.jpg

Rendering:
http://www.media.wayne.edu/images/SouthVillageA.jpg

[Michi]

Oops! D/P

[LMich]

Michi, that apartment building on the Far Eastside was opened as the 524-room Savarine Hotel, and held on, in fact, until the early 1990's when it was convereted into low-income apartments, which fell into major disrepair before it was shut down, entirely, in 2004. It's going to be apartments, again.

It's being converted to 118 market-rate apartment units with groundfloor retail/commercial. Better yet, a local company, Urban Innovation Group, is doing the conversion, so all of this money is staying in town. I hope you keep up on this one so we can see it when it opens. It really is a strange building that sticks out like a sorethumb since so much around it (particularly, behind it) has been bulldozed.

BTW, Eric, please post these in the My Photos photo section on the forum. People would love to see these.

One last observation is that the Fifth Royal Oak looks so much fatter than it was rendered. It needs a diet.

[the pope]

super as usual michi.

I'll be in le detroit this weekend, keep an eye out.

[StevenW]

great updates. :)

[hudkina]

I can't wait until that WSU project gets started. Woodward through Midtown is really starting to become a true urban corridor.

[Michi]

Capitol Park targeted for revitalization
Consultant firm hired for $50,000
March 21, 2007

BY JOHN GALLAGHER

FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

Detroit’s Downtown Development Authority took the first step Wednesday toward a hoped-for revitalization of the city’s Capitol Park district.

Located between Woodward Avenue and Washington Boulevard, the small enclave is named for being the site of Michigan’s first state capitol in the 19th Century. In recent years, seriously rundown and the site of many abandoned buildings, it has been best known as the location of the downtown bus terminus.

But with bus operations moving in 2008 to the planned Rosa Parks Transit Center, the city hopes to revive Capitol Park.

On Wednesday, the DDA agreed to hire the Detroit consulting firm Katherine Beebe and Associates to create a preliminary reinvestment strategy for the district.

The contract with the firm will cost $50,000, paid for out of DDA planning funds.

The work will take four months, after which the DDA and city planners expect to create specific development proposals.

________________________________________________________
All I have to say is if this can only get under way after the terminal moves, it's going to be years away if they don't get crackin on the new Rosa Parks Terminal. I seriously don't understand the intensity of the technicalities in so many Detroit development cases. What is the hold up?

[hudkina]

We could probably have given the DDA the same information without the $50,000 pricetag.;)

[testdrive]

I will be coming to Detroit this summer to visit family. Grew up there went to Cody High but have lived in Seattle for the last 30 years. There has been a real building boom going out here, but have always hoped Detroit would get another chance to reclaim some of its glory. Finally it looks like there are the beginnings of a pulse. It is really exciting to see what is beginning to happen there. I have been wondering what the height restrictions are there. It would be great to see a 600'+ structure go up. Something that would be iconic and would really get the ball rolling. Saving the old highrises that have real character is wonderful to see happening. Being proud of its history but really trying to create something new where it can shake off the image of the last 35 years I see as an exciting opportunity. There are a lot of us expatriates of ths city who are rooting for it to happen. :upload_71700:

[hudkina]

I'm not sure there are any local height restrictions besides the general economic slump.;)

[LMich]

Speaking about height limits, there is only one height restriction I know of, and it's one I just discovered a week or so ago, and probably the only one in Detroit. The height limit for the Near-East Riverfront is 110' south of Jefferson.

[DetroitSky]

Detroit Film Center to move to Eastern Market, 1347 E. Fisher Freeway to be renovated
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/a pps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/2007 0325/SUB/703230313/-1/toc

[skyfan]

Buyers snatch up condominiums in @water Lofts in Detroit


March 26, 2007

BY JOHN GALLAGHER

FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

Larry and Maureen Allen, empty nesters from Shelby Township, say their neighbors think they're crazy.

But the Allens were among those lining up Sunday to buy one of the first units in the planned @water Lofts project, the first condo building planned for Detroit's east riverfront, where cement silos long stood.

"We'd love to be on the river, and it's an opportunity that we didn't think we were going to get," Larry Allen, a Chrysler engineer, said at the sales event in the Renaissance Center.

Added Maureen: "We're taking a chance, and it's worth it."

The Allens plan on selling their 3,000-square-foot house in the suburbs to buy their 1,300-square-foot condo with a view of the Detroit River and Belle Isle. Their unit will cost $389,000.

@water Lofts (pronounced "Atwater") should be ready for occupancy in late 2008.

Suburbanites were well-represented among buyers at this first sales event.

Edwin Brown, a federal government worker, will give up his house in Harper Woods for a new riverside condo, for which he's paying about $350,000.

"I always wanted to stay down on the river," he said. "I think we kind of undervalue here in Detroit actually having a view of the river and also a view of the international border."

Dwight Belyue, the Detroit-based developer building @water Lofts, said he needs to presell about half the planned 225 units before he can break ground. With deposits taken on about 40 units Sunday, Belyue said he expects to have enough sold to start building in June.

"I'm pretty happy so far," he said.

George Jackson, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's chief development officer, said a transformation of the near east riverfront from cement silos to recreational and residential was finally taking place.

"We've been talking about it probably for about 40 years," he said. "The vision is about to happen."

Contact JOHN GALLAGHER at 313-222-5173 or gallagher@freepress.com.



http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070326/BUSINESS06/703260326&imw=Y

[hudkina]

This is only the first steps in creating a new vibrant Rivertown.

[apbest]

Over half of the Griswold condos sold at event
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070402/BUSINESS04/70402060

[hudkina]

This makes me wonder why the downtown area hasn't seen even more "new" residential towers announced. I know that the Detroit suburban market is weak, but it seems that every new residential project has seen amazing numbers.

[LMich]

I've been wondering the same thing. I'm actually feel that downtown, even in these early stages, could support a significant residential tower. Townhomes are nice, and all, but a diverse housing market is key.

[Michi]

As I was thinking today, another new thought occurred to me and that is the argument of a grocery store. If the Woodhouse Day Spa (a luxury, not a necessity) can survive with the downtown/Midtown/New Center demographic, then what is the demand like for a grocery? Restaurants are somewhat like that of luxury as well, although they DO cater to more than just the local demographic. But things as silly as day spas, which service more local clientele, are a good indicator that those facilities serving the basic necessities can sink or float.

[hudkina]

While I'm sure CVS probably wouldn't say whether or not their new downtown location is a success, I'm sure you could gauge its performance to see how successful a grocery store would be. I'm sure they sell a lot of milk and bread-type things there.