The Redevelopment of Detroit

[Jasoncw]

wow I was just expecting a bunch of brick in the back or the courtyard to fall off, that's some serious damage. It's a good thing no one got hurt. The brick could have hurt someone but those metal sheets could too and could have blown all over the place.

[fishrose]

I have heard from a good source that Whole Foods to Detroit is a done deal and the announcement should be soon.

[subterranean]

I've heard Mack and Woodward.

[subterranean]

Behind the Ellington:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pi...&id=6228103385

[fishrose]

Originally Posted by subterranean

Behind the Ellington:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pi...&id=6228103385

Yep. My source works for Inside Detroit

[hudkina]

I'm surprised they would put it so far away from the Wayne State area.

[fishrose]

Originally Posted by hudkina

I'm surprised they would put it so far away from the Wayne State area.

It's right next to the DMC and really not that far from Wayne State. When the light rail is finished it will be a quick ride.

[hudkina]

I guess, but I figured they would want to be right on top of Wayne State.

[fishrose]

Originally Posted by hudkina

I guess, but I figured they would want to be right on top of Wayne State.

Think about it this way: a store right on top of Wayne State would be walkable for Midtown and New Center. Mack and Woodward is walkable for Midtown and Downtown. There are many more people who fit the Whole Foods target demographic Downtown than there are in New Center.

Additionally, many of the workers at the DMC commute from the suburbs. It will be much more convenient for those workers to shop at the immediately-adjacent location rather than driving to Troy or Bloomfield Hills.

[hudkina]

Regardless, if they do build there, it would probably help bridge the "gap" between the university and downtown. The lower 1/3 of Midtown is the least "gentrified" section of the neighborhood. Maybe this location will make the Brush Park area more attractive to developers. (particularly since the city spent a ton of money reconstructing the neighborhood infrastructure.

[DetroitMan]

More rent subsidies coming to entice young leaders to move into Detroit:

CommunityNext, the young talent retention arm of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, is pulling together Detroiters and ex-pats across the country to organize a month-long series of charity events to help fund subsidies for young people moving into Detroit.

CommunityNext plans to kick off its “Do It For Detroit,” in August, with events already organized locally and in other cities across the country including Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.

The group has set an initial goal to raise $100,000 for the “Live Detroit Fund” through fundraising events, donations and corporate and foundations grants.

That money will fund subsidies of $250 a month per person for up to one year for, totaling $3,000 annually.

CommunityNext hopes to provide subsidies for up to 25 young leaders, just the thing needed to create excitement about the city and prevent further brain drain, the group believes.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...s-to-move-into

[DetroitMan]

Is Federal Reserve building another Gilbert deal?

It appears that Quicken Loans founder and Chairman Dan Gilbert may not be done buying downtown buildings.

Quicken's representatives were inspecting the former Federal Reserve Bank building at 160 W. Fort St. this week with an eye to buying it, according to a business source familiar with the building.

If Quicken moves ahead, this would mark the fifth downtown building that Gilbert has bought or placed under contract in addition to the space he leases in Compuware's building.

http://www.freep.com/article/2011071...text|FRONTPAGE

[LMich]

Originally Posted by hudkina

Regardless, if they do build there, it would probably help bridge the "gap" between the university and downtown. The lower 1/3 of Midtown is the least "gentrified" section of the neighborhood. Maybe this location will make the Brush Park area more attractive to developers. (particularly since the city spent a ton of money reconstructing the neighborhood infrastructure.

My initial reaction was the same as yours, but the more I thought about it, the more I also came to conclusion that any further north and they risked losing downtown pedestrians, who have way more disposable income than even a lot of Midtown.

As you said, it's kind of in/near an "in-between" place, at the moment. Lower Midtown needs some redevelopment to start back up, and it needs it bad, and maybe this can be a piece of the puzzle. I still don't know why developers are waiting to pull the trigger in Cass and Brush parks as far as large-scale redevelopment is concerned, especially given the demand for new construction housing in Midtown. The areas have become so emptied out that even a few medium-sized residential projects could completely turn the area around.

[Jasoncw]

I don't think anyone will walk over a mile from their office to the grocery store, and then walk back to their office carrying all of their grocerys, and then go home from there. I think they'd just drive the distance. Or if they were going in that direction they'd take the bus/light rail and stop on their way.

I think they picked that location because it's on the corner of two major roads, has good highway access, potentially good light rail access (I don't think bus riders are their target demographic), it's in a very well built up area (not surrounded by empty lots and empty buildings), and it's a large enough piece of land for their store.

