DETROIT | Development & Construction: Motown Lowdown - Page 72

the pope · #**1421** Posted **Aug 9, 2012, 1:03 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

Something interesting...

http://detroit.curbed.com/archives/2...ompetition.php

Maybe some cool ideas can come out of this and maybe other parts of Detroit can get similar competitions as well.

Maybe I don't pay as much attention to my hometown as I used to, but has Detroit always had a Curbed?

Rizzo · #**1422** Posted **Aug 9, 2012, 1:13 AM**

Yeah I think since winter. I remember when it just started and general confusion from the DetroitYes crowd lol

Onn · #**1423** Posted **Aug 12, 2012, 3:09 PM**

Quote:

Maid cafe Chou Anime brings Japanese pop culture to Midtown

Donna Terek
The Detroit News
12 August 2012

Detroit has seen many "firsts" over the years: first mile of paved road, first techno artists. And now it has its first maid cafe — or "meido kafue," as these novelty coffee houses and restaurants are called in Japan.

Chou Anime (cho an-i-may) Cafe opened on Woodward at Willis in Midtown in mid-June. Its owners, Oneka and Joe Samet of Birmingham, say it's the only brick and mortar maid cafe now operating in the United States. The first one closed after a three-year run in Culver City, Calif.

It serves tea and Great Lakes coffees, salads, sandwiches, wraps and sushi plus many sweets imported from Japan. But the standout features are the chirpy young women dressed in maid costumes who greet you, seat you, serve you and invite you to play board, card or video games at your table for a small (no more than $2) fee.

A maid cafe is a little like a Japanese tea house run by a modern twist on geisha, those elegant Japanese entertainers dressed in elaborate kimono. Maids, on the other hand, dress like — well — maids, in doll-like outfits with ruffles, bows and optional clip-on cat ears. Maid cafes originated in Tokyo in the early 2000s and quickly spread all over Japan, spawning spin-offs like maid hair salons and car detailing shops. They originally were a subset of cosplay restaurants, where servers and patrons dress as their favorite fictional characters. The maid character is a popular archetype in Japan, appearing in more than 200 manga (Japanese graphic novel or comic books) and anime (animated cartoons/films).

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...#ixzz23LQlbx3p

Rizzo · #**1424** Posted **Aug 24, 2012, 12:41 AM**

Oh no, this is not good news

Detroit State Savings Bank Owner Wants to Demolish Historic Structure to Building a Parking Garage.

http://www.freep.com/article/2012082...text|FRONTPAGE

Onn · #**1425** Posted **Aug 24, 2012, 12:46 AM**

What a stupid move! If that goes through its going to start a trend for the city.

Rizzo · #**1426** Posted **Aug 24, 2012, 1:31 AM**

^ It already did. 1001 Woodward leveled a whole row of beautiful midrise vintage structures for parking. The Dime Building took out the gorgeous terra cotta Olde Building for parking. The Book Cadillac wiped out the Detroit Commerce Building for parking.

This doesn't include other downtown buildings that have in the past capitalized on nearby vacant or underutilized land to build accessory garages. Basically, for every block you build on in Detroit, you dedicate another whole block to parking.

They have an ordinance that requires ground floor retail, but it's had mixed success. It took years to fill spaces in even the most desirable areas. I see it as a problem because the garages aren't interesting enough architectural stock and drive down neighborhood desirability more than they contribute. If parking was really that important then there would be lines of prospective tenants fighting for space.

animatedmartian · #**1427** Posted **Aug 24, 2012, 1:51 AM**

Maybe this is a sign that mass transit ought to be taken seriously in Detroit. Does any other urban core have this problem of not enough parking but loads of vacant space? Or is it more about generating revenue from every building having it's own parking block?

goat314 · #**1428** Posted **Aug 24, 2012, 3:44 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

Maybe this is a sign that mass transit ought to be taken seriously in Detroit. Does any other urban core have this problem of not enough parking but loads of vacant space? Or is it more about generating revenue from every building having it's own parking block?

