DETROIT | Development & Construction: Motown Lowdown

[mind field]

excellent videos. Really highlights all the positive synergy happening in Detroit. Thanks for posting that Eric.

[detmi7mile]

love the videos....always good to see positive things going on

[cgrski]

Great vids.

Any new pics of the progress on Greektown expantion and Motorcity exterior?

[LivingIn622]

greektown is way too slow at building.

[EuphoricOctopus]

How many floors is the Greektown Casino currently at?

[Michi]

Hmm...I'm thinking around 18...

The update's from Saturday February 23, 2008.

Jonna New Amsterdam Lofts finally with lower level windows - New Center/Techtown.
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New DIA - John R. Entrance
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Farnsworth Entrance
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Bummer...Forest Arms Apartmens Fire...Early February fire consumed the top two levels of this building (built 1904) and gutted the roof. Fortunately, yet unfortunately, I had a view of the disaster. :(
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A bunch of views of South University Village (Studio One Apartments).

Earlier
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To date
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The little black squares are windows.
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Actually looks really good so far, IMO.
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SUV Garage
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Forest Avenue retail(?)
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Wayne State School of Medicine Expansion (Detroit Medical Center on Canfield Avenue)
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Slow progress on Brush Park North.
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Completion of Crystal Lofts exterior, Erskine Street - Brush Park. Continued progress being made for Zaccaro's Specialty Market on the ground level.
http://npfv.com/zaccaros/index.aspx
http://www.modeldmedia.com/developmentnews/zaccaros12708.aspx
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Skyline from Tolan Playfield, Detroit Medical Center.
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Greektown Casino Hotel
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I like the glass pattern that was chosen for the facade.
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With the mobile marketing campaign. ;)
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St. Antoine Street Frontage
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Tower with Lafayette Ave. expansion on left.
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It is built over 1/2 of the boulevard.
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Brick skin ongoing.
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Not sure what's going on with the Sheraton (former Ponchartrain) Hotel. It still looks like there is a lot of work going on on the inside.
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The Dequindre Cut is making some great strides! Workers were onsite even on Saturday. :)
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And on a major positive side note, it appears as though transit is planned for the future to connect the river to Eastern Market!...a no brainer.
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The Lafayette Avenue access ramp.
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The old cut looking toward Eastern Market/Gratiot.
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Caesar's Windsor
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Westin Book Cadillac Magic! Only 8 more months!
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Masonry detail.
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The Griswold Capitol Park...sadly minus the residential component originally planned for the top. Maybe someday soon they will be built...I can't imagine this thing as solely parking garage. UGG!
This is the back side.
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After about 2 weeks, it's already 6 of 10 floors on the east section.
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The garage will serve as the parking for the Westin Book Cadillac, on the left.
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The expansion will go westward.
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Looking north down Griswold Street. Capitol Park is behind the building in the background.
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Rosa Parks Transit Terminal is making some good progress as well. This project is important because it will take out all of the smelly buses and street people from Capitol Park. This will make the park and the neighborhood itself be the next major downtown district for the city to tackle.
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Book in the back.
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Book Cadillac in the back.
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Drywall going in the lofts at the Iodent Building, Park Avenue District. The Jonas Brothers Teeny Boppers were already lining up for the concert here in like 6 hours...good grief. lol
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Pick Fort Shelby Renovation
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MGM Grand Winter Display
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It looks pretty cool at night.
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Motor City Casino, nearing completion.
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North side: Grand River and Brooklyn.
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From Woodbridge Estates Neighborhood.
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A few side dishes:

Cross streets in Woodbridge
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Kales Building
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Detroit's getting ahead with some new projects...hardy har har...
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[toog05]

Nice update Michi, thanks! Looks like greektown hotel may have about 10 floors to go?

[hudkina]

Looking great. The Griswold parking garage looks decent from the photogaphs. It sucks that nothing is going on top any time soon.

Btw, after seeing the transformation of the Book-Cadillac, I wish I had a million dollars to donate to the owners of the Book Building just to give the building a bath!

[the pope]

thanks michers!

[RossDetroit]

Thanks Michi. Good to see how things are going in Detroit. I can't wait to come back. Very sad about the Forest Arms, it is a beautiful bldg. Did you guys read the good news about the GM Riverfront condos in the Detroit News? Keep us posted Michi.
PS: I agree, the Book bldg and tower could use a shower. Maybe the owners will do so after the conversion into lofts and retail is finished. Did they start yet?

