DETROIT | Development & Construction: Motown Lowdown

[LMich]

The way I see the problem is that building owners and the preservation community in Detroit so often give these big entities ins by not showing the empty buildings the love the buildings need beforehand (i.e. sometimes, that means simply not even closing them off for preservation), and then showing up at the last minute to try and stop demolition plans in motion. I wish the presevation community and the landlords of Detroit would start being more proactive than reactive, then an institution like WSU could legitimately ask the question "well, where were you ten years ago?" Albeit, this is not always the case. Sometimes, recently vacated historic buildings get torn down in Detroit. But a lot of the times the efforts of the presevation community do seem to be a day late and a dollar short, as they say.

But, yeah, in this particular case, this is more about WSU being a bad neighbor. I think they've gotten so used to being the only game in town in their area of the city for so long that they think they can get away with anything.

[LMich]

Warren-based Lentine Group brings 200 jobs in move to Detroit near Wayne State

By John Gallagher | Detroit Free Press

September 5, 2012

Warren-based Lentine Group, a family of companies including the Golden Dental Plans and the UnionCircle.com social networking site for union members, announced its move to a Detroit headquarters today and said the move means 200 new jobs for the city.

Lentine executives will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony Sept. 14 at their new Detroit Center of Operations at 5671 Trumbull near Wayne State University. The center will house Lentine’s LeCom Communications, LeCom Utility Contractors, Golden Dental Plans Marketing and UnionCircle.com.

It will be the new home for 100 current employees as well as about 100 new hires, including software engineers and voice, video and data service technicians.

Lentine Group CEO and founder Sam Lentine commented, “This move is reinvigorating our entire company and we look forward to the prospect of further expansion in the very near future.”

Anyone know the cross street?

[Michi]

5671 Trumbull puts the location at the northwest corner of Trumbull and I-94; a great location, but Google Street View shows a poorly-designed light industrial building, which looks to be in great condition. Across the street is a low-density, suburban-style apartment complex. It also appears the facility is (or was) the Detroit Police Gang Enforcement.

[animatedmartian]

Bing shows that the small building up down the street towards the Lodge also expanded over that vacant land. Albeit, most of it with a parking lot. Also the building on Trumbull looks unused at the time the aerial photo was taken.

[subterranean]

Sounds like Gilbert might have his eyes on One Woodward (via Curbed Detroit):

Detroit's Motown Monopoly player, Dan Gilbert, might be buying an office tower from Lehman Brothers. According to Crain's, "Brokers around town are saying Gilbert's Bedrock Management has One Woodward Ave. under contract to be sold." The 28-story building was designed by Minoru Yamasaki in 1962.

[LMich]

More moves:

Sachse Construction to relocate HQ to downtown Detroit

by John Gallagher | Detroit Free Press

September 6, 2012

Sachse Construction, a firm doing contracting work for Quicken Loans, is the latest suburban-based company to announce a move to downtown Detroit.

The company will move its headquarters into the Arts League Building at 1528 Woodward in Detroit. The building is owned by Rock Ventures, the umbrella entity owned by Quicken Loans founder and chair Dan Gilbert and his partners.

Sachse’s new 5,500-square-foot office will take up the building’s top floor. About 45 employees will move there when construction is complete in December.

Sachse was the general contractor responsible for the build-out of Quicken Loans’ space in the Compuware building, the M@dison building at 1555 Broadway, the Chase Tower at 611 Woodward Avenue, and other Gilbert-related projects.

“It’s all happening in Detroit and Sachse is in the middle of it,” said Todd Sachse, president of Sachse Construction. “Our entire company is excited to move into and be part of the ‘D’.”

Sachse (the name rhymes with “taxi”) was founded in 1991 and has been based in Birmingham up to now.

The Arts League Building is a 45,146-square-foot, six-story building that was built in 1915.

[Onn]

$2.5M in commitments from donors to help revive science center in Detroit



Daniel Howes
The Detroit News
7 September 2012

The new Michigan Science Center is several steps closer to reality.

With "significantly more" than $2.5 million in funding commitments, the center's new board is set to meet Monday to consider dates for reopening a year after financial troubles forced its predecessor, the Detroit Science Center, to close its doors, oust its president and deprive as many as 150,000 students from annual visits.

