DETROIT | Development & Construction: Motown Lowdown

[animatedmartian]

I'm surprised that there's not even a new design altogether (or at least not one shown yet). The original number of proposed units was 235 but now it's up to 288. At the very least, that's a whole another floor of apartments.


Also, the blank wall on the northern side of 28 Grand has been covered with a mural done by legendary local Detroit artist Charles Mcgee.




http://www.lscgallery.com/public-art/

http://www.metrotimes.com/the-scene/...ide-exhibition

[The North One]

There is, I believe this is the latest render. (low quality)

https://villagegreen.entrata.com/med...bb620c3307.jpg

This is the video showcasing the project in 3D. I really like the courtyard.

Video Link

[Docta_Love]

Edit; Didn't realize i left my computer for too long i didn't take a close looks but its looks slightly better suited for the site.

[M. Brown]

Originally Posted by The North One

I would love that, the people mover is nothing but an eyesore in the city.

I disagree. For me, the people mover came in handy during the NAIAS. Parked at the Opera House parking garage and took a ride to the Cobo center. I'm sure it will come in handy next year too.

[LMich]

Originally Posted by subterranean

There's really no reason for this not to be 20 stories.

This. Even when it was proposed it was a waste of a totally good space. Given where downtown demand is, now, it should be at least as tall as the Statler was.

More:

Eco-friendly ‘green’ district launched in Detroit

By Mark Hicks | The Detroit News

June 7, 2017

Detroit — Wednesday marked the official launch of a “green” building district in Detroit that aims to significantly curb energy use, water consumption and transportation greenhouse gas emissions.

Officials gathered at NextEnergy to celebrate the Detroit 2030 District, a private-public partnership associated with a larger national collaboration working to boost sustainability at existing buildings by as much as 50 percent in the next 13 years.

More:

New York's famed City Bakery plans Fisher building location

By Susan Selansky | Detroit Free Press

June 7, 2017

City Bakery, a New York bakery noted for not only for baked goods but hot chocolate as well, has set it eyes on Detroit, announcing today they will open a Fisher Building location inside what’s known as the arcade lobby.

This is the first location outside New York, where there are several under the City Bakery brand and Birdbath Neighborhood Green Bakery, and Japan. Maury Rubin opened City Bakery 25 years ago with a vision of creating a multi-faceted bakery to include a coffee house, cafe and chocolate shop while also providing catering.

[LMich]

This seems to be moving very fast, and I didn't even know they were planning this until the other day.

Detroit creating a plaza by closing Woodward at Jefferson

By John Gallagher | Detroit Free Press

June 8, 2017

The City of Detroit will close the key intersection of Woodward at Jefferson Avenue beginning this evening to create a people's plaza complete with food trucks and other amenities.

It marks the city's latest bid to fashion a lively streetscape along Woodward Avenue in the blocks near Campus Martius Park. The plaza will expand the recently added esplanade, or walkway, running south from Campus Martius to Larned.

Work will proceed quickly. The intersection will be closed to traffic this evening, and the new plaza will open to the public Monday morning. The plaza is scheduled as a 90-day trial. The city will evaluate the results after that.

The plaza will include artwork, food trucks, seating, and landscaping, as well as formal programming in the form of music or other events several times a week. The city designed it in partnership with the Philadelphia-based design firm Groundswell, which designed the new esplanade and has a Detroit office, and the civic group Downtown Detroit Partnership.

Ryan Garza | Detroit Free Press

Here's what they've already done just north of here to pedestrianized the Woodward median:


Detroit M-1 Rail QLine LRV At Congress St Station Looking North On Woodward Ave From The RT People Mover by drum118, on Flickr

[LMich]

Update from District Detroit's facebook page:

[The North One]

They just created a "pedestrian plaza" on a portion of Gratiot when they renovated the intersection. The only problem is it's not really a plaza, they just put some barriers around the street.

If this can move that quickly then I'd really like to see that plaza get a legitimate design soon as well.

[animatedmartian]

I like the idea of a plaza around the Joe Louis Fist since it's s a popular spot, but not so sure about the Woodward between Larned and Jefferson. Maybe a road diet, but not a complete cut off. Otherwise, it heavily disrupts traffic flow around that area.

In an ideal world, Jefferson wouldn't be the connection between two freeway spurs.

[animatedmartian]

Also, Synder has signed the brownfield redevelopment bill. Gilbert can move ahead with his projects as well as developers in other cities able to capitalize on brownfield sites.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-sta...elopment-bills


Here is a progress update on the Coe in West Village.









https://detroit.curbed.com/2017/6/8/...it-development

[LMich]

Originally Posted by The North One

They just created a "pedestrian plaza" on a portion of Gratiot when they renovated the intersection. The only problem is it's not really a plaza, they just put some barriers around the street.

If this can move that quickly then I'd really like to see that plaza get a legitimate design soon as well.

That's kind of the point. These are tests to see if there is a benefit for this. They did this with Time Square in New York some years back. If it proves popular and helps automobile and pedestrian traffic flow, it can be made permanent. This is a 90-day test run at Woodward and Jefferson. The Detroit News' article on this, today, said that one at Gratiot and Randolph has been pretty successful.





This an the esplanade are meant to connect Campus Martius to the riverfront. We'll see. I personally think that the Cadillac Park one whenever they decide to do it will be way more successful as it's already very popular as a square in the street.

[deja vu]

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

I like the idea of a plaza around the Joe Louis Fist since it's s a popular spot, but not so sure about the Woodward between Larned and Jefferson. Maybe a road diet, but not a complete cut off. Otherwise, it heavily disrupts traffic flow around that area.