[themapman]

Thanks for the update Michi, much appreciated. Has there been any talk about saving the facade of the Forest Arms?

[Michi]

Any new residential developments are going to have to coincide with what the market is doing. Right now, not a whole lot. I'm not sure what GM's intentions are for their own riverfront plans. It might take longer than they would like. This isn't because of something uniquely Detroit, but rather the overall housing crisis throughout the country.

mapman, I haven't heard anything regarding the redevelopment/renovation of the Forest Arms. It would be heartbraking if it was destroyed. By using my own personal judgement of other decrepit/obsolete/burned out buildings that were (at least seemed) worse off than the Forest Arms, I would hope that someone would come in and see if they could invest in bringing it back to the community that it is such an integral part of.

But, if you do a mental inventory of all the historic buildings such as Forest Arms, but also realize that many of them are not as well off (druggies, vacancies, low rents, etc) that there is a real risk of losing other architectural gems in the greater downtown region of the city. Though I know a lot of people will condemn me for saying this, but that's one reason why I would support gentrification of some neighborhoods.

[hudkina]

Midtown is meant to be gentrified. It's one thing to have affordable housing for low-income residents and seniors. It's another thing to have drug dens. I have no problem pushing the underclass (not to be confused with the working class) to the fringes of the greater downtown area.

[Michi]

Indeed. I just don't want to be insensitive toward people who deserve to live in and around Greater Downtown if they choose to, even if they don't quite fall under a certain affordability quotient.

[gsgeorge]

Detroit NEEDS to be gentrified. It's one thing if you're talking about a thriving lower-class community in Baltimore. It's another if the neighborhood is largely vacated, full of garbage, drug dens, and transients. Bring it on. I HOPE rich people start moving in.

[subterranean]

I think that the people of this forum owe Michi dinner and drinks. The amount of time he puts into his photos and tour posts is remarkable. He's basically the only one who updates us on the status of Detroit projects. I just wanted to extend my thanks.

Personally, I can't wait to see what Brush Park North looks like in the end. It just looks like good design, especially for the area. The housing for Wayne State looks really good, too.

I can't wait until we have a few real nice spring days so I can strap on my walking shoes and take a huge walking tour. Of course, anyone willing to show this non-native around would be much appreciated.

[LivingIn622]

great pictures Michi. The contsruction looks great. I got to go check all of that out.

[al2six]

I spotted something odd on msn maps today. if you scroll around, you can see the city in pictures taken at different times. i found a building that disapeared. here is a picture with the building: http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=r1p9f582c4yn&style=o&lvl=2&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=3778998&ss=yp.detroit~pg.1~sst.0&encType=1

and here it is gone: http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=r1pb6y82c3ww&style=o&lvl=2&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=5649342&ss=yp.detroit~pg.1~sst.0&encType=1

anyone know what this building was and what is happening/happened to that lot?

[zuelas]

That was the Statler hotel torn down a few years ago. It was depressing seeing it dismantled as you were on the people mover and it passed right by. I guess the only positive is that the lot is speculated to be the site for Quicken's new HQ which could potentially be a much larger structure than the Statler was. It'd be a really nice site for an iconic bldg IMO bordering both Grand Circus Park and Washinton Blvd w/a good view from Woodward Ave.

[hudkina]

While the Statler will be missed, it might be worth it to see a new 50+ story building built on the site.

[Michi]

I spotted crane sections being installed to the Greektown Casino crane this afternoon on my way home. I don't get the construction of this project because I swear it has not progressed from the photos posted above, yet there's no doubt, the crane got taller today.

Subt, you don't have to thank me! :) ...but I'll acknowledge...

[zuelas]

Do we know what kind of exterior lighting the Greektown hotel is going to have? Any night time renderings? Be nice to see, again, the most current renderings of what we're getting. I don't recall the mixed glass facade looking as noticeable/prominent in the pictures i've seen to date.

[hudkina]

I would think that the new casino will be lit up at night. If any buildings want to be noticed in the night skyline it is the casinos and they can easily afford to construct and operate elaborate lighting themes.

[detmi7mile]

I can't wait to see the finished product. I think out of all the casinos, this one is in the best location and is the one that will be easiest to see from many viewpoints throughout downtown.

[MasonsInquiries]

kewl updates, michi!!

[DetroitMan]

Bettis/Betters gets 3-year extension for Uniroyal site cleanup
By Robert Ankeny
Crains Detroit Business
March 18, 2008
The Detroit Brownfield Redevelopment Authority has given Bettis/Betters Development L.L.C. of Pittsburgh a three-year extension for cleanup on the old Uniroyal plant site.

