DETROIT | Development & Construction: Motown Lowdown

[lambe160]

I found this article interesting and disappointing all at the same time, it is amazing how many cool projects have been shut down due to the rise of construction costs.

https://detroit.curbed.com/maps/detr...ction-downtown

[The North One]

^ half of those are not real projects or projects everybody knew weren't going to happen any time soon (the Ilitch proposals) and the other half are still moving forward.

[lambe160]

So which are going forward and which are not real?

[animatedmartian]

The Detroit Opera House expansion rendering is just a concept. However, the RFP is asking for a mixed-use high rise and responses from developers are due by June 10th.

Seems like a clickbait article.

[DetroitSportsFan]

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

The Detroit Opera House expansion rendering is just a concept. However, the RFP is asking for a mixed-use high rise and responses from developers are due by June 10th.

Seems like a clickbait article.

Curbed never seems to do much research before publishing these types of articles.

[The North One]

Originally Posted by DetroitSportsFan

Curbed never seems to do much research before publishing these types of articles.

They don't and it's painfully obvious. Their writers just skim and steal from whatever is on Crains or the Free Press and present it as clickbait. Vox sucks.

[DetroitSky]

Originally Posted by lambe160

So which are going forward and which are not real?

As far as we know:

1. State Fairgrounds: still planned
2. Lee Plaza: still planned
3. Cass & York: cancelled
4. Baltimore Station 2: construction started, on hold
5. Woodward @ Midtown: still planned, has hit obstacles
6. Alhamba Apartments: no news in well over a year
7. SoMA: phase one, a parking garage, under construction, the rest still planned
8. Leland Hotel: still planned
9. Park Avenue Building: still planned
10. Brush Park South: cancelled
11. Capitol Park high rises: I spoke to the developer last summer and they're still planned but construction won't start anytime soon
12. Detroit Opera House expansion: this rendering was ALWAYS purely conceptual. The media seems to believe that was the final rendering. Project has been put on hold for the time being.
13. Brewster-Wheeler Rec Center: I honestly have no idea
14. Hastings Place: still planned, as well as the construction of a new building on Centre and renovation of the Harmonie Club
15. Monroe Blocks: still planned
16. Russell Flats: site and development plan put up for sale years ago. Sold to Sanford Nelson. He put an "art park" on the site last year. I assume its cancelled or on hold.
17. Stone Soap: still planned, hit obstacles
18. Packard Plant: work underway

[DetroitSky]

Fitzgerald Revitalization update: fewer homes, longer timeline, realistic expectations

The Fitzgerald Revitalization Project has proven much more challenging that anyone anticipated. While those roadblocks have meant less progress, it also signals a shift towards realistic expectations.

Announced in the spring of 2017, the massive project in the Fitzgerald neighborhood in northwest Detroit had the ambitious goal of rehabbing 115 homes in two years. When Curbed Detroit checked in with the project two years later, only 13 homes were expected to be done by the end of the summer.

David Alade, co-founder of Century Partners, one of the two firms part of the Fitz Forward development team, said at the time that, “There probably was too much optimism at the beginning, that you could do something that’s never been done before, in a neighborhood that had never received this kind of attention, and do it at lightning fast speed.”

Detroit’s Shinola Hotel Named to Travel + Leisure’s ‘It List’ of New, Recently Renovated Hotels

Detroit’s Shinola Hotel was named to Travel + Leisure’s new “It List.” It is the only Michigan location to be recognized by the magazine, which considers hundreds of properties around the globe. The list selects top new and renovated hotels and is available in the magazine’s March issue and online.

The boutique hotel opened in downtown Detroit’s shopping district along the lower Woodward corridor in early 2019. It has 129 rooms and suites, curated art collections by Library Street Collective, a local gallery, and six restaurants and bars from award-winning Andrew Carmellini of NoHo Hospitality.

Southfield’s Ciena Healthcare Celebrates Grand Opening of Detroit Nursing Center

Ciena Healthcare, a Southfield-based manager and operator of nursing and rehabilitation centers in Michigan, celebrated the grand opening of its newest center in Detroit. Regency at Chene, a 93,652-square-foot, 160-bed facility is located at 2295 E. Vernor Highway, near Gratiot Avenue. It is a nursing center with a licensed and certified team of professionals offering care.

