DETROIT | Development & Construction: Motown Lowdown

[bigboy]

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

Oh uhh...the David Whitney Building is going to renovated (as evidenced as the smaller sign) also the windows are done half way up the Broderick.


IMG_4078 by Detroitmi97 Aka Mark The kid

how recent is this picture? it hardly looks like anything has been done to the Broderick in it

[Onn]

U.S. OKs $150M for Chicago-Detroit high-speed rail

Associated Press l Detroit News

November 22. 2011

Kalamazoo— U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says he's awarded $150 million to Michigan to buy a rail line for high-speed passenger service between Chicago and Detroit.

LaHood said in a news release Tuesday the project "will increase the safety and reliability of Amtrak's Wolverine and Blue Water services" and create 800 jobs this spring.

The money enables the Michigan Department of Transportation to buy much of the Chicago-Detroit rail corridor.

On Oct. 5, Michigan said it had agreed to buy the tracks between Kalamazoo and Dearborn in suburban Detroit. The U.S. said then that it was giving Michigan $196 million for signal and track improvements.

The project allows speeds of up to 110 mph on 77 percent of the Detroit-Chicago line, cutting travel time by 30 minutes.

http://detnews.com/article/20111122/METRO05/111220430/U.S.-OKs-$150M-for-Chicago-Detroit-high-speed-rail

[Onn]

Originally Posted by subterranean

I can't keep track of what's being renovated downtown. Can anyone provide a brief list?

We should create a list, I don't know all the projects myself.

[animatedmartian]

Originally Posted by bigboy

how recent is this picture? it hardly looks like anything has been done to the Broderick in it

Nothing has started yet...(lemme find an article right quick)

http://www.transinns.com/press-and-media.html

Basically, the 2nd link on that page says that if they get financing set by the end of this year, construction will start next year and be finish in 2013.

[animatedmartian]

Current renovations

• Broderick : Expected completion 2012
• David Whitney: Possibly starting in 2012 with completion in 2013
• Chase Tower: Possible Apple Store or some form of retail in the lobby
• Cobo Hall : Finances for final phase have been acquired with expected completion before 2012 Auto Show (January).

Rumors

• Hudson's Block: Could possibly see development in the next year, nothing official
• Book Tower: Possible renovations by the W hotel chain, nothing official.
• David Scott Tower: Ground floor and top floor renovated into sky bars. Possible full building converted into condos and apartments.

In the works

• Wayne County Jail: A new jail will be built north of Greektown Casino with expect completion in 2014

I think that covers most of what's going on aside from restaurants opening up. If I missed anything, I'll try an add it to this list (too lazy to find links that aren't dead).

[Rizzo]

I hope we see Book Tower popping up on that list very soon. I feel like we'll either hear an announcement on that or possibly David Stott Tower in the near future.

[animatedmartian]

Ah forgot about those, I added them to the list.

Both those towers are really iffy though. Book has barely any news and it's often included and news stories about the general area. "Developers looking to Detroit with Book Tower as an option" or something like that. David Scott is actually being used, but not by a whole lot. From what I hear, there are were offices within the building...but it wouldn't be more than 10 or 15% of the building occupied. Currently there's a SkyBar on the first floor (that's some good irony), and they're in the process of / already renovated the top floors.

http://www.modeldmedia.com/devnews/s...ahl061411.aspx

There was also news of the Free Press building being converted into condos, but not much has happened around that end.

So I dunno. I guess they're the hidden ghosts of Detroit's skyscrapers shrouded in mystery.

Personally, what I really want to see is a brand new tower or complex. It'll most likely be residential with lots of mixed use, but Detroit has lots of space for modest sized residential towers and I hope that these spaces gets put to some good use.

[animatedmartian]

Investor Tony Goldman interested in Detroit properties
Louis Aguilar | The Detroit News | December 1, 2011

The real estate mogul who played a key role in transforming Miami Beach's South Beach and New York City's SoHo areas into art destinations says he's close to making a major investment in downtown Detroit as well as partnering with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to support art projects in the city.

"I make a critical mass statement," Tony Goldman said in a telephone interview Tuesday from Miami. "I'm a neighborhood builder, and an investment in one building is not going to do it."

The chairman and CEO of New York-based Goldman Properties Co. says he is "about 90 days" away from sealing deals that would make that kind of investment statement in Detroit.

Goldman has been an early investor in depressed urban neighborhoods for four decades, and many of those investments have paid off. The areas include New York's Wall Street Financial District and SoHo neighborhood, the Center City in Philadelphia and, more recently, the warehouse district in Miami's Wynwood area.

