I like the fund that they are building for Woodward TOD projects. That will be absolutely necessary to unleash the pent-up demand along the corridor. Because the market is so out of whack with the demand, only certain kind of projects and developers have been able to cobble together the financing for large-scale projects. This will make sure more developers are introduced to the market, and it will also mean a more diverse range in the type of products that can be offered. It seems that because of the market, the only thing you can get done in Detroit is either literal government housing or really high-end stuff. We need more stuff in between if we're serious about repopulation and increasing density.
In more mixed news, the Metropolitan Building's day of reckoning is near. I hope they can save it, but if even Gilbert's people are walking away, I'm not so hopeful.
Quote:
Max Ortiz | The Detroit News
City weighs whether to restore or demolish Metropolitan Building
By Louis Aguilar | The Detroit News
September 17, 2013
Detroit — The city is taking steps to decide whether another big empty downtown building can be restored or should be demolished.
Bids are being accepted for removal of asbestos and hazardous materials in the city-owned Metropolitan Building, a 16-story site that has been tenantless for 36 years. It is at 33 John R between Broadway Street, near the Boll YMCA, and Woodward Avenue. The Gothic Revival building opened in 1925 and became offices for jewelers and watchmakers, according to the website HistoricDetroit.org.
The city has spent tens of thousands to keep it from being a public hazard. Three years ago, the city spent $60,000 to install scaffolding and netting to keep parts of the facade from falling off. About eight years ago, it spent about $25,000 to put plywood in the lower floor windows. Graffiti covers most of the lower exterior.
While the request for proposals that became available this week says “demolition project” in its title, Detroit Economic Growth Corp. officials said it is the first step in determining the building’s fate.
...
The building has been offered to Dan Gilbert’s Rock Ventures, one of the biggest landowners of downtown properties, but Gilbert’s people have turned down the offer.
“We’ve been in there several times and it is just not — it is in disrepair. Inside, it is so bad,” said Bruce Schwartz, Detroit relocation ambassador for Bedrock Real Estate Services, in an earlier interview with The Detroit News.
But Schwartz said Bedrock would be open to figuring out a way to save the building.
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It's a very real possibility that downtown could lose both the Metropolitan and the adjacent Wurlitzer in the near-future, and this woud leave quite a hole in the streetscape, even though this aren't
the most prominent locations in downtown.