DETROIT | Development & Construction: Motown Lowdown

[dc_denizen]

Dan Gilbert is god. Imagine if all billionaires were as civic minded.

[DetroitSky]

I'm glad you all enjoy my updates. There will be more to come!

Residents celebrate grand opening of Ella Fitzgerald Park

Neighborhood families cut the ribbon Saturday at a new park on the city's northwest side named for "the First Lady of Song."

More than 100 people gathered at Ella Fitzgerald park, located at 16625 Prairie Street in Detroit's Fitzgerald neighborhood, at what used to be a collection of abandoned houses and vacant overgrown lots. It is now a 2.5 acre community space that includes a sports field, basketball court, playground set, picnic area and murals.

Bird electric scooters alight in Detroit

Bird Rides Inc., an electric-scooter sharing service, began testing a pilot fleet Friday in Detroit's downtown, Corktown, Eastern Market and Midtown. The Bird scooters, which can travel up to 15 miles per hour, are meant for distances too long to walk, but too short to drive.

[deja vu]

Originally Posted by DetroitSky

Bird electric scooters alight in Detroit

^ This is how you know that Detroit has really made it!

[mhays]

Those things going 15 mph on sidewalks? The liability alone (after a few accidents) will be seriously problematic.

[Tiorted9]

Originally Posted by mhays

Those things going 15 mph on sidewalks? The liability alone (after a few accidents) will be seriously problematic.

Bird Scooters are based here in Santa Monica and have been around for about a year now. Yes there are issues, mostly because they're new and some riders aren't wearing helmets. Santa Monica also has a ton of foot traffic, probably much more than other cities in the US (especially during the summer), which makes navigating sidewalks on scooters almost impossible. Basically they are very good for getting from one neighborhood to another on side streets, but on sidewalks in densely populated areas or busier main streets presents some issues, and so you see them in our bike lanes here.

[DetroitSky]

Originally Posted by mhays

Those things going 15 mph on sidewalks? The liability alone (after a few accidents) will be seriously problematic.

In the article it says:

Riders can then travel in bike lanes, in the rightmost lane in streets or on sidewalks when doing so will not disturb pedestrians, according to the city's rules.

Hopefully users have enough common sense to follow that.

[LMich]

Originally Posted by DetroitSky

Updates from the past three weeks or so:

Sweet baby Jesus, keep this coming. lol Like I've told you before, I enjoy the small projects just as much - if not even more so - than the stuff that makes the media.

A few observations...



- Those windows, tho.

- I think I read somewhere that Brush Park has 2,000 units or so either under construction or formally proposed/planned.

- Love seeing the little building development in Highland Park.

- I've been so concentrated on the North End, that I forgot about all of the stuff happening on Virginia Park.

- Bird scooters? Meh; I don't care one way or the other. Another option to get around downtown; whatever.

[bobjgumby]

Originally Posted by LMich

Sweet baby Jesus, keep this coming. lol Like I've told you before, I enjoy the small projects just as much - if not even more so - than the stuff that makes the media.

A few observations...



- Those windows, tho.

- I think I read somewhere that Brush Park has 2,000 units or so either under construction or formally proposed/planned.

- Love seeing the little building development in Highland Park.

- I've been so concentrated on the North End, that I forgot about all of the stuff happening on Virginia Park.

- Bird scooters? Meh; I don't care one way or the other. Another option to get around downtown; whatever.

Much better now.
Before

[DetroitSky]

Here's a list of Brush Park developments. I based it off of the area bounded by Woodward to the west, Mack to the North and I-75 to the east and south

Under construction/renovation
1. The Kelemen: 4 units - new construction
2. James Place Lofts: 11 units - new construction
3. Henry Glover House: 5 units - renovation
4. City Modern: ~400 units - new construction/3 renovations
5. 64 Watson Street: 5 units - new construction
6. Patterson Terrace: 8 units - renovation
7. The Regina: ? units - renovation
8. Aurora Apartments: ? units - renovation
Total=~433 units

Proposed/approved
1. Brush House: 178 units
2. Brush 8: 8 units
3. Brush + Watson: 180 units
4. Brewster-Douglass site: 913 units
5. 112 Edmund, 2827 John R & 105 Alfred: 39 units
Total=1,318

Grand total=~1,751 units

Other developments under construction/proposed
1. Chili Mustard Onions vegan coney - 3411 Brush - opening August 1
3. Second Best Bar: 42 Watson
4. Rainbow Childcare Center: 320 Mack
4. SoMA: proposed office, retail and parking garage project
5. West Elm Hotel
6. U of M Credit Union on Ecumenical Theological Seminary parking lot on Woodward - proposed

[DetroitSky]

Solanus Casey Center expansion underway

Just over six months after the late Art Van Elslander made a $20 million gift to fund the project, the Solanus Casey Center and its parent organization, the Capuchin Franciscan Province of St. Joseph, have acquired or leased 26 parcels of land and are preparing to close on another 17 from the city of Detroit.