Goldman's track record shows he tends to buy multiple properties in an area and often focuses on creating restaurants as well as renovating hotels and housing.

Goldman said it's too soon to name specific downtown property or properties he is targeting. He added that he has not worked out whether he would work with partners in the potential deals.

[...]

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20111201/...#ixzz1fGRod5fY

..........

[LMich]

This is potentially huge news. He's been laying down hints for a few months, now. It gets you wondering exactly which area of the core city he's looking at...?

EDIT: Read the rest of the article, and it's pretty clear he's talking about making some major investments in Rivertown if he can round up local capital and community support.

[Michi]

Before reading, "Dequindre Cut", my initial speculation was Capitol Park. Both would make perfect sense after gathering information on his previous work.

[animatedmartian]

There's really so many spots he could pick. And the scale of the area he picks can almost be unlimited. I'm really curious to see what news comes out in the next "90 days".

[mousquet]

Originally Posted by Mr Goldman to detnews.com

"What I will say is one of my favorite public spaces is Dequindre Cut."

I just took a little time for a Google Maps and Street View walk through Orleans and St Aubin streets, if I didn't mistake, that is the Dequindre Cut area and frankly I saw nearly nothing around there. There are some residential blocks along St Aubin but it's nothing dense nor historic. The area doesn't seem unpleasant either, it's just all green space along the way. The guy would surely have to develop plenty of new things to make something lively of the neighborhood.

[Michi]

Originally Posted by mousquet

I just took a little time for a Google Maps and Street View walk through Orleans and St Aubin streets, if I didn't mistake, that is the Dequindre Cut area and frankly I saw nearly nothing around there. There are some residential blocks along St Aubin but it's nothing dense nor historic. The area doesn't seem unpleasant either, it's just all green space along the way. The guy would surely have to develop plenty of new things to make something lively of the neighborhood.

Yes and no. Definitely, there is a lot of open space, ripe for new development, and that's what surprised me as well. The Dequindre Cut (Greenway) was also created through what was once the center of the Riverfront Warehouse District. There's really not much left in terms of wonderful, old warehouses to reuse, but that does bring to mind one project, in particular. The old Globe Trading Company warehouse (at/near the foot of the Dequindre Cut) currently has a proposal to remake it into an adventure and discovery center, as part of the Milliken State Park and Harbor complex. It already has a solid plan and funding support, so perhaps Mr. Goldman wants to associate himself with this, or spin-offs of this project.

Here's a little bit about the Globe:
http://www.positivedetroit.net/2011/...ront-rock.html

Also, the Dequindre Cut currently ends at Eastern Market, which is just north of Gratiot Avenue. Eastern Market may also be a focal point of Mr. Goldman, given the City and Eastern Market Corporation's desire to spur private development from the activity already embeded in this area. There is a lot of connecting-the-dots opportunities in this part of town, and it will be neat to see what actually comes to fruition with some major private investment.
http://www.detroiteasternmarket.com/page.php?p=1&s=8

[LMich]

Daniel Mears / The Detroit News

Chrysler sizes up space in Gilbert's Dime Building

Louis Aguilar/ The Detroit News

December 6, 2011

Chrysler Group LLC is close to signing a lease for a small office space in the Dime Building, one of the historic downtown properties in Detroit bought this year by Quicken Loans Inc. founder Dan Gilbert, according to a source familiar with the negotiations.

Chrysler officials did not comment Monday, and Gilbert's press spokeswoman Paula Silver had no comment. If the deal happens, it would give a Detroit presence for the Auburn Hills-based automaker that has struck a nerve with its "Imported From Detroit" marketing campaign.

Chrysler is said to be interested in leasing about 20,000 square feet, which amounts to about 11/2 floors of space in the 14-story building at 719 Griswold, according to CoStar Realty Information, a commercial real estate information service. That amount of space usually accommodates 100 to 120 workers, said John DeGroot, vice president of research for the Southfield office of Grubb & Ellis.

...

Downtown Detroit already is in the midst of getting an infusion of 9,700 employees being relocated from the suburbs by Quicken Loans and its family of companies, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and DTE Energy. These developments have prompted new restaurants and other retail along with plans to build more housing.

laguilar@detnews.com

http://www.detnews.com/article/20111...-Dime-Building

Not a huge amount of space, the but the symbolism of Chrysler setting up any office space in Detroit at all is a huge symbolic victory.

[subterranean]

I wonder if this has anything to do with the slack they received for capitalizing on Detroit grit with commercials while being headquartered in the suburbs...

Edit: posted this before actually reading the article. Ha.

