DETROIT | Development & Construction: Motown Lowdown

[LMich]

Don't have any photos of it, myself, but found this one from May. I'm pretty sure that since the photo was taken the fabric has been installed:


kokochanski

[hudkina]

Yeah, the fabric is installed. I haven't been up close to it in a month or two, but I just went by it on the people mover during the Fireworks.

[PistonsFan]

"Detroit -- The Detroit Department of Transportation will open the Rosa Parks Transit Center in downtown Detroit on Monday.

The $22.5 million center -- located at Michigan and Cass -- will serve passengers riding DDOT, SMART, Transit Windsor and Detroit People Mover.

From the new transit center, patrons can connect to 20 DDOT routes from a single location, with routes including: Cadillac-Harper, Chene, Dexter, Fort, Hamilton, Hayes, Grand River, Jefferson, Joy, Linwood, Michigan and Mack.

..."

Article Here:
http://www.detnews.com/article/20090...to-open-Monday

[LMich]

She's a beaut, isn't she?

[PistonsFan]

Originally Posted by LMich

She's a beaut, isn't she?

Lights up nicely.

But, I'm still not sure what I think about these white canopies around town. It's looks kind of... "temporary".

[LMich]

I've actually liked all of the tent architecture around Detroit. Instead of "temporary", I think of it simply as "organic".

[PistonsFan]

from:
DetNews
A sneak peek into Detroit's Rosa Parks Transit Center
http://www.detnews.com/article/20090...Transit-Center

[LMich]

No new stand-alone, downtown FBI building, but they'll expand the current space within the McNamara and building a garage on the surface lot across the street:


diondium

New building for FBI in Detroit nixed

Paul Egan / The Detroit News

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Detroit -- The federal government has scrapped plans to build an FBI headquarters in downtown Detroit, a spokesman for the General Services Administration said Friday.

Instead, the government plans to find more space for the FBI at its present home inside the McNamara Building on Michigan Avenue, David Wilkinson said in a telephone interview from Chicago.

"That will be the long-term answer," Wilkinson said.

It's bad news for agents and support staff who were pleased in May 2007 when the GSA announced it had awarded a $100 million contract to build the FBI an eight-story office building, a four-story parking garage and a single-story automotive facility on a 10.9-acre site across from the Greyhound bus station.

In January 2008 the government announced it had canceled the contract, citing the collapse of the credit market and unforeseen site development problems. But the GSA said it was continuing to plan for a new building and look for alternative sites.

Now, Wilkinson said, the FBI will stay in the building it has occupied since the 1970s.

"It's frustrating," said Andrew Arena, special agent in charge of the FBI in Detroit. However, major renovations and expansion at the McNamara Building "may be the most viable option," he said Friday.

"I think this is going to work out for us."

In addition to occupying more floors in the building, the FBI will get its own lobby and dedicated elevator bank, among other interior renovations, Arena said. There are also plans to build a parking structure and automotive facility on a parking lot across the street from the building, he said.

Arena said he felt it was important the FBI remain downtown, and large street setbacks required for security reasons severely limited the potential sites for a new building. The poor economy also made a retrofit, which will be much less costly than building new, more attractive, he said.

About 400 FBI employees work in the building, a number that is up sharply since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The Detroit FBI has added about 50 agents and 30 translators, among other employees, since then, Arena said.

pegan@detnews.com (313) 222-2069

[jodelli]

Originally Posted by LMich

No new stand-alone, downtown FBI building, but they'll expand the current space within the McNamara and building a garage on the surface lot across the street:

The setback from the street requirement is already being partially met since 1st Street has been blocked for vehicle traffic by concrete 'planters'. There's plenty of room across 1st Street as well.





View from 1st near Michigan:



The Rosa Parks terminal turned out nice. Maybe I should bother to get a passport and take a bus over.

[hudkina]

The Terminal looks a lot nicer in person, especially when it's lit up at night. I went to the Tigers game on Saturday and walked by after the game was over. I think the lighting was a purple hue.

[LMich]

I think it's beautiful. What's bothering me is he horrible-looking DPM maintenance building and Times Square station. I'd really wish they'd have had the money to totally reconstruct it to at least complement of match the new bus terminal.

[joshls]

Quicken loans announced they are not building a new headquarters downtown and will instead lease space in the Compuware building moving aprox 1,500 people downtown. Bummer..

[Michi]

re: Quicken

To me, it's all about standards...which IMO are very low in Detroit. We don't expect greatness or mediocrity there anymore. Those who are investing are putting all of their sweat and guts into their initiatives just to barely make a hiccup on the radar. I think one of these incidents is D Gilbert's commitment to the city even after all of the recent turmoil of the American economy.

I'll take whatever is given. I mean, look no further than just down the street where you have many Detroiters barking as loud as they can to destroy the Cobo deal. There's a vicious funk in Detroit right now and when we talk about having nowhere else to go but up (because we hit rock bottom), I think there are people out there who are molded into the theory there is no bottom and that it's just always going to be bad here.