Regency at Chene is the ninth Ciena Healthcare center in Detroit, 12th in Wayne County, and 40th location in Michigan. Built at a cost of $23 million, Regency at Chene will employ more than 200 people in both full-time and part-time positions.

“With the opening of Regency at Chene, Ciena Healthcare continues to show our commitment to the city of Detroit by providing high-quality care to the citizens of Detroit, and to play an ongoing role in the city’s growth,” says Mohammad Qazi, president of Ciena Healthcare.

[DetroitSky]

Moody's upgrades rating on Detroit to 'positive,' citing 'robust' performance

The financial health of Detroit, the largest American city to restructure in municipal bankruptcy, continues to improve.

Moody's Investor Service revised its rating outlook on Detroit to positive from stable Wednesday, citing "robust operating performance" producing "very healthy reserves" as as well as an "improved job base" fueling "rising income tax receipts."

"Detroit's recovery is real," Moody's said, "but so too are serious lingering economic challenges. An influx of affluent residents and a return of employers downtown has led to a surge in income taxes, an important revenue source for the city. However, citywide income levels remain very weak and poverty remains high compared to other large cities."

Ilitch organization shows progress at Detroit's old Hotel Eddystone redevelopment

The Ilitch organization showed off its progress Monday on the once-stalled redevelopment of the old Hotel Eddystone next to Little Caesars Arena into new apartments, pledging to complete the project by fall 2021.

“We’re well ahead of schedule and we’ll finish well on time," Keith Bradford, Olympia Development's senior vice president of development, told a group of reporters and photographers during a tour of the building's top floor and ground floor.

The Ilitch organization has been working to overcome past criticism about the slow pace of development in the commercial, entertainment and residential district surrounding the new arena.

Olympia Development missed its original fall 2018 deadline to rehab and reopen the 13-story Eddystone, 110 Sproat St., just north of the arena. It relaunched the $35 million project last June, this time with a new timeline and milestones that were negotiated with the city and Downtown Development Authority.

The Eddystone is to reopen with 92 to 96 apartments, roughly 50% of them studio units and the others one-bedroom and two-bedroom units.

13th floor






Ground floor

Model Maker Zoyes Creative in Ferndale Opens Detroit Office

Ferndale’s Zoyes Creative, which offers design services including architectural models and renderings, brand development, digital experiences, and environmental branding and wayfinding, has expanded its operations with the opening of an office early this month in the building that also houses The Fillmore Detroit.

The 2,000-square-foot office space initially will house seven of Zoyes’ brand-side team members who will relocate from Ferndale. Zoyes has experienced growth in environmental branding and wayfinding work, including projects with Detroit commercial real estate developers Bedrock Detroit and The Platform, that necessitated the expansion.

Zoyes saw an increase of about 20 percent in revenue related to environmental branding and wayfinding work with commitments for projects beyond that figure in 2020. Current projects include City Modern in Brush Park, The Assembly in Corktown, The Boulevard in New Center, and Chroma in Milwaukee Junction.

[DetroitSky]

In my opinion, this is the best looking building completed at City Modern so far:

Second multifamily building to soon open at City Modern development in Brush Park

There was another indication last week that progress continues to take place at the City Modern development in Brush Park.

Bedrock Detroit, developer of the project’s multifamily buildings, has begun pre-leasing for The Flats at 2660 John R. When finished in April this year, it will be the second multifamily building to open at the 8.4-acre residential development that’s transforming the near downtown neighborhood.

Pope designates Ste. Anne Church in Southwest Detroit a basilica

The second-oldest continually operating Catholic parish in the United States has just gotten an extraordinary honor.

Pope Francis has named Ste. Anne Church in Southwest Detroit a minor basilica. Detroit Catholic reports that the the news was delivered to the congregation of the Roman Catholic parish by Monsignor Charles Kosanke during mass on March 1.