The 40-plus acre parcel west of the MacArthur Bridge that leads to Belle Isle was once the site of a U.S. Rubber Co. tire factory, the Michigan Stove Co. plant and other heavy industry that left the land contaminated.

A company headed by ex-Pittsburgh Steeler-turned-developer Jerome Bettis and his partner Charles Betters entered a purchase and land development agreement with the city in 2005 to build apartments, townhouses, retail stores and cafes.

Vincent Nathan, Detroit’s environmental affairs director who chairs the brownfield authority, said the extension is needed because complex negotiations on cleanup costs and state reviews have caused delays.

Scott Simons, DTE senior specialist, external communications, said that the company continues to work with the developers. "DTE has submitted a remediation plan to the Department of Environmental Quality," Simons said, "and we are waiting to hear from them."

Last November, the Michigan DEQ notified four companies: DTE Energy Inc., Michelin, DuPont, and Enodis, a British food and beverage company, that they would be responsible for paying for the cleanup.

Nathan said the state has reached agreements with all but one of those companies. Developers have a letter of understanding from DTE to assume the primary part of remediation costs and they expect to reach agreements with two other responsible parties in the next 60 days, brownfield authority staff report said.

Both DTE and Bettis/Betters technicians will be taking core samples on the site in the next month, the report said.

In other action at Tuesday, the Brownfield Authority board approved two midtown residential projects.

One is a $2.9 million, 20-townhouse complex on Trumbull Avenue between Sycamore and Ash streets near MotorCity Casino. The other is a $14 million, five-story student housing building on Cass Avenue south of Warren Avenue in the Wayne State University area, with about 70 residential units and 10,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space.
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080318/REG/85297206/1069/-/-/bettis-betters-gets-3-year-extension-for-uniroyal-site-cleanup

[DetroitMan]

A 'new beginning:' Jeffries East Projects demolition starts area redevelopment
Oralandar Brand-Williams / The Detroit News
DETROIT -- The Jeffries East Projects, like many housing projects across the country, had become a symbol of urban decay: an aging structure in major disrepair known as a haven for violence, drugs and gangs.

On Thursday, the long-awaited demolition of the Jeffries East got under way as part of a $404 million extreme makeover funded by the federal government. The project involves the Jeffries East, Jeffries West, and the Herman Gardens public housing projects, which will be redeveloped in an area of low- and moderate-income housing.

Built in 1946, the Jeffries East is located near Grand River and the Lodge Freeway and has been home to many of the area's low-income families.

Demolition is expected to be completed by early summer and construction will begin on the infrastructure soon after, said Lindsey Reames, the U.S. Housing and Urban Development-appointed recovery administrator for the Detroit Housing Commission.

"This demolition marks a new beginning for the city, this community and, most of all, the residents who have waited for new housing and a safe, decent neighborhood," Reames said Thursday in a prepared statement.

A similar redevelopment project has been completed at Jeffries West, now renamed Woodbridge Estates.

The area, a residential village of low-income apartments, senior housing and market rate homes, is on the west side of the Lodge Freeway near Selden.

And Herman Gardens, on Southfield at Joy Road, has been torn down to make way for the new project -- the $250 million Garden View Estates.

The development will consist of 900 units of apartments, town houses and homes. The project is expected to be completed in 14 months.

In 2005, HUD took over the troubled city housing commission, citing years of neglect and mismanagement of its federal programs.

As part of the redevelopment project, the 252 two- and three-bedroom low-rise units in the Jeffries East will be replaced with 180 homes.

The project will include a mix of housing for families from different income levels. There will be 138 public housing units and 42 affordable-housing units. The plan will include a community center.

Former residents of the Jeffries East returned Thursday to watch the demolition. For many, it was an emotional moment seeing some of their history face the wrecking ball.

"I have mixed feelings," said 18-year-old Shanita Henley. "I feel sad but on the other hand I feel something better will come out of it."

Lucy Huntley, who relocated to an apartment in the redeveloped Jeffries West, wants to move back to Jeffries East once the project is completed.

"The Jeffries projects was a nice place to live and it was a nice place for families to raise their children," said 62-year-old Huntley who lived in the Jeffries East low-rise apartments since 1986.

"It was mostly outsiders who made things bad," said Huntley.

You can reach Oralandar Brand-Williams at 313-222-2027 or bwilliams@detnews.com
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080321/METRO/803210384/1409/METRO

[subterranean]

I'm neither very familiar with Detroit's low-income housing developments, nor Chicago's, but was the Jeffries complex the equivalent to the Cabrini-Green in Chi?

