DETROIT | Development & Construction: Motown Lowdown

[DetroitSky]

Speaking of the Joe...

Additional 18 months sought for Joe Louis Arena redevelopment plan

A delay in Joe Louis Arena demolition getting underway is prompting a bankruptcy-era holdout creditor responsible for the property's redevelopment and the city to seek yet another 18 months to produce a redevelopment plan.

Gotham Motown Recovery LLC, which is a subsidiary of New York City-based Financial Guaranty Insurance Corp., and the city are asking City Council to approve giving Gotham Motown until June 15, 2021, to submit a plan for the 9-acre JLA property.

The current deadline is 5 p.m. Jan. 15, 2020, under terms of a mediated settlement reached between the two parties in July 2018 after Gotham Motown sued in federal court in February 2018 for more time. The original deadline was Nov. 21, 2017, under terms of a settlement of Detroit debts reached in federal bankruptcy court in October 2014 when the city was under emergency management.

An extension agreement to be considered by City Council says that although demolition of Joe Louis Arena is now underway, that and environmental remediation won't be complete within a required one-year time period, necessitating the need for the extension. The Planning and Economic Development committee is to consider the measure on Thursday.

Oakland University explores bringing educational programs to Marygrove campus

Oakland University is exploring the idea of bringing for-credit and non-credit programs to the campus of Marygrove College on Detroit's northwest side.

If it did so, it would be the second university to come into the P-20 or "cradle-to-career" educational model taking shape there. The University of Michigan is leading efforts for a first-of-its kind teaching school modeled after doctor residency programs as part of the plan announced last fall for Marygrove's campus.

The Marygrove Conservancy, which owns the campus property and is leading the P-20 efforts, is committed to that model and the early educational partners on it, including UM, Detroit Public Schools Community District and Starfish Family Services, said chair Sister Mary Jane Herb, who is president of Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which founded Marygrove College.

Rush Bowls to open first Michigan location in new District Detroit entertainment block

Fast-casual concept Rush Bowls will open its first Michigan location along Columbia Street in the planned promenade and entertainment block in The District Detroit, the first of five scheduled to open in the state.

The restaurant will take a 1,000-square-foot street-level space along the south end of the Fox Theatre, a news release said.

Crain's reported in December that Rush Bowls was looking to expand in Detroit.

Rush Bowls will sell healthy meals in a bowl and all-natural smoothies made with fruit and vegetable bases, including acai, kale and avocado.

Plum Market to open downtown Detroit location July 3

Plum Market says it will open its new downtown Detroit location July 3.

The 8,000-square-foot store on the first floor of the Ally Detroit Center at 500 Woodward Ave. will have fast casual dining with beer and wine, event space, a patio, and of course, a market.

It will function as an upscale market with "a condensed collection of grocery and apothecary essentials," according to a Wednesday media advisory from the company.

Southfield tech company opens downtown Detroit center to nurture startups

Altimetrik Corp., a Southfield-based technology services company, has opened a startup support center in downtown Detroit.

Called the Altimetrik Collider, it's in 3,000 square feet of the Bedrock LLC-owned Wright Kay Building on Woodward Avenue, above upscale retailer John Varvatos. It opened June 10 and a bigger kick-off is planned June 27.

Altimetrik software engineers will be stationed at the workspace to help companies invent, work on ideas for products or services and create product prototypes, a news release said. The center will host meetups, hackathons and panels as well, aiming to bump participating tech enterprises and other software engineers to their next level of growth.

"We chose Detroit as our first Collider location given the immense talent potential in this market," Abhinav Vattikuti, manager of Altimetrik Collider, said in the release. "My focus is on making this space as exciting and engaging as possible for the local software engineering community ... The goal is to enable creative collisions around the tech and entrepreneur community here in Detroit."

Real Estate Insider: MDOT gearing up for Amtrak property RFP in Detroit

The Michigan Department of Transportation is nearing a request for proposals for a key property in Detroit's TechTown area.

The end result would be a new intermodal transportation facility, the department said, and developers have long salivated over tacking some mixed use on the property along with it across its 3.1 acres. That's about 50 percent larger than the Hudson's site downtown.

The MDOT site — on the west side of Woodward Avenue between Amsterdam Street to the south and Baltimore Avenue to the north — has been of developer interest for years as the QLine streetcar was built and eventually completed in 2017. I wrote about it most recently in January 2016, and the department said at the time that it planned its RFP around then, but it kept getting kicked down the proverbial road.

MDOT spokesman Jeff Cranson said last month that a meeting of key stakeholders — including MDOT, the city, the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, Amtrak, Greyhound, Indian Trails, the Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan, Detroit Department of Transportation, M-1 Rail and the Suburban Mobility Authority on Regional Transportation — was held April 10.

Ford information center in Corktown to share development updates

One year after Ford made the announcement that it had bought the Michigan Central Station, the automaker has opened an information center to share updates for its $740 million Corktown campus.

“This is just our first foray into opening the doors and saying come in, learn and share with us what you want and need,” said Mary Culler, Ford’s Detroit development director. “It will evolve overtime.”

Belle Isle Conservatory reopens after $2.5M structural renovation

Belle Isle’s historic Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory reopened to the public Wednesday following a $2.5 million renovation project started last fall.

The work focused on swapping the 21-foot-tall water-damaged steel trusses that support the dome of the building’s impressive palm house with galvanized steel replacements. Construction was scheduled to be completed in July, but finished nearly a month early, according to a statement from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

MBAD African Bead Museum celebrates new exhibit space following renovation

Located in a cluster of former townhouses adorned with mosaics of colorful glass and mirrors, Detroit’s MBAD African Bead Museum is one of the city’s most eye-catching and unusual cultural institutions. And, thanks to a recently completed renovation, the Northwest Goldberg attraction has a bright future ahead.

Despite the museum’s popularity, the facility needed some work: ceilings leaked and the building at the corner of Grand River and West Grand Boulevard saw its roof completely collapse. But as a result of $100,000 in fundraising, the future looks bright for the Northwest Goldberg attraction.

Phase one of the project, overseen by Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects (LOHA), completed urgent repairs and stabilized the buildings. It also converted an old storage room into a new 600-square-foot gallery and community gathering area and added new windows, mechanical systems, and a much-needed public restroom facility.