Yes, St. Louis has done this a bunch of times with very similar buildings. We've had light rail with subway styled downtown stations for nearly 20 years and we are just starting to plan for TOD. Fortunately, in the last 10 years there has been a boom in loft apartments in our older historic buildings, but many still do fall prey to parking garages or even worst.....LOTS! So to answer your question. Detroit is not the only city in the country to demolish perfectly good historic buildings when there is little demand for new parking in the downtown area.

Rizzo · #**1429** Posted **Aug 24, 2012, 4:22 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

Maybe this is a sign that mass transit ought to be taken seriously in Detroit. Does any other urban core have this problem of not enough parking but loads of vacant space? Or is it more about generating revenue from every building having it's own parking block?

Here in downtown Chicago there is absurd amounts of parking, but its mostly hidden. Obviously Chicago has loads of rail transit to assist people getting to work, but the difference here is parking garages are shared. Workers look for the best deal and often walk 4 blocks to their office. The cost to park your vehicle downtown in the Loop on the workday is just a couple more dollars than a downtown Detroit office worker would pay.

That said, it's something psychological about being very close to your vehicle that sets Detroit apart from other large cities. Technically Detroit's parking is well supplied and centralized enough that transit isn't necessary at this moment, but will absolutely be necessary for future economic growth. For every spot you build a deck, you could have built hundreds of thousands of square feet of office space.

Guiltyspark · #**1430** Posted **Aug 24, 2012, 4:53 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

Maybe this is a sign that mass transit ought to be taken seriously in Detroit. Does any other urban core have this problem of not enough parking but loads of vacant space? Or is it more about generating revenue from every building having it's own parking block?

Workable mass transit in Detroit will never happen. Unlike a lot of other American Urban Centers, most people don't just head downtown to work and head home to the suburbs. It is much more complex than that. The population is spread through the suburbs along with most of the office, retail and even industrial jobs. The average commuter may live in Rochester Hills and work in Southfield, while his next door neighbor works in Troy and the guy next to him manages a factory down river. I have lived here my entire life and traveled all over the world, and I have not seen an example of mass transit that would work for my life in this particular suburban fabric. Most of my friends feel the same. The population is just to spread out with a thousand scattered places we all need to be instead of a few central cores that mass transit could be built around. I know this site is sometimes down on the automobile, but it has always worked well for me. It is great to have the freedom to go wherever you want whenever you want.

With that being said, Downtown Detroit already has way to many above ground parking garages.

LMich · #**1431** Posted **Aug 24, 2012, 7:28 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hayward

Oh no, this is not good news

Detroit State Savings Bank Owner Wants to Demolish Historic Structure to Building a Parking Garage.

http://www.freep.com/article/2012082...text|FRONTPAGE

Did you see the guys justification? Apparently, downtown doesn't have enough parking and he's had to turn perspective tenants away. Now, excuse me while I laugh my ass off at that. This guy obviously doesn't know Detroit's preservation community, and doesn't even really know the state. I figured this out when he parachuted in from Toronto with his two-bit, low-class family business to run the Silverdome. Not even local developers use the parking excuse, anymore, at least not in a serious way, when they want to demolish their properties. They know how silly it sounds. Downtown Detroit is nothing but directly adjacent parking.

Maybe it's just wishful thinking, but I think the preservation community will win this battle simply because he was dumb enough (from his perspective) to leave open the door that he might try to find a parking option elsewhere near the Penobscot.

animatedmartian · #**1432** Posted **Aug 27, 2012, 12:58 AM**

Aww yea guys. Never been more excited to see a fresh parking lot in Detroit!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...0998745&type=3

Rizzo · #**1433** Posted **Aug 27, 2012, 4:18 AM**

Disgusting. Of all the Whole Foods prototypes, Detroit got handed the worst. It deserved better for an area that has made such great transitions.

jodelli · #**1434** Posted **Aug 27, 2012, 4:44 AM**

Some remedial shoreline work at the old Uniroyal site.