[LMich]

Detroit's public housing was/is more disperesed than other older cities, so there is no single "Cabrini-Green" in Detroit. Both the Jeffries and Brewster are pretty equally notorius/infamous.

It would be great if the city would do with Brewster-Douglass what they've done with Jeffries, that is, refurbish and upgrade the towers, but take out the low-rise sections and redevelop it mixed-income. I could imagine a "Brush Park/Paradise Valley Estates" very similar to the Woodbridge Estates at the Jeffries.

http://www.modeldmedia.com/galleries/Default/Dev%20News/Issue%2091-92/woodbridgeestates-0013.jpg

[jodelli]

Greektown and Caesars April 8/08:
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jodelli

[jodelli]

Do we know what kind of exterior lighting the Greektown hotel is going to have? Any night time renderings? Be nice to see, again, the most current renderings of what we're getting. I don't recall the mixed glass facade looking as noticeable/prominent in the pictures i've seen to date.

http://www.greektowncasino.com/GeneralInfo/2008.htm

jodelli

[subterranean]

Far and away my favorite of the 3 casino designs.

[hudkina]

I love how Greektown just dominates the small shops. Very nice.

[jodelli]

I love how Greektown just dominates the small shops. Very nice.

Looking at the rendering it appears to have another six or seven more floors to go.

[detmi7mile]

thanks for the updates...I'm loving the progress and I too love the design. It's my favorite design out of all the casinos in the city. Should look great on the skyline.

[jodelli]

Greektown Casino Hotel from the Guardian Building April 8 2008:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2245/2401355229_4b8a858120_b.jpg

jodelli

[TWDPres]

Where did you take that picture?

[zuelas]

^^^ looks like it's taken from the Guardian bldg

[skyfan]

Ex-athletes to turn 2 Detroit buildings into apartments

By Robert Ankeny

Detroit is adding more sports names to its list of developers that already includes the likes of Jerome Bettis and Dave Bing, with an $18 million project to convert two vacant historic Woodward Avenue retail buildings into a 70-unit loft rental project.

The Elliott and Pepper Shoe buildings, at 1403 and 1413 Woodward, are targeted for renovation by a partnership that includes East Lansing-based Sixty North L.L.C., whose principals are former Michigan State University and National Basketball Association players Mike Peplowski and Matt Steigenga.

Working with Sixty North is Cleveland-based 5M Group, consultants on finance and tax asset issues such as historic tax credits. That group, whose partners include New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, has advised numerous Detroit redevelopment projects including the Book Cadillac and the Fort Shelby hotels, partner Nancy Amstadt said.

On Thursday, the partnership received approval from the Downtown Development Authority to purchase the 8-story, 112-year-old Pepper Shoe Building for $1 million, slightly less than the DDA paid when it bought the building in 2005 as part of the Lower Woodward Strategy leading up to SuperBowl XL.

The partnership already has the Elliott Building, an S.S. Kresge Co. store when it opened in 1894, under contract, said Peplowski, formerly COO for Boji Group in Lansing.

He told the DDA board that testing to determine structural integrity of the two buildings would get underway soon and said occupancy could occur no later than spring of 2010.

Plans call for the apartments to range from 655-square-foot, one-bedroom units to 1,127-square-foot two-bedroom units, renting for $790 to $1,350 a month.

Peplowski said the units could be sold as condominiums after historic tax credits expire, usually in about five years.

Financing for the project is slated to come from a HUD D-4 loan of $10.8 million, investor equity of $3 million and tax asset credits of about $4 million, the development plan says

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080508/REG/498059156/1069

[the pope]

nice little addition.

[mhays]

As much as I love Detroit's old buildings, the new stuff is just as crucial. A mix of new and old says prosperity, and shows that the place is still valued today.

Great pics.

[EuphoricOctopus]

Detroit condo project puts discarded containers to use

http://cmsimg.freep.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=C4&Date=20080513&Category=BUSINESS04&ArtNo=805130314&Ref=H3&Profile=1017&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0

http://cmsimg.freep.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=C4&Date=20080513&Category=BUSINESS04&ArtNo=805130314&Ref=H5&Profile=1017&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0

BY JOHN GALLAGHER • FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER • May 13, 2008

The idea of putting people in empty shipping containers hardly evokes images of stylish urban living.

