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  #1  
Old Posted Sep 4, 2011, 11:31 AM
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DETROIT | HUGE list of Never Built

I was personally surprised at just how much of Detroit hasn't been built. The Great Depression, the recession in the 80s, and the current/recent recession have all killed development that would have drastically changed the city. This'll be quite a list.



Whittier Park
Video Link


Belle Harbour
Video Link


Fox Creek
Video Link


Chene West

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpo...3&postcount=90


http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpo...3&postcount=90

@Water Lofts

http://criticaldetroit.org/buildings/water-lofts/


http://criticaldetroit.org/buildings/water-lofts/


http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showth...=403460&page=5

Chene East

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showth...=403460&page=5

The Watermark (Formerly Chene West)







http://www.thekraemeredge.com/index..../the_watermark

The Woodward Block







http://www.thekraemeredge.com/index....woodward_block

Going backwards in time now.
Various stadiums.


http://olddetroit.tumblr.com/post/36...2/detroit-dome

doctor_gogol2

1947 City of Detroit Proposal for Olympic Games


1939 City of Detroit Proposal for Olympic Games


1963 City of Detroit Proposal for Olympic Games

Kern Block Case Study 1966











http://www.smallatlarge.com/2011/06/...-detroit-1966/

A collection of different architectural designs that were proposed during the 60s-90s.









http://www.scribd.com/doc/3674043/Un...ctober-27-1991

Comerica Tower

Comerica Tower Design (discarded) by DecoJim


Comerica Tower Design (discarded) by DecoJim

Book Tower

http://www.detroityes.com/mb/showthr...073#post127073


(looking for source, whoops)

Detroit Riverfront Project





http://www.booktown.com/stcroixprints/plan.php?id=6267




http://www.internationalmetropolis.com/?p=4786



And last but not least, progressing proposals for The Fisher Building from Albert Kahn.






























Good lord.








http://www.internationalmetropolis.com/?p=82


There's probably a good chunk of buildings I missed, but this ought to suffice for now. I mainly just saw multiple never built Detroit buildings and thought it'd be useful to fit them in one spot.
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  #2  
Old Posted Sep 27, 2011, 4:23 PM
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Some amazing stuff, some banal stuff.
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Old Posted Nov 12, 2011, 2:46 PM
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  #4  
Old Posted Nov 12, 2011, 3:09 PM
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The Chrysler Building should have been built there instead, and in it's same form.
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  #5  
Old Posted Nov 12, 2011, 4:32 PM
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What a great idea for a topic!

Sadly, none of this is possible without the element of mobility in Detroit.

I love the Kearn Block concept! Those were the days when we were still dreamers in this city. Now, all we do is try to figure out where to find the funding to prevent that overpass in "Clinton Twp" from collapsing onto the freeway below...how to destroy that next patch of open land at 52 Mile Rd...and how to overtake public utility & services.

Cap the Fisher Freeway downtown already!!
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  #6  
Old Posted Nov 12, 2011, 4:33 PM
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It's heart wrenching on every level to think for one moment what Detroit could have been.
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  #7  
Old Posted Nov 12, 2011, 4:54 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by uaarkson View Post
It's heart wrenching on every level to think for one moment what Detroit could have been.
What's great about that quote is, fast-forward 50 years from now...what can we do TODAY as the current generation to make it so that future generations don't have to ask the same question?
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Old Posted Nov 12, 2011, 5:00 PM
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I have no doubt the Great Revival of Detroit will happen in our lifetimes. It'll be a while yet, though.
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  #9  
Old Posted Nov 15, 2011, 3:29 AM
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This is a great thread!
I wish the 'never built & visionary architecture' threads were back where they used to be in Buildings & Architecture.
After they were moved into a subcategory they dwindled away. You rarely notice them.
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  #10  
Old Posted Nov 15, 2011, 4:20 AM
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While it doesn't quite fit under the "never built" category, the Renaissance Center was planned to be a massive 15 tower complex instead of the 7 towers that were built.



image source: http://dlxs.lib.wayne.edu/cgi/i/imag...rt=;resnum=137



image source: http://dlxs.lib.wayne.edu/cgi/i/imag...rt=;resnum=134

Last edited by Cleveland Brown; Nov 15, 2011 at 4:32 AM.
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  #11  
Old Posted Nov 15, 2011, 12:37 PM
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Quote:
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While it doesn't quite fit under the "never built" category, the Renaissance Center was planned to be a massive 15 tower complex instead of the 7 towers that were built.
I never thought I'd say this in this thread, but THANK GOD!
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Old Posted Nov 15, 2011, 4:42 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by animatedmartian View Post
BOING!

archi-boner!
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  #13  
Old Posted Jan 6, 2014, 8:18 PM
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These photo's demonstrate the might, influence and potential that Detroit had. It's unfortunate that these projects weren't built. Detroit might have been able to diversify itself sooner, than be so dependent on the auto-related industries. Detroit is going to rebound though, many projects & reinvestment is underway. It'll take 10-15 more yrs. but that's okay. Long as there is always progress being made.
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Old Posted Mar 6, 2014, 12:48 AM
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What could've been a great Detroit...before going bankrupt
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Old Posted Jun 8, 2014, 4:48 PM
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My hometown could've been a Chicago! Detroit has lovely architecture, but no standing-out skyscrapers. Same with Phoenix, the city I'm living in right now. It's amazing what Detroit could've been, but alas,...


STUPID BANKRUPTCY!
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Old Posted Sep 24, 2015, 7:24 AM
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This is one of those threads that jut makes you want to cry.
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  #17  
Old Posted Apr 27, 2016, 1:49 AM
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This "list" is a joke, most of these are visionary drawings or mid-century modern dreams that had no basis in reality. Projects killed by the great depression were unfortunate but otherwise this is an underwhelming thread and not really a representation of the Detroit that "could have been". The 2013 bankruptcy obviously had nothing to do with the death of these projects.

The only thing I wish was built was the riverfront project, that would have been beautiful but other than that and the original Fisher building there's nothing to mourn here.
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Old Posted Apr 27, 2016, 7:22 PM
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I wish the Kern Block development was built instead of the Ren Cen, better location for a city's tallest and a redevelopment of lower woodward in the 60's i think gives you the best bang for ur buck in terms of saving one of the best aspects of old detroit the lower woodward shopping district. Plus having a "vertical city" in the center of downtown would have had a better redevelopment effect then the off center fortress like succubus we called the ren cen. Although id still trade it in for a detroit subway system, a chrysler like book tower would have been nice too.

Last edited by Docta_Love; Apr 27, 2016 at 11:44 PM.
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  #19  
Old Posted Oct 25, 2018, 1:08 AM
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A few more cancelled projects:

Cadillac Centre, on the Monroe Block site. Was to be completed in 2011.





Then in 2013, Meridian Health proposed building their headquarters on the site. It was to be finished in 2017.



Today, this site has a 536 foot tall office tower planned for it.

Executive Plaza was slated for demolition to be replaced by the 8 floor Detroit FBI Building, which was to be finished in 2009. This project was effectively cancelled in 2010.



Then there was this 5 floor office building for Wayne State Physicians Group. It was to be located at 3750 Woodward. Foundation work began in 2014, but relations between WSU and the Detroit Medical Center soon soured and its remained a hole in the ground since.



And The Vernor, another WSU project to be built on Cass at Canfield. Proposed in 2013, it was cancelled this past summer after becoming years behind schedule.

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  #20  
Old Posted Oct 25, 2018, 1:11 AM
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Cadillac Centre was so god-awful ugly, really dodged a bullet there.
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