The science center "has way more than enough commitments," board chairman Tom Stephens, a retired vice chairman of General Motors Co., said in an interview Thursday. "I have to turn the commitments into dollars. There's no doubt in my mind that we're going to open the science center. I want to inspire these kids, and I can't do it with the doors closed."

The GM Foundation is pledging $1 million to the cause, Stephens and GM confirmed, marking yet another move by the automaker's charitable arm to "seed the community and next generation of GM talent" by supporting educational initiatives serving the city of Detroit and much of southeastern Michigan.

"We're pledged to getting it reopened," spokesman Greg Martin said, adding that GM expects the renamed science center on John R to reopen sometime in the final quarter of this year. "They got their charitable status, which is good. We're just waiting for their updated business plan."

The Ford Motor Co. Fund, a longtime supporter of the defunct Detroit Science Center, also is poised to contribute $400,000 to the center pending review of what the fund's president, Jim Vella, called "a viable business plan."

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...#ixzz25oH8l7Ig

[animatedmartian]

• Video Link

[LMich]

Inner-city Detroit is being hit with a unique housing crisis: Supply can't keep up with demand, but the rental rates are so low that banks don't want to give out loans for new construction. Here's an article detailing the populative of the Live Downtown and Live Midtown programs.

$10 million Live Midtown and Live Downtown program gets 676th applicant, shows no sign of slowing

by David Muller | MLive.com

September 21, 2012

DETROIT, MI - The demand to live in the downtown, Central Business District and Midtown areas of Detroit cannot keep up with available housing, Susan Mosey, who heads Midtown Detroit, Inc., told a meeting of Detroit Young Professionals last night.

"We're desperately trying to bring more housing product in the neighborhood, that's the next thing we're spending a lot of time trying to do," Mosey said.

The downtown and Midtown areas are now at occupancy levels of 97 percent and 96 percent, respectively, she said.

At the same time, the Live Midtown and Live Downtown programs continue to see high interest and show no signs of waning, as they plan to spend $2 million a year on attracting young workers to post up in Detroit proper.

...

Large employers in the downtown area took note of the program, and soon Compuware, Quicken Loans, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Strategic Staffing and DTE Energy added another $5 million to the effort to draw their young workers downtown.

About $2 million has been spent so far, Mosey said, and the program plans to continue to spend $2 million each year for the next four years. It recently accepted its 676th applicant.

"We haven't seen any slowdown or interest, in this program, in downtown or Midtown," she said.

http://www.mlive.com/business/detroi..._river_default

It sounds to me that if they want the supply, it may be that the major institutions in Midtown and Downtown have to, themselves, become developers of housing if the banks are lending.

[animatedmartian]

The Auburn Shows Off Model Units: Announces Nov 1 Move-In via Curbed





Interior pictures in the link.

http://detroit.curbed.com/archives/2...v-1-movein.php

[Michi]

Very impressed with the interior of the Auburn. The exterior is not jaw dropping, but is a step in the right direction when compared with other recent projects in the area. I know the retail is fully leased, but the curb seems extremely "cold". Hopefully, there will be some improvements to the pedestrian experience, given the new uses...and for goodness sake, my sim city dream for Detroit intersections would be to be done with the traffic signals on wires!

[LMich]

Originally Posted by Michi

...and for goodness sake, my sim city dream for Detroit intersections would be to be done with the traffic signals on wires!

It's funny, everyone remarks on this, but even in my travels, I've never really noticed this, which kind of surprises me since I'm usually attentive of detail. You know, they redid the intersection at Michigan and Grand in downtown Lansing a few blocks east of the capitol with decorative poles for the traffic signals, and to this day it's not so much of a change that I notice it, much. In fact, the biggest change I always notice is that they moved a street tree.

On the Auburn, I'm really kind of disappointed with the "grills" on the windows. Either do it with quality, or just leave them blank. They just look cheap, to me. Better yet, I'd like balconies if they aren't going to put in any trees to break up the empty streetwall, but that's just me.

[animatedmartian]

Balconies definitely would have helped. Almost looks like a jail. And I think the retail floors could look pretty old school with some awnings over the windows, otherwise it looks pretty flat. Overall, definitely not the worst, but better will come, I'm sure.

And because Detroit operates on equivalent exchange, here's the old Redford High School being mercilessly destroyed for lack of a better use. Another architectural gem of Detroit's schools bites the dust (or better yet, becomes dust).