But a Detroit-based group hopes to use empty shipping containers to build one of the most unusual -- and certainly one of the most innovative -- residential projects in southeast Michigan.

The project would stack empty containers four high, cut in windows and doors, install plumbing, stairways and heating, and add amenities such as balconies and landscaped patios.

If it wins city approvals, the 17-unit condominium project could break ground this fall and open near Wayne State University in 2009. Steven Flum, a Detroit-based architect who designed the project, said it solves several problems at once, including the need to build environmentally sensitive buildings cheaply. The project is going to cost about $1.8 million, about 25% less than a normal condo project of similar quality would run.

"It's like building blocks," he said. "From the architect's point of view, the containers allow for creative urban design. They are innovative and modern, but also affordable."

The partners plan to build their prototype on the southeast corner of Rosa Parks and Warren, on lots now vacant or containing burned-out homes. They call their project "Exceptional Green Living on Rosa Parks."

The project will offer condominium units measuring 960 to 1,920 square feet. Prices will range from about $100,000 to around $190,000.

Any doubts might be dispelled by Flum's renderings of the project.

"People think they're going to be cubbyholes," Flum said. "They're going to be quite large and open."

The developer, Leslie Horn, chief executive of the Detroit-based Power of Green Housing organization, said using empty shipping containers is not a new idea.

"It's been done in Europe and, to a limited extent, in this country. But no one has looked at organizing the process on a larger scale incorporating a range of recycled materials and efficiencies that could save a homeowner as much as 60% annually in energy costs," she said.

Horn and Flum said they would use special insulating paint inside and out, high-efficiency water heaters and other energy-saving methods. But by far, the most environmentally friendly aspect of the project is the use of discarded shipping containers.

They estimate there are 700,000 empty shipping containers piling up near U.S. ports around the country, including at a yard near Fort and I-75 in Detroit. The containers tend to be cheaper to build new than to return to their country of origin, so once delivered here and emptied, they pile up by the thousands.

If successful, the prototype project could lead to widespread other uses of empty containers, Horn said, including student or emergency housing, temporary construction offices and infill houses in urban neighborhoods.

Want a preview? To see some of the innovative uses to which containers have been put in Europe, visit www.containercity.com (http://www.containercity.com/).

Meanwhile, a small version of one converted shipping container is featured in the exhibit Considering Architecture: Sustainable Designs from Detroit, running through July 28 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit in Detroit.

Contact JOHN GALLAGHER at 313-222-5173 or gallagher@freepress.com.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080513/BUSINESS04/805130314

[detmi7mile]

[LMich: It's just common courtesy to post pictures of a managable size. Please shrink them down and repost them. I'm sure we'd all enjoy seeing them at a much more appropriate size.]

[jodelli]

Looks like Greektown is getting near topping out. Guessing another 3 floors to go from the rendering.

http://www.greektowncasino.com/GeneralInfo/2008.htm

[toog05]

Yup that is what it looks like, three more floors and then the roof on top

[hudkina]

Nice pics, but you might seriously want to think about reducing the file size. That's over half a GB of downloading that everyone has to do! That first picture is 1,282,890 bytes. Most internet pictures (even at 1,024 x 768) don't need to be more than 300,000 bytes in size. Hell you can have a perfectly fine 800 x 600 picture at 80,000 bytes.

[subterranean]

Nice pics, but you might seriously want to think about reducing the file size. That's over half a GB of downloading that everyone has to do! That first picture is 1,282,890 bytes. Most internet pictures (even at 1,024 x 768) don't need to be more than 300,000 bytes in size. Hell you can have a perfectly fine 800 x 600 picture at 80,000 bytes.

Agreed! My 12" Powerbook just about had a heart attack. Thanks for sharing though.

[Cyclotron]

Thanks for starting this thread...I'm new on the forum and live in East Lansing. However, my work takes me to Detroit a couple times a week. I look forward to touring the remodeled Book Cadillac Hotel when it has its grand re-opening in October. Whenever I get the chance, I encourage visitors to Detroit to check out the beautiful lobby of the Guardian Building. And one other quick note before I log off and get back to work: I am interested in checking out the inside of the Book Tower. Do you think they would allow me to poke around inside and maybe ride up the elevator to get a look out the window? It's possible there might be a "public" area, e.g., a small restaurant or waiting room with a view.
There's something really fascinating about the architecture of that buiilding...I just am really curious to see what it looks like inside and find out a little about past tenants and its history. Does anyone know anything about it?