Agreed. I'm a fan of road diets, as I've seen complete vehicular cutoff backfire in the past.

Originally Posted by LMich

I personally think that the Cadillac Park one whenever they decide to do it will be way more successful as it's already very popular as a square in the street.

I think you're right.

[subterranean]

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

https://detroit.curbed.com/2017/6/8/...it-development

I don't know why, but the fact that they just used a shitty photo with the grass uncut for this render made me LOL.

[animatedmartian]

$32 million project in Sugar Hill Arts District to bring 84 apartments to Detroit
By KIRK PINHO. Crain's Detroit. June 9, 2017.







A $32 million development is planned for three-quarters of an acre of Sugar Hill Arts District property that is planned to bring 84 new apartments to the greater downtown market, the city announced Friday morning.

A joint venture between Sonya Mays of Detroit-based Develop Detroit LLC and Rodger Brown of the Preservation of Affordable Housing Inc. is leading the development, of which 25 percent of the units (21 units) are expected to be affordable to people making between 50 percent to 80 percent of the area median income, which is between about $26,000 and $40,000 per year.

The $400,000 land sale on Garfield Street off John R is expected to go before City Council this year, with the project breaking ground in September 2018, according to a news release.

The Sugar Hill project — which is also slated to include 7,000 square feet of retail space and a 300-space parking deck — is being designed by architect Michael Poris of McIntosh Poris Associates, which has offices in Detroit and Birmingham, and Phil Freelon, who designed the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., according to a release. He also worked on Atlanta's National Center for Civil Rights and San Francisco's Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco.

.....

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...ct-to-bring-84

[subterranean]

Sounds like a partly HOME-funded program given that income range.

No turning back now. It's looking like an extended growth period for Detroit.

[LMich]

They just keep coming and coming. Love that this one got such an accomplished architect. The architect designed the National Museum of African-American in D.C. as well as the National Center for Civil Rights in Atlanta. Also love how dedicated Duggan is to offering housing options for all kinds of incomes even though Detroit has so much space he could have easily just left the market to its own devices.

Looks like that house next to the arena might not be asking for too much after this. lol

Louis Aguilar | The Detroit News

Party store in shadow of new arena sells for $3.2 M

By Louis Aguilar | The Detroit News

June 9, 2017

A party store in the shadow of Little Caesars Arena has sold for $3.2 million — one of two stores on Cass Corridor stores recently purchased by an entity linked to the CEO of Wireless Giant, a Madison Heights-based retailer of mobile phones.

The two stores — one has been closed for months — are less than a block apart and just a few hundreds yards from the new $862.9 million downtown sports arena under construction. The party stores are separate, unrelated businesses.

[Docta_Love]

City Of Detroit Sees The Lowest Unemployment Rate In 16 Years
By Daily Detroit Staff
Jun 1, 2017



Jobs are one of the most important issues when it comes to Detroit’s recovery, and it has been a topic up here at the Mackinac Policy Conference.

The city of Detroit in April had the lowest unemployment rate since May of 2001, according preliminary information shared by the Mayor’s office from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The graph above tracks the year over year unemployment rate in April.

The city’s rate of 8.4 percent is higher than the rest of Michigan at 4.7 percent, and the Detroit regional rate at 4 percent as we reported yesterday, but it’s significant progress.

The rate has dropped from 17.6 percent since Duggan took office at the beginning of 2014.

In January of 2010 during the Great Recession, city unemployment hit depression-era levels at 27 percent.

http://www.dailydetroit.com/2017/06/...rate-16-years/

Detroit Greenways Coalition Gets Grant To Build Support For Greenway Segment In Highland Park
By JA Staes
Jun 3, 2017



In support of overall plans to create a 26 mile loop trail through Detroit, Hamtramck, Highland Park and Dearborn called the Inner Circle Greenway, the nonprofit Detroit Greenways Coalition received a $5,000 grant from the Doppelt Family Trail Development Fund.

The local organization was one of only six winners out of 215 submissions. The grant is to help raise awareness and build support for constructing the Inner Circle Greenway rail-trail segment within the city of Highland Park.

1.4 miles of abandoned rail corridor is within the enclave city that is part of the planned larger project (see map above).

According to the coalition, the Inner Circle Greenway is the largest urban trail project within the state of Michigan. It began as eight miles of abandoned rail corridor to create a 26-mile loop trail that extended the work of the Detroit RiverWalk and Dequindre Cut into the neighborhoods, and is seen as one of the keys to Detroit’s revitalization efforts.

http://www.dailydetroit.com/2017/06/...highland-park/

[LMich]

Spirit Plaza opens. Photos courtesy of David Guralnick of the Detroit News.

And, an update on Atwater Beach:

Detroit's urban beach project wins $225,700 in national grant competition

By Dana Afana | MLive.com

June 12, 2017

A proposed urban beach project on Detroit's Riverfront has been chosen as a winning idea in a national grant competition.

The Atwater Beach project, pitched by The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, was named a finalist in the Knight Cities Challenge earlier this year and was announced Monday as a winner of a $225,700 grant.

They expect to have the beach ready sometime next year. Currently, the only city beach is on Belle Isle.


Tanya Moutzalias

[animatedmartian]

3rd and Grand's site doesn't look that big from above. Easy to see why it necessitated a tower crane.

• Video Link

[animatedmartian]

Philly developer says he has closed on New Center property; 35-story high-rise possible



Nothing official, but supposedly a decision would be made on what to put there in four to six weeks. Seems kind of quick relative to most Detroit projects. It's been how many years waiting on the Hudson's site to move?

I'm not so optimistic about achieving that floor height, but I think a pretty significant development could occur there either way.