I think some people will come from WSU, but even though some of the students might like to shop there most students and especially WSU students don't have a ton of money for expensive groceries. But the DMC employs a ton of workers and a lot of them are well paid enough that they could shop there. Downtown has a ton of workers too.


The Federal Reserve building is one of my favorites downtown, I'm glad to hear that it's in good hands.

[LMich]

More workers coming downtown...

DTE is latest to relocate downtown

By John Gallagher | Detroit Free Press

July 16, 2011

DTE Energy is becoming the latest company to move suburban-based workers to downtown Detroit.

Joyce Hayes Giles, DTE Energy senior vice president for customer service, said Friday that DTE will transfer its Southfield-based customer service call center downtown in September. About 300 workers will make the move.

The move follows DTE's analysis that it could save money by selling its Southfield building near Lahser and Northwestern Highway and moving the call center to two floors in DTE's headquarters tower near Bagley and Third downtown.

"There are a lot of opportunities for them to be here and engage with other employees who support the call center operations. There were a lot of pluses to bringing them downtown," Giles said.

Once the move is complete, DTE will have about 3,000 workers downtown.

DTE's move is the latest in a series of corporate relocations swelling the ranks of downtown workers.

Quicken Loans moved its headquarters and 1,700 employees downtown last year from the suburbs.

Quicken intends to transfer another 2,000 suburban-based workers downtown as soon as the company can line up appropriate space for them.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is about halfway through its announced plan to transfer 3,000 workers from Southfield to downtown.

The Blue Cross workers are moving into Towers 500 and 600 of the General Motors-owned Renaissance Center, not far from BCBSM's main downtown campus.

...

This is really starting to add up.

[fishrose]

Originally Posted by Jasoncw

I don't think anyone will walk over a mile from their office to the grocery store, and then walk back to their office carrying all of their grocerys, and then go home from there. I think they'd just drive the distance. Or if they were going in that direction they'd take the bus/light rail and stop on their way.

I was talking about the DMC workers walking the one block from work to Whole Foods and then walking a block to their car and driving home. Suburban commuters aren't going to walk from downtown, people who live downtown are.

[hudkina]

But that's the whole point of the LRT. Someone living in the condos atop the Book-Cadillac will be able to walk a few blocks to the LRT station take it up to the Mack/Woodward station go shopping at the Whole Foods and then go back home the same way. That's why LRT is so important to the viability of the Greater Downtown area. That's why even having it run only from Downtown to New Center is vital.

[mind field]

Originally Posted by LMich

More workers coming downtown...



This is really starting to add up.

I wonder how many people work downtown, not including midtown. Off the top of my head:

DTE-3,000
Compuware-1,800
Quicken-3,700
BCBS-6,000
GM-4,250
Olympia Entertainment/Little Ceasars-??

I think i have all the major(1,000+) private sector downtown employers. Would be interesting to see the current occupancy rates of all the office towers downtown. It's a shame to see Compuware, which a few years back employed close to 4,000 downtown, at such low employment levels.

[Rizzo]

Originally Posted by Jasoncw

I don't think anyone will walk over a mile from their office to the grocery store, and then walk back to their office carrying all of their grocerys, and then go home from there. I think they'd just drive the distance. Or if they were going in that direction they'd take the bus/light rail and stop on their way.

I think they picked that location because it's on the corner of two major roads, has good highway access, potentially good light rail access (I don't think bus riders are their target demographic), it's in a very well built up area (not surrounded by empty lots and empty buildings), and it's a large enough piece of land for their store.

I think some people will come from WSU, but even though some of the students might like to shop there most students and especially WSU students don't have a ton of money for expensive groceries. But the DMC employs a ton of workers and a lot of them are well paid enough that they could shop there. Downtown has a ton of workers too.


The Federal Reserve building is one of my favorites downtown, I'm glad to hear that it's in good hands.

You are absolutely correct Jason. I know there's been some study on this. My general rule of thumb is people are comfortable walking NO MORE than 10 minutes to the grocery store. Other people at my office and apartment building seem to agree.

FYI the store would likely have a large (possibly shared) parking component. It should be anticipated that nearly everyone will drive to this store

It will probably look like the two examples below, because that's the way they build their new urban stores where traffic is plenty and freeways are nearby. While the first link is not that attractive and looks suburban, it at least does the job and offers a variety of retail. The vertical mini mall is a possibility

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=1200+C...44.33,,0,-1.64


And then there's the standalone store, which is a nice design. Google images are 2 years out of date. Detroit would most likely see something like the Kingsbury development
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=1200+C...96.52,,0,-4.31

[subterranean]

Wow, is Southfield shaking in its boots right about now? Or is the migration barely affecting them?