[America 117]

ive have been seeing alot of new developement in not just the big D but in troy and bermingham too

[jodelli]

Greektown Casino Hotel May 23, 2008
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3239/2516891484_2ce99fbc90_o.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3274/2516891568_b628d524e9_o.jpg

Also new graphics on the Ren Cen as of last week
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2319/2516068509_e4c0447265_o.jpg

[skyfan]

I thought Greektown was going to be taller than the BCBS Building, but with so few floors left to go that doesn't seem to be the case.

[jodelli]

I thought Greektown was going to be taller than the BCBS Building, but with so few floors left to go that doesn't seem to be the case.

Emporis lists BCBS at 97m. Greektown is going to be about 104m if I recall correctly. The BCBS is closer in the picture I took.

[subterranean]

Model D posted another video, this time on the Studio One Apartments on Woodward in Midtown:

Y5HYnuEURoQ

Model D does a wonderful job promoting the city.

[LMich]

Emporis lists BCBS at 97m. Greektown is going to be about 104m if I recall correctly. The BCBS is closer in the picture I took.

That, and the glass facade will extend 20-feet or so above the roof to hide the mechanical equipment, and such. It still looks short of the height it's supposed to be, though. Maybe I'll go recheck the information, if I can get an answer (since I was the one that originally researched the height).

[jodelli]

Maybe this is the wrong forum but:

Movement 2008: Detroit Electronic Music Festival this weekend.
Red Bull air races May 31 June 1.

Anybody getting pictures from these events?

[jasonic]

Maybe this is the wrong forum but:

Movement 2008: Detroit Electronic Music Festival this weekend.
Red Bull air races May 31 June 1.

Anybody getting pictures from these events?

I second that post. I would love to see pics from Movement, and in general see what kind of crowds have been in downtown this weekend. Thanks in advance to anyone who posts them.

Cheers,

Jason

[EuphoricOctopus]

I should of taken my camera, but alas I did not. DEMF was a blast. I got asked like 30 times if I wanted some E, and 4 times for coke. What kind of person do I look like here?

[LMich]

I should of taken my camera, but alas I did not. DEMF was a blast. I got asked like 30 times if I wanted some E, and 4 times for coke. What kind of person do I look like here?

But the real question is whether or not you were asked if you had some of either. :haha:

[hudkina]

No, the real question is how many bumps did you actually take?;)

[EuphoricOctopus]

Listen that was 2 years ago. I was drinking and Kwame invited me to the Manoogian Mansion.... I only snorted an 8 ball off of his chest! That's all! Honest.

[skyfan]

Update of work inside the Book-Cadillac from WWJ-AM who did a story on the hotel.

Rest of the gallery can seen here : http://www.wwj.com/pages/1238609


http://imgsrv.wwj.com/image/DbLiteGraphic/200805/2518543.jpg

Italian Garden

http://imgsrv.wwj.com/image/DbLiteGraphic/200805/2514946.jpg

http://imgsrv.wwj.com/image/DbLiteGraphic/200805/2514944.jpg

Lobby

http://imgsrv.wwj.com/image/DbLiteGraphic/200805/2514923.jpg

http://imgsrv.wwj.com/image/DbLiteGraphic/200805/2514921.jpg

Guest Room

http://imgsrv.wwj.com/image/DbLiteGraphic/200805/2514621.jpg

http://imgsrv.wwj.com/image/DbLiteGraphic/200805/2514647.jpg

http://imgsrv.wwj.com/image/DbLiteGraphic/200805/2514623.jpg

[subterranean]

Oh damn! That's great!

[TWDPres]

Here's something kind of interesting.
I found this picture of filming of "The Island", and I went on to google maps to get a picture of what the area really looks like:

Movie
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j176/fashioncat/30091a3b.jpg

Real
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3026/2536040455_a63a941e10_o.jpg

Some pretty interesting things they did. The thing I find interesting is that they made the street narrower.

Any thoughts?

[DetroitSky]

Thats unbelievable how good the Book-Cadillac looks. I must say I was amazed seeing those.

[NewDetroit1]

Any new pics of the Book Cadillac Garage?

[LMich]

Here's something kind of interesting.
I found this picture of filming of "The Island", and I went on to google maps to get a picture of what the area really looks like:

Movie
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j176/fashioncat/30091a3b.jpg

Real
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3026/2536040455_a63a941e10_o.jpg

Some pretty interesting things they did. The thing I find interesting is that they made the street narrower.

Any thoughts?

From what I can tell, they didn't make the street narrower.

