You should also notice that Hotel Eddystone and Park Avenue are in the rendering.
Here's a quote from Freep on the two buildings:
Quote:
...
Christopher Ilitch, president and CEO of Ilitch Holdings, said they are considering ways to possibly incorporate the hotels into the arena district. But he stressed that reusing the buildings presents many challenges, as the structures are vertically out-of-scale with the other buildings planned to rise with the development.
And there are fresh plans for a new hotel near the arena. A third-party developer is looking to build one with 130 to 170 rooms that would go north of I-75 at Henry and Woodward.
So far, there have been no final decisions regarding the future of the Eddystone and Park Avenue. The buildings are on national historic registries, which qualifies them for potential redevelopment tax credits but it doesn’t preclude them from demolition.
“Our goal is to use those buildings in this project,” Ilitch said. “If we can’t figure out a way to use them productively, then they become liabilities, and they may go away.”
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http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...=2014307200121
I don't get why they're so against preserving them. The obvious productive use would be to renovate them for apartments as has been the case for many other historic high-rises in Detroit. What do they have to lose if they just confirm that they're going to renovate them?