With those city-owned properties — the last the project is targeting for now — the province will have rights to just over half of the land it originally sought to develop new parking, a large outdoor gathering space, adjacent green space and a roughly 10,000-square-foot expansion to the center to house a new café and larger gift shop.

This story has a few interesting pieces of development news besides just the Solanus Casey Center expansion:

1. The Solanus Casey Center purchased 2 lots on Meldrum and Kercheval from Gleaners Food Bank for $1 each and plans to sell them 2 different lots on Meldrum for the same price. Potential development?
2. They bought the former home of Delta Iron Works, and Delta plans to build a newer, more efficient and larger facility with the funds. The new facility will be 22,000 square feet and will be located within 3-4 blocks of the original. They plan for the new facility to be open within a year and a half of purchasing the property
3. St. Bonaventure Monastery, part of the Center, is currently under renovation
4. The currently unused Sibley Lumber Co. building will be turned into a museum, according to the plan

[LMich]

Originally Posted by DetroitSky

Here's a list of Brush Park developments. I based it off of the area bounded by Woodward to the west, Mack to the North and I-75 to the east and south

Under construction/renovation
1. The Kelemen: 4 units - new construction
2. James Place Lofts: 11 units - new construction
3. Henry Glover House: 5 units - renovation
4. City Modern: ~400 units - new construction/3 renovations
5. 64 Watson Street: 5 units - new construction
6. Patterson Terrace: 8 units - renovation
7. The Regina: ? units - renovation
8. Aurora Apartments: ? units - renovation
Total=~433 units

Proposed/approved
1. Brush House: 178 units
2. Brush 8: 8 units
3. Brush + Watson: 180 units
4. Brewster-Douglass site: 913 units
5. 112 Edmund, 2827 John R & 105 Alfred: 39 units
Total=1,318

Grand total=~1,751 units

Other developments under construction/proposed
1. Chili Mustard Onions vegan coney - 3411 Brush - opening August 1
3. Second Best Bar: 42 Watson
4. Rainbow Childcare Center: 320 Mack
4. SoMA: proposed office, retail and parking garage project
5. West Elm Hotel
6. U of M Credit Union on Ecumenical Theological Seminary parking lot on Woodward - proposed

Crain's has an article saying by their own analysis they count at least 2,000 units planned or under construction.

[seabee1526]

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/

Detroit City Council holding up Crowne Plaza hotel.

[DetroitSky]

Originally Posted by LMich

Crain's has an article saying by their own analysis they count at least 2,000 units planned or under construction.

I suppose they might know something we don’t yet, or I may have forgotten something.

[animatedmartian]

Originally Posted by DetroitSky

I suppose they might know something we don’t yet, or I may have forgotten something.

There is a project known as Brush Park South that is expected to have at least 200 to 300 units though so far it's been heavily delayed because the developer was tied up with the Brewster Wheeler Rec Center.

Most recent news I could find is that July of last year, the Brush Park South project was able to secure a low-income housing credit from Michigan for about 70 units.

Hamilton Associates is the architect of Brush Park South and so the designs are pretty similar to City Modern.

https://static1.squarespace.com/stat...uth_lowres.pdf

Otherwise, there's yet to be a re-announced timeline for this project though it seems like it ought to be pretty soon.

[The North One]

I was going to mention Brush Park South, but it seems it's still in the conceptual stage.

I'm also glad they put up the copper gutters on the Scott mansion, looks a thousand times better.

[DetroitSky]

I left out Brush Park South because there has been no updates in over a year. If that project is still planned, that’s probably the 300 or so units I’m missing.

[Busy Bee]

Originally Posted by deja vu

^ This is how you know that Detroit has really made it!

I agree, the untucked bottom-up is a really an idea who's time has come...

[DetroitSky]

Dan Gilbert’s Brewster-Douglass redevelopment approved by city

According to Crain’s, a ground breaking could be held next summer and the development would be built in phases.

City Council approves Detroit's state fairgrounds purchase

With the council's 8-0 vote in favor, Detroit will buy 142 acres of the land at Eight Mile Road and Woodward Avenue for $7 million. City Councilman Scott Benson was absent, Detroit spokesman Tim Carroll said in an email.

The Michigan Land Bank Fast Track Authority board had agreed earlier this year to sell the northern Detroit site.

City of Detroit
With City Council approval, Detroit officials expect to issue an RFP for the Michigan state fairgrounds site by the fall.
Development group Magic Plus LLC is on track to purchase 16 acres of the site along Woodward Avenue in two noncontiguous parcels for $472,000 from the land bank, Joel Ferguson, a principal of the company, told Crain's Tuesday. Ferguson is a Lansing developer and member of the Michigan State University board of trustees.

Belle Isle water slide demolished, to be replaced with splash park

Monday's slide demolition cost is estimated to be around $50,000, but Farrow Group, Inc., a Detroit demolition company owned by Michael Farrow, did the work for free.

[LMich]

From yesterday:

The Boulevard (Third & Grand), New Center


SpartanDawg

City Club CBD, Downtown


Van Dyke Brown

[animatedmartian]

The renders for Third and Grand never really conveyed just how many units there are like that view from above does. I just now realized how hefty of a project it is.