[jodelli]

Apparently the useless Washington Blvd 1980 red pipes were transferred to Shelby a couple of blocks south and the old streetcar wires were left in place. Too bad the Hammond isn't there.

The Book Cadillac facade cleanup is standout.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3234/2538258774_7d44a01cea.jpg?v=1212215677

[illbred]

The Book is looking so nice. Same with the city, I can only imagine what will happen when our local and even national economy turns around. I think Detroit is reaching a tipping point and once it's over the edge, it will explode into the vibrant metropolis it is meant to be:wizard:

and thanks to everyone who takes pictures, they always look great!!
Anyone planning on getting some pics of the Air-race?? I hope to head down there and find some secret spot to watch (but I have a strange feeling many people will do the same)

[DetroitSky]

Here's the Book-Cadillac garage on May 18

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w206/urbanex12/Detroit%20Developments/p1040477.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w206/urbanex12/Detroit%20Developments/p1040485.jpg

[illbred]

Smaller light rail on woodward with private funds:
http://crainsdetroit.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080529/REG/298468638/1069/legislators-gilbert-penske-will-back-light-rail-on-woodward

[subterranean]

I'm so excited to see the BC in person this summer. And I'm glad to see that spot fill up next to it, even if it is only a parking structure without the proposed condos on top. At least it looks good for a parking structure, too. I wonder when they'll finish cleaning up the outside.

As for the private light rail...I hope this doesn't thwart the effort by the public because I think the Woodward line is a much better project. If this is designed by the private sector it's only going to cater to those investors' places downtown, not to mention that it's just a 3.4 mile loop. Didn't the city learn from the people mover? We need a light rail system that goes someplace, not just around a few blocks.

[jodelli]

Anyone planning on getting some pics of the Air-race?? I hope to head down there and find some secret spot to watch (but I have a strange feeling many people will do the same)

I'm going Sunday. Here's some from yesterday's practice.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2287/2538919663_c19bc4541b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3255/2539724512_10be54b770.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2127/2539724374_afb4aa35ee.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3151/2539724216_fddf259a52_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3113/2538901993_33927314b7_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2268/2538944235_0c37b65bb7_b.jpg

[illbred]

Pictures look cool, I hope it becomes a yearly event so I can actually go!!

[the pope]

Pictures look cool, I hope it becomes a yearly event so I can actually go!!

Not likely, Red Bull likes to spread around its events (Air Race, Fluetag, and that cart thingy).

[direfloyd]

Quicken update today in the Free Press!
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080602/BUSINESS04/806030364

[subterranean]

Way to be on the ball. Good news today.

[detmi7mile]

Awesome news. Well he has until November to chose a design I think and we never know the definition of a tower in this city (anywhere from 3 to 5 qualifies as a tower in some parts)...and thanks for the pics

oh yeah sorry guys about the HUGE pics i posted a couple of weeks ago...I will be doing another walking tour probably sometime this week because I need some pics for my site and I'll post those...at a considerably smaller size :cool:

[illbred]

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080603/BUSINESS04/806030395/1017/BUSINESS

I was gonna buy a penthouse but I'm about $1.297million short

[DetroitSky]

Here's a little restoration project I noticed in Indian Village yesterday on the Indian Village Home Tour:

The Bennett apartment building, April 2007:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w206/urbanex12/Detroit/100_5044.jpg

and yesterday:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w206/urbanex12/Detroit/p1050605.jpg

[hudkina]

It's nice that they restored it, but that vinyl siding makes it look ridiculously cheap. I'm surprised that there isn't some kind of local "neighborhood association" thing that bans cheap materials like that.

[subterranean]

I'm not a fan of the vinyl siding either, but that is a vast improvement over what it looked like previously. Wood siding costs an arm and a leg, and I'm not sure what other material could go there.

[America 117]

wow last time i was on this thread all the buildings that are built now were only proposed!

[detmi7mile]

wow last time i was on this thread all the buildings that are built now were only proposed!

time flies dont it? ;)

Hopefully the many other projects such as the Watermark and @water won't fall through....and I am patiently waiting on Quicken renderings..

[LMich]

I'd like to know what "all the buildings" are, personally. Much has been renovated; little in the way of large-scale new constructions have arisen.

[detmi7mile]

I'd like to know what "all the buildings" are, personally. Much has been renovated; little in the way of large-scale new constructions have arisen.

probably talking about the casino hotels and loft projects along woodward...and the BC of course.

[skyfan]

College for Creative Studies to Redevelop Detroit's Historic Argonaut Building

The College for Creative Studies (CCS) in Detroit is launching a $145 million expansion that will transform both the institution and the city's New Center neighborhood.