I look at those photos of the Book Tower just sitting there in all its glory and filth and I think, even if D Gilbert can't bring 4,000 paid employees, at least he's commiting to bring who he can at this time. How is this going to impact the downtown neighborhood? I don't know, but it can only make things better. Will the Book get some attention? Probably not, but at least we're not losing those 1,500 new employees and their presence is one little step closer to the day when the Book Tower will be saved and reglorified.

Never underestimate the importants of keeping our standards high for ourselves. Commend the people who are fighting for jobs for Detroiters but also strong-arm them into understanding all consequences of sensitive issues in this city. We have to understand that we CAN make it work and that we're faced with consciencious deliberate decisions that will reveal that or destroy that. D Gilbert, I believe is making the decision to be a part of a long-term solution which someday will rid us of the Monica Conyers and K Kilpatricks of Detroit...the very people who have such low standards that they think they can use Detroit as a dumping ground for the worst in human behavior. Detroit is more than that. It's OUR city which we put too much effort into to just have somone(s) come in on the short-term and ruin it for all of us. Uphold Detroit with high standards for all and we will begin to see the change that we envision our home to be. Enough of the nonsense...I could have said that 30 years ago with the same intention. It's been long enough, so what makes us think we're different?

[LMich]

Update on Quicken: They are still planning to build, downtown, except instead of being given development rights for the Statler Block and Hudson/Woodward Block, they are now looking at the Monroe Block and Hudson/Woodward Block:

Quicken looks at 2 spots for eventual new downtown building

Louis Aguilar / The Detroit News

Monday, July 20, 2009

The sites where Quicken Loans Inc. may eventually build its downtown Detroit headquarters have been narrowed to a pair of Woodward Avenue locations: The place where the old J.L. Hudson's department store once stood or what's commonly referred to as the Monroe block, a Quicken official said Monday morning.

That's somewhat different from the sites Quicken was offered two years ago to build a new headquarters. The Hudson's site was an option, but the 1.9-acre city-owned parcel on the corner of Woodward and Monroe is new. Gone is the option of building on the former Statler Hotel site on Washington Boulevard across from Grand Circus Park, said Quicken spokeswoman Jennifer Kulczycki.

Details of the city and state tax incentives are still being finalized for the online mortgage company's initial move to the Compuware Corp. headquarters in Campus Martius downtown. That deal will likely be a five-year lease for four floors in Compuware that will bring about 1,700 workers from Livonia to downtown. Tuesday, the board of the Michigan Economic Growth Authority is expected to approve a package of incentives for the Quicken move.

Quicken still intends to build a new building, though no timeline has been given. Based on the two potential sites, the new Quicken building would be located within a block of the Compuware building.

The Monroe Block was last proposed as potential site for a $150 million project called the Cadillac Centre, an office, retail and upscale condo project. That project, which was unveiled last year, died quickly.

laguilar@detnews.com (313) 222-2760

[joshls]

http://www.freep.com/article/2009072...t-headquarters

[alphawolf]

Does anyone have a good picture of what these 2 blocks look like in comparison. Never mind, found them.

[jodelli]

Originally Posted by alphawolf

Does anyone have a good picture of what these 2 blocks look like in comparison. Never mind, found them.

Here's a couple of looks anyway.

Monroe Block:
Area to the right across from Compuware Center. (thanks LMich)



Left foreground in this picture.


Old Hudson site:

Open area on the right.




Just across the people mover track:

[LMich]

Compuware.

Some pics better showing the sites, just for reference:

Woodward-Hudson


gab482


gab482

Monroe


gab482

(where the rendering is)

john in the d

[alphawolf]

Yeah, definitely a better perspective than google.

[PistonsFan]

Detroit's Vacant Buildings


from DetNews

INTERACTIVE MAP (w/ photos and description on-click):
http://www.detnews.com/article/20090...wntown-Detroit

Empty monuments
1. Ford Auditorium
2. 501 Woodward
3. 600 Woodward
4. Kresge Building
5, 6. 1200 block Woodward
7. Elliott Building
8. 1413-1415 Woodward
9. 1412 Woodward
10. 1420 Woodward
11. 1459 Woodward
12. 1500 Woodward
13. 1505 Woodward
14. 1515 Woodward
15. Former Lane Bryant
16. 1525-1529 Woodward
17. Former Arts League of Michigan
18. David Whitney Building
19. 124 Grand River
20. Farwell Building
21. 1120 Griswold 22. 1133 Griswold 23. 751 Griswold
24. Detroit Public School's Jamie C. Kennedy Downtown Adult Education Center
25. Charlevoix Hotel
26. 2001 Park
27. Women's City Club of Detroit
28. Detroit Life Building
29. Blenheim Building
30. 30 Clifford
31. 1301 Broadway
32. 1509 Broadway
33. Metropolitan Building
34. United Artists
35. Former AAA Building
36. 1214 Randolph
37. Dell Pryor Galleries
38. Former National Theater 39. 139 Cadillac Square
40. Former Federal Court Building
41. Lafayette Building
42. Former Detroit Free Press Building
43. Former MGM Grand Casino
44. Book Tower
45. 62 State Street
46. Former Salvation Army
47. GAR Building 48. Loyal Order of Moose Lodge