Ste. Anne is now one of only 86 churches in the U.S., and three in Michigan, to receive the designation. (The title of “major basilica” is reserved for churches in Rome.)

The honor recognizes that a place of worship carries significant historical, architectural, or spiritual importance. It also signifies that the church has a “closer relationship to the pope,” and has the right to display the papal symbol of crossed keys on its banners, furnishings, and seal.

Play space for toddlers, parents to open in Corktown

The play space is at 1620 Michigan Ave. in The Corner, a $30 million development on the former Tiger Stadium site from Eric Larson's Bloomfield Hills-based Larson Realty Group LLC.

Larson, also CEO of the Downtown Detroit Partnership, is offering 60 percent of retail space at 50 percent market rental rate. That means $8-$12 per square foot, he told Crain's.

Larson found Social Tykes while hearing pitches from small businesses through Motor City Match and the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. From that, his team signed leases with Fisher and Plum Health, which opened at the end of last year. Social Tykes, he hopes, will create an "age-diverse" community.

Jose's Tacos Opens In Detroit's Eastern Market

Jose's Tacos, which serves tacos, burritos, fajitas and quesadillas, has opened at 2510 Market St. in Detroit's Eastern Market, Crain's Detroit Business reports.

It's the second Detroit location for Jose and Leticia Orozco, who came to Detroit from Guanajuato, Mexico. The family business includes son Luis and daughters Laura and Diana.

A buildout of the 1,400-square-foot space began last spring, Kurt Nagl reports. The building is owned by FIRM Real Estate, which is controlled by Sanford Nelson and his father, Linden.

Michigan approves Fiat Chrysler's Mack plant environmental plan

The state of Michigan has approved Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV plan to address air-quality concerns from its new Mack Avenue assembly plant on Detroit’s east side.

The Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy’s Air Quality Division determined Fiat Chrysler’s plans to address and monitor environmental conditions at the site are now acceptable after previously finding them "lacking" and "not acceptable," according to a letter to the automaker.

Mary Ann Dolehanty, director of the Environment, Great Lakes and Energy department's Air Quality Division, said FCA submitted satisfactory amendments to its Additional Projects Plan and revised Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Program Work Plan for the new site.

Coworking building in Eastern Market gives creative renters space to spread out

Detroit — After having to demolish a building they had planned to refurbish, a Grosse Pointe Farms couple is opening a newly built retail, workshop and coworking space in Eastern Market on Thursday that they hope will lure creative types.

The idea for Bea's, the new space at 1533 Winder, was sparked when Eli and Beatrice Wolnerman, co-founders of gifting business Open Me When, sought a place to which they could move their home business. They found the 4,000-square-foot building on Winder for lease, but offered to buy it instead. They paid $525,000 for the building in late 2018 and made plans to renovate it.

The couple learned that the structure was in such poor shape that it had to be demolished. Working within the same footprint, the couple built a light-filled, 7,500 square foot space with high ceilings and a full second floor.

[animatedmartian]

Originally Posted by DetroitSky

In my opinion, this is the best looking building completed at City Modern so far:

Second multifamily building to soon open at City Modern development in Brush Park

Pictures don't really do justice the scale of the design. I was really surprised at how big this one was. It's like night and day compared to how empty this area was only a few years ago.

[mousquet]

^ That's a good looking building, but beware of these wooden materials. They are hard to maintain, turning kind of grey because of weather or time. And they're pretty fast to do so.

Nevertheless, wood shows some undeniable efficient properties when it comes to insulation. People in there shouldn't have to heat so much to stay warm in the winter, compared to a bare concrete facade, for instance (concrete is completely crappy for insulation, whether it'd be sound-proofing or thermal).

Although I suspect dwellers in this building are not the kind of people who'll have to worry too much about their power bills.
But they'll have to be caring about maintenance, so the building remains fresh looking.
It's no easy task to maintain an old chalet in the Alpine mountain, eh!
Wood is a precious material requiring some effort.

[The North One]

I'm eager for them to start construction on the black brick mid-rise planned on Edmund street, that's my favorite one.