CCS announced Wednesday that it plans to redevelop the long-vacant Argonaut Building as the new home for its design programs, community outreach activities, research and professional activities in the design fields. Also included will be new student housing as well as charter middle and high schools. The opening planned for the fall of 2009.

General Motors Corp., which built the 760,000-square-foot building as its first research facility, has donated it to CCS and provided substantial assistance in planning the project. GM has also donated three adjacent pieces of property. CCS programs and departments will occupy about 70 percent of the Argonaut Building, with other partners making up the remainder.

http://www.wwj.com/College-for-Creative-Studies-to-Redevelop-Detroit-/2435061

[LMich]

Someone had reported on this some months back, but it's good to see the CCS announcing it meaning it seems to be a done deal. Supposedly, according to another story I saw on this, today, they began the renovation last month, so it's already happening.

[detmi7mile]

I will be following that one closely.

[detmi7mile]

Anybody got any news on Quicken?? When do they have to make a decision?

[LMich]

I recently posted something on this in the Midwest subforum:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=153346

Quicken has to choose between the two sites (old Hudson Block and Statler Block) for their headquarters by November, and he'll have another 15 months from November to decide if to build on the other of the two parcels.

[hudkina]

Hopefully by the time the second 15 month period is nearing an end, the housing market will be rebounding and they do decide to renovate the Lafayette Building into condos/apartments.

[detmi7mile]

Hopefully by the time the second 15 month period is nearing an end, the housing market will be rebounding and they do decide to renovate the Lafayette Building into condos/apartments.

That would be awesome. It so sad to have a great restoration of the BC with a blighted abandoned building right across the street. Michigan Ave. has so much potential.

[Michi]

Thanks for keeping the updates current. Are there any windows in the Pick Fort Shelby yet?

[testdrive]

I now live in Seattle but was back there last Feb and went to Indian Village as I rented a house there on Burns Street when I was in college many years ago. The area still looked reasonably good but the potential for those homes is amazing. I can almost envision what will happen when Detroit makes its comeback. That neighboorhood with those houses remodeled and the city fixing things like sidewalks, street lights etc. would be a standout in any city =o]

[detmi7mile]

No problem...as for the Fort Shelby, I'll let you know tomorrow :)

[detmi7mile]

Yes they do have windows on the upper floors...I'll post some pics when I get a chance.

[jodelli]

Model D posted another video, this time on the Studio One Apartments on Woodward in Midtown:


July 7.
The new Studio One on the right. There's work going on around the building but some units appear to be occupied.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3185/2652903682_6877bb2d9f_b.jpg

MOCAD. I apparently deleted the good one.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3160/2652157421_bd37496ca9_b.jpg

The Ellington Lofts at Mack. Its been around a couple of years now:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3145/2652259179_65723dd5ae.jpg

Zacarro's Market at Watson opened earlier this year:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3267/2652965420_794ddf5142.jpg

Hey, the guy's getting old. Maybe the Red Wings party did him in:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3296/2652157181_933aa3bb18.jpg

Another old timer awaits rehab. The Eddystone flanked by the Harbor Light Center to its left. The two year old Cass Tech peeks out between them, Masonic Temple to the far right.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3269/2653003284_39ba4eacb8_b.jpg

This development in Brush Park across the street is hopefully contagious, as the land between here and Park has all been leveled recently, including the former Motown Office building:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3208/2652307671_f05367125c_b.jpg

[detmi7mile]

great pics...thanks

[jodelli]

July 10
Tiger Stadium:

Got off the bus at Cass and Michigan and walked up to the Stadium.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2386/2656551786_fb072fa920_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3113/2656554538_532ce38b52_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3034/2655725109_7ef4f36368_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3021/2656554926_8222f84294_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3266/2655727181_29f4f0aa70_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3258/2656555980_bf983b0e60_b.jpg

Shelby Hotel reno:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3163/2655737519_719fdf3442_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3019/2656566666_fb4d40b296_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3127/2655759359_27bc19498d_b.jpg

Book Cadillac reno:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3256/2655760591_e132a0544d_b.jpg


Greektown:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3060/2656593300_a62e7e37e1_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3003/2655789081_640a74c573_b.jpg


Rosa Parks Terminal, Cass and Michigan:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3137/2655741971_0feac4b049_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3294/2655742907_064d84e9f9_b.jpg

[subterranean]

Awesome! Book and Shelby lookin' great!