Taken from the water Saturday:

Sounds like a new breakwall going in. The pile driving starts up around 8am on weekdays.
No NIMBYs.

animatedmartian · #**1435** Posted **Aug 30, 2012, 7:55 PM**

After the demolition of the American Building, this is what will be going up next door. Good trade off?

Via Curbed.

LMich · #**1436** Posted **Aug 31, 2012, 7:07 AM**

I mean, certainly as good a trade off as is possible in the tear-down of a historic structure. It's actually very nice, it's just that Detroit has so much land that these aren't choices we should have to make. It's not an either/or proposition, but that's how development seems to be presented in most of Detroit.

Onn · #**1437** Posted **Aug 31, 2012, 4:37 PM**

Quote:

Detroit Fire Department's headquarters up for sale

George Hunter
The Detroit News
31 August 2012

Detroit — For sale: A 62,000 square-foot facility built in 1929. Downtown location. Axes, hoses and ladders not included.

The Detroit Fire Department's five-floor downtown headquarters on Washington Boulevard and Larned is up for sale. The department next year is scheduled to move into a new public safety headquarters, the former MGM Grand temporary casino building, which it will share with Detroit police.

Although city officials said the transaction is in its early stages and no price has been set, estimates say the building could sell for more than $1 million.

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...text|FRONTPAGE

LMich · #**1438** Posted **Sep 3, 2012, 7:16 AM**

Quote:

Magic Johnson-backed proposal seeks to redevelop Michigan State Fairgrounds

By Darren A. Nichols | The Detroit News

August 31, 2012

Detroit — Star athlete turned entrepreneur Earvin "Magic" Johnson is a part of a group that submitted a proposal to redevelop the Michigan State Fairgrounds site in Detroit to revitalize a city in need of retail shopping.

Johnson, the Lansing native and Michigan State great who now is a part owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, is working with Lansing businessman Joel Ferguson and Detroit entrepreneur Marvin Beatty in putting a mixed use project together.

The 500,000 square foot development is expected to include a movie theater, pocket park, restaurants, townhouses and senior living complex, as well as a grocery store. The project, which could bring 1,300 jobs to the Detroit area, would also include an Amtrak station.

...

The project is expected to be adjacent to the Gateway Marketplace project that is under construction. The 350,000 square foot project along Eight Mile and Woodward is expected to include a Meijer, McDonald's, and Marshall's discount and K & G fashions stores. The $72 million project is set to open next year.

...http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...xt|FRONTPAGE|s

I'd actually seen a plan of this proposal a few years back from someone tangentially related to the project who'd been shopping it around. Apparently, someone (Magic) finally bit.

I'm really liking the idea of another Amtrak station and making this a sort of northern hub, as it's already a pretty major bus crossing. I think whenever the region gets its regional transit authority up and running, this station or station area coould also serve the duel purpose of a major commuter station as I do imagine we'll see some kind of commuter rail between Pontiac and downtown, again.

Rizzo · #**1439** Posted **Sep 3, 2012, 8:05 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

After the demolition of the American Building, this is what will be going up next door. Good trade off?

Via Curbed.

It's a beautiful looking building. No complaints about the architecture. Just wish it was on an empty lot

subterranean · #**1440** Posted **Sep 4, 2012, 1:52 PM**

It's my understanding that WSU has been a terrible neighbor in the past and is demo crazy. Midtown Detroit Inc. Has literally had to step in on multiple occasions and tell them 'no, you're not going to demo this building. We're going to come up with the funds and turn this into housing', etc. I still don't think they 'get it' fully, but there are some decent projects in the works that are led by Midtown Detroit Inc. Check out this page:

http://midtowndetroitinc.org/develop...pment-projects