• Video Link

[LMich]

I'd been hearing about the changes in the neighborhood, but it looks like the local media has finally taken note to what's going on in and around Palmer Park:

'Astonishing change' as Palmer Park rebuilds

Laura Berman | Detroit News columnist

October 5, 2012

Life is seeping into Palmer Park and the surrounding historic apartment district, much to the surprise of even longtime residents.

The park, deeded to the city of Detroit in 1893, is being touted as a spot for families to hike, bike and run — and it's being used. Its long-abandoned 1888 log cabin, built by Sen. Thomas W. Palmer as a country retreat, has been caulked, cleaned and opened for events twice this season.

Just north of the park, off Woodward and McNichols, construction crews are busily hammering and sawing, renovating almost a dozen apartment buildings.

"It's a time of astonishing change," says Barbara Barefield, a board member of the nonprofit People for Palmer Park.

Brad Dick, the city official in charge of the park's maintenance, says: "They're an amazing group. I would like to clone them."

That might sound like public relations on both sides, until you walk through the area and witness transformation in progress: Construction crews rebuilding 80-year-old slate roofs, friendly waves between strangers in the park, flowers planted and grass cut.

...

The city announced plans to close the park in 2009, infuriating the residents. That low point ultimately proved a turning point. Residents defiantly planted 600 apple trees in a park field and protested the closing.

Seeking change that could last, "we created the nonprofit organization with a committed board of directors," says Lento.

Weekly yoga classes over the summer drew as many as 45 people to each session. A Monday night bike ride became a weekly fixture.

"I started seeing people pick up litter," Griffin says. A tent city and mound of garbage in the woods disappeared. Someone began clearing the trails. Dick, the city's director of general services, assigned two people to maintain the park full-time, and the city agreed to pay for an engineering study on Senator Palmer's log cabin.

Kathy Makino, who is now renovating seven apartment buildings, credits the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as impetus: All 41 units of the rehabbed 1929 La Vogue, with hardwood floors and granite kitchen counters, have been leased to low- and moderate-income tenants. In 1910, the park welcomed visitors with a pavilion, a two-story casino, exotic ducks and peacocks, and a gushing waterfall. A caretaker lived on the grounds.

...

[LMich]

Rock continues it migration to downtown:

John T. Greilick / The Detroit News

Rock Connections to join other Gilbert businesses downtown

By Michael Martinez | The Detroit News

October 17, 2012

Southfield-based Rock Connections LLC is the latest Dan Gilbert-owned business to move downtown.

The strategic marketing company said Wednesday it will move its headquarters and 115 employees to the 14-story Chase Tower building in downtown Detroit.

"The Woodward technology zone is the perfect location for Rock Connections to flourish because its community of companies are working hard, together, to build their businesses and Detroit 2.0," said Victor You, Rock Connections president and CEO, in a statement. "We are eager to move into the vibrant downtown Detroit environment that is teeming with energy and enthusiasm."

Rock Connections, a marketing firm, was launched in May and is an affiliated company of Rock Ventures, an umbrella entity for a portfolio of companies owned by online mortgage company Quicken Loans Inc. founder and Chairman Gilbert and his partners.

"We are pleased to add Rock Connections to the list of companies moving into downtown Detroit's technology center near Campus Martius," Gilbert said in a release. "Rock Connections brings another 115 team members excited about creating and collaborating in the city's urban core."

During the past 26 months, more than 60 companies have moved to downtown Detroit in seven Rock Venture buildings. Many of them have connections to Gilbert.

[animatedmartian]

Passed by Cobo the other day.

[LMich]

West Village:

4 retailers coming to city's West Village

By Matt Gallagher | Detroit Free Press

October 27, 2012

Officials will officially unveil today the four new retailers that will help create a walkable neighborhood shopping and dining district in the east-side Detroit district known as West Village.

The four include two restaurants, a coffee shop, and a tea room. All will be in storefront locations in the Parkstone Apartments and West Village Manor on Agnes Street between Parker and Van Dyke.

The four businesses include the Craft Work restaurant and bar, owned by businessmen Michael Geiger and Hubert Yaro.

"The West Village is a wonderful historic Detroit neighborhood with great potential for the future," Geiger said. He serves as a culinary arts instructor at the Art Institute of Michigan. Yaro is a partner at Ronin Sushi in Royal Oak and Commonwealth in Birmingham.

...