[uaarkson]

Honestly, for what we're used to in Detroit, all of the new architecture in Brush Park is mindblowing.

[DetroitSky]

I'm unable to view these articles, but a vacant church near the Grosse Pointe border might be razed for Detroit's first Chipotle and University of Detroit Mercy is planning a $60 million overhaul of their main campus.

New Center Eatery’s Successor Arrives on Woodward Avenue in April

More than a year after closing its doors, the successor to New Center Eatery is preparing to open its doors on Woodward Avenue. In posts to social media on Tuesday, the restaurant called Joe Louis Southern Kitchen confirmed that it would be opening in April with New Center Eatery’s signature chicken and waffles.

New Center Eatery quietly closed its doors in December of 2018, a little more than a year after receiving a $25,000 Motor City Match grant to relocate to 6549 Woodward Ave. The restaurant known for serving 11 different styles of chicken and waffles, had resided in a space just a few blocks away since 2003. Owner Johnny Cannon, who also operates Sweet Magnolia’s in Southfield, chalked up the move to “uncontrollable circumstances,” in a release shared by Motor City Match.

Cannon tells Eater he’s partnering with Joe Louis II in the restaurant, which will pay tribute to the famous boxer. The 76-seat restaurant will feature a themed interior based off Louis’s Southern upbringing.

[Jasoncw]

Originally Posted by DetroitSky

I'm unable to view these articles, but a vacant church near the Grosse Pointe border might be razed for Detroit's first Chipotle

The church is a small midcentury modern church a bit to the west of the intersection of Mack and Fisher.

It's in between the recent McDonalds and Starbucks, and it's interesting to see the trend of chains willing to locate on the Detroit side of Mack continue.

[animatedmartian]

Final major piece of JLA is almost gone.

• Video Link

[DetroitSky]

Originally Posted by Jasoncw

The church is a small midcentury modern church a bit to the west of the intersection of Mack and Fisher.

It's in between the recent McDonalds and Starbucks, and it's interesting to see the trend of chains willing to locate on the Detroit side of Mack continue.

Thank you. It doesn't look like it'll be a big loss.

MrChrome on DetroitYes posted this photo tonight of the Capital One Cafe project at 511 Woodward:

[DetroitSky]

Boutique hotel seeks a Corktown spot on Michigan Avenue

Detroit — A chic hotel chain known as The Godfrey wants a Michigan Avenue location in Corktown, according to two people familiar with the plans.

The Chicago-based hotel group that describes itself as "boutique luxury" is involved in a plan to tear down an empty building at 1401 Michigan, one block east of Trumbull, to make way for a new hotel with around 150 rooms and potentially a rooftop lounge, according to the two who have seen the plans. They didn't want to be named because they are not authorized to publicly discuss the development.

The development is a plan in progress and still needs to go through various city approvals before becoming reality. A public meeting hosted by the developers is scheduled 6-7 p.m. March 12 at the Corner Ballpark, 1680 Michigan.

The Godfrey is a small chain, with single properties in Chicago, Boston and Tampa. Another is scheduled to open in Hollywood this summer, according to the company website.

1401 Michigan Ave

Here's The Godfrey Hotel's two ground up properties:


Chicago


Hollywood

We're probably looking at 4-6 floors with the size of the site.

Henry Ford Health System Opens Pharmacy in MGM Grand Detroit

Detroit’s Henry Ford Health System has opened a retail pharmacy at the MGM Grand Detroit. The location will serve the needs of the casino’s 3,000 employees and their families as well as the general public. It is the hospital’s sixth pharmacy location in Detroit but its first in a non-Henry Ford medical facility.

Cody Rouge front porch repair program helps beautify neighborhood, keep residents in homes

In the Cody Rouge neighborhood, aging, disabled, single-parent, and low-income homeowners often need help with routine repairs and maintenance to keep their homes in good condition, but simply cannot perform the work themselves or afford to hire a contractor to complete the work.

Vernice Gray, a retired homeowner in the neighborhood, found out about the program when her son attended a block club meeting in late 2018. “I was having knee problems at the time, and I didn’t go to the meeting,” she says. “But when he told me about them doing the porches, I said let’s try it.”