[nrl2008]

Finally momentum is building again for downtown/midtown development. It will be great to see people living in the northern part of the Woodward retail corridor.

[LMich]

The David Whitney proposal continues to move foward...

Mandie Wright - Detroit Free Press

David Whitney Building renovation moves forward

By John Gallagher - Detroit Free Press

December 12, 2011

A plan to remake the vacant David Whitney Building into retail, apartments and a boutique hotel is taking two big steps forward.

First, developers have signed Starwood Hotels to brand the 136-room hotel as part of its Aloft line, a high-design, urban-oriented model similar to Starwood's W brand hotels but at a more modest price.

And, second, the Michigan Economic Growth Authority is expected Tuesday to take up the project's request for tax credits that will undergird financing for the $82-million project.

David DiRita of the Roxbury Group, the Detroit-based development company heading up the project, said if other financing falls into place then construction could begin in the first half of 2012, with the reopening of the building sometime in late 2013 or 2014.

"We are very pleased with the pace of this," DiRita said Friday. "People are really going to enjoy it. The building is going to be restored in all of its glory."

...

And, the city-owned buildings on Capitol Park are looking closer toward seeing redevelopment...

Capitol Park: 3 finalists

Daniel Duggan | Crain's Detroit Business

December 11, 2011

Three groups are being interviewed for the task of redeveloping the publicly owned buildings in the run-down Capitol Park district of Detroit.

Among the plans is a mixed-use development with 225-250 units of affordable, high-end and senior housing paired with local and national retailers.

Surprising some real estate insiders are the well-known developers who submitted proposals but aren't on the short list, including Westin Book Cadillac developer John Ferchill, who had teamed with Quicken Loans Inc. founder Dan Gilbert.

...

Making the cut is the developer behind the Broderick Tower, Detroit-based J.C. Beal Construction Inc., in a joint venture with Denver-based Tryba Architects. Also on the list, sources said, are the developers behind the Durant Hotel in Flint, Lansing-based Prater Development Ltd. and Lansing-based Karp and Associates LLC.

...

Both JC Beal and Karp & Associates do nice historic renovations.

[hudkina]

Originally Posted by mousquet

I just took a little time for a Google Maps and Street View walk through Orleans and St Aubin streets, if I didn't mistake, that is the Dequindre Cut area and frankly I saw nearly nothing around there. There are some residential blocks along St Aubin but it's nothing dense nor historic. The area doesn't seem unpleasant either, it's just all green space along the way. The guy would surely have to develop plenty of new things to make something lively of the neighborhood.

The Dequindre Cut is basically an urban rails to trails project. I don't think he is necessarily interested in the neighborhood around the cut, so much as the cut itself.


Dequindre Cut by healthiermi, on Flickr


Dequindre Cut by Spencer Olinek, on Flickr

And its potential...

Dequindre Cut by healthiermi, on Flickr

The trail currently runs about a mile from Woodbridge to Gratiot without any cross traffic, which makes it one of the more unique urban trail experiences. It's sort of like New York's High Line, but instead of being elevated, it's below grade. Plans exist to expand the trail another 1/2 mile to at least Mack Ave, meaning residents have the opportunity to travel 1.5 miles through the heart of an urban center without worrying about auto traffic. My guess is that he is excited about the Rivertown and Eastern Market ends of the line. Both areas have old warehouses that could be renovated and both areas have plenty of land that can be developed into modern lofts.

[GRsupercity]

Always makes me sad to see what used to be and what could of been

[Rizzo]

As sad as it is, the downtown losses really aren't terrible in comparison to the modern American city, assuming brand new structures replace the vacant lots. when I look around Chicago, it's unbelievable how many buildings have come down to make way for skyscrapers. I look at Detroit the same way. Assuming we see no more demolitions downtown, you'll still have a decent historic core.

The neighborhoods are something else, but I've always kind of wrote off the majority of Detroit's housing stock as fairly generic. It's not like ornate brownstones are coming down by the day. And you have dense and well kept neighborhoods like Boston Edison and Indian Village that contain the city's showcase architecture.

Ideally, some of the more architecturally interesting structures would continue to stand for another decade or so when enough new growth would give them a second life. But I think once buildings go vacant in Detroit, just a few years is all it takes for them to be unsalvageable.

My hope is that Detroit's replacement building stock be urban, sustainable, and architecturally unique. What I mean by that is Detroit should develop it's own vernacular that makes it very identifiable.

Eventually, I see Detroit as being a very modern city with patches of high density urban development with greenspace in between that can be used as preserve or agriculture.