All four retailers are expected to open in spring 2013.

...

[animatedmartian]

33,000 Square Feet Retail Development Coming Downtown

November 1, 2012
by Austin Black II

DETROIT, November 1, 2012 — Rock Ventures LLC announced today it will build 33,000 square feet of ground floor retail space and a 1,300 space parking garage in downtown Detroit’s Central Business District.

Construction on the 535,000 square-foot Z-shaped retail and parking development will begin in November 2012, and is expected to be completed by December 2013. The structure will zigzag from the corner of Broadway and East Grand River to the corner of Library and Gratiot, occupying what is currently a surface parking lot. The parking/retail development will be a distinctive structure utilizing color, glass, and original artwork.

Rock Ventures is developing the property to help alleviate the area’s parking shortage in and around downtown Detroit’s Central Business District, and just as important, bring more unique retail and dining options to the area’s fast growing tech and creative corridor and employee base, said Dan Gilbert, Founder and Chairman of Rock Ventures and Quicken Loans.

“Downtown Detroit’s population is growing every day, as new start-ups launch and other companies move downtown. In two years alone, the number of people who work in the Central Business District has increased by more than 10,000 people. These folks need parking, and more places to eat and shop. Our new development will help meet some of this demand,” said Gilbert.

Rock Ventures, the umbrella entity providing operational coordination and integration of Dan Gilbert’s portfolio of companies, investments and real estate, has moved more than 6,500 team members into the Campus Martius area, many of whom will benefit from the added parking (some are currently being shuttled to their office, decreasing foot traffic vital to urban cores). Since August 2010, more than 60 companies have moved into or launched in Rock Ventures-owned buildings.

George Jackson, President, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, said this kind of development is exactly what the city needs to continue its revival.

“More parking, more retail stores and more restaurants….all of these conveniences and services are part of what is required to create a thriving urban core that people want to live in and visit,” Jackson said. “We are very excited about this new development.”

Bedrock Real Estate Services LLC, Rock Ventures’ full-service real estate firm and developer for the project, will be responsible for managing the property and leasing the retail space. Bedrock is working with Michigan-based Neumann/Smith Architecture and parking consultants Rich and Associates Inc. to design the structure. Colasanti Construction Services Inc./Sachse Construction, a joint venture, are the construction managers for the project.

[LMich]

I love how both dailies are reporting this as a retail development, first and foremost, and only secondarily with parking. No, Dan, this is your typical Detroit development with a huge-ass (1,300-space) parking garage with some generic, non-descript ground floor retail so as not to totally appear to be greedy. I think I read that 30,000 square feet of this 536,000 square foot parking garage will be retail. It'd be nice if they could at least offer some space above the garage for office or residential.

Sigh

[Michi]

Just my 2 cents:

Regarding the chicken or the egg theory, I think it's clear what is happening here (at least at this point in time). With rental occupancy rates near capacity, or at least at historically high rates, residential leasing opportunities are in high demand in the downtown area and the supply is on the low side. Where is the market response that is able to fulfill an increased demand? The Broderick Tower awaits as a prime example. The financial package that was stitched together was a long time in the making and securing loans for the construction and overall project were very hard to come by. It would seem that lending institutions would recognize the positive data and numbers evolving from downtown Detroit, despite lending being difficult all over the country. But if Detroit can prove itself in numbers, what is the risk? I'm sure there is a lot of obvious components, but how much of it is the "Detroit" image of lackluster attempts at anything?

The chickens are here and they are showing up in occupancy ratings. The eggs of retail are hatching in response, I believe. Yah, there's a lot of space that potential retail could already go, which demonstrates there isn't quite the demand yet for some of the retail that hasn't shown up. And I don't always think garages are better than surface lots, but if you're going to invest in one, thankfully it doesn't involve gutting the physical diversity of the block, and thankfully it does provide space for use along the public right-of-way.

Common sense, going back to the "chicken or the egg" would say that residential development is needed in this location/vicinity. There's no questioning what should or is coming first...the residential demand is already there and this development should provide supply for that demand, especially if it's going to provide more retail space in an area that already has abundant vacancies.

So, I think something else is going on here and that is a commitment to take risk in the financing/loan world. The shakey economy doesn't help, but Detroit has proven to overcome this type of thing in the past. Hopefully, this is a stepping stone for bigger, better and smarter things in the future. I am optimistic!