Her porch was in such poor condition that she and her family could not use the front of her house at all. She has since had knee surgery, and the new hand railing and secure steps make her home more accessible. “It’s wonderful,” she says. “I can go in and out of the house now with no problems. And it looks beautiful.”

The Cody Rouge Community Action Alliance recently received a $50,000 grant from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority to continue the program.

Projects like front porch repair benefit more than just the homeowner. The repair adds to the beautification of a neighborhood and increases the property value of that home and consequently homes around it. It also helps seniors like Gray age in place.

[DetroitSky]

We have more info on The Godfrey Hotel Detroit:

-$45 million, 7 stories, 225 rooms
-Average rate of $260-$280
-Construction begins Q4 2020 and finishes summer 2022
-200-225 employees
-Rooftop lounge, restaurant, 300-400 person ballroom space
-Neumann/Smith and Elkus Manfredi, architects


Looks a lot like the Hollywood location.

There's also been a lot of retail and restaurant news lately:

Detroit favorite Kuzzo's Chicken & Waffles to reopen Saturday despite coronavirus concerns

After a seven-month renovation project that shuttered one of Detroit's most popular restaurants, Kuzzo's Chicken & Waffles on the Avenue of Fashion will finally reopen Saturday, despite mounting concerns over the spread of the novel coronavirus.

"Kuzzo’s reopening comes at a concerning health crisis with the Coronavirus (sic) pandemic and the encouragement of social distancing," the restaurant said in a statement issued Friday. "However, we are thrilled to open our doors, be a safe and comforting space to diners, a place for inspiration, source of pride, and provide a calm and relaxing environment during these challenging times"

Flowers for Dreams Opens First Michigan Location in Detroit, to Donate 25% to Local Charities

Flowers for Dreams, a floral company based in Chicago that donates 25 percent of all net profits to charity, opened a Detroit location on Tuesday. The location offers full-service hours and free delivery.

Located in downtown Detroit at 1435 W. Farmer St. in the Shinola Hotel’s Parker’s Alley, the company opened in 2012 and has since donated almost $600,000 to 90 local charities in Chicago and Milwaukee, their two current locations.

“We decided to open a store in Detroit for a variety of reasons, but most importantly, we were drawn to the region’s strong sense of community and commitment to building and supporting their city, which we saw first-hand when people started visiting the store and voting for their favorite local charity,” says Steven Dyme, co-founder. “We look forward to partnering with many Detroit organizations as we establish our roots in the city. And now, with the store open seven days a week and offering free hand-delivery, we look forward to making Detroit even more beautiful, one bouquet at a time.”

Popular taco spot Imperial opening second spot in downtown Detroit

DETROIT (WXYZ) — Popular taco restaurant Imperial, located in Ferndale, announced it is opening a second location in downtown Detroit.

The Working Class Outlaws company, which also owns Public House and Antihero in Ferndale, said the seond location will open at The Fillmore Detroit along Woodward Ave., inside the former location of The State Bar.

Tin Roof opening today in downtown Detroit

DETROIT (WXYZ) — Downtown Detroit's newest live music joint is opening its doors today right across from Comerica Park.

Tin Roof will officially open at 5 p.m. where Cheli's Chili Bar used to be – on Adams right off of Woodward.

The space features four floors of entertainment, a rooftop patio and a grass-covered beer garden.

Condado Tacos, a build-your-own taco spot, opens Thursday in Midtown Detroit

A new taco joint — with splashy murals on its walls, more than 80 tequila offerings and a twist on tacos — is opening Thursday in Midtown Detroit.

Condado Tacos, a build-your-own-taco concept, is located in the historic Creamery Building on Selden Street, next door to the Smith & Co. restaurant and just around the corner from Selden Standard.

This is the second location for the Columbus, Ohio-based chain. Its first metro Detroit location opened last August on Main Street in downtown Royal Oak.

^Condado is located in one of the buildings renovated as part of the Selden Corridor Initiative.