DETROIT | Development & Construction: Motown Lowdown

[The North One]

Apparently, this is what the Shinola Hotel is going to look like:
http://imgur.com/oLKRgIM

[scs100]

The county is moving forward with the Gilbert bid for the site. The Walsh bid hasn't been completely ruled out in case a deal with Rock falls flat, but this is a promising development. http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/lo.../07/31/wayne-county-jail-site/104158090/

[Rizzo]

Originally Posted by The North One

Apparently, this is what the Shinola Hotel is going to look like:
http://imgur.com/oLKRgIM

Apparently? They have polished renderings on their official website. That's just a screengrab of a working model of the building

https://www.shinola.com/shinola-hotel

[Docta_Love]

Very good news indeed! I was hoping to hear something after the attendance at the other weeks game was a sell out of 37,000 and Gilbert & Gores put in a bid for a team. The MLS hinted that for a Detroit Franchise to get the green light it would need to be downtown so i assumed they were very confident of their chances on getting the site if they've began formalities for creating a new team.


Here's the original renderings from when it was first proposed, courtesy of Crain's Detroit.



Maybe now we will see a renewed push to remove I-375 as well.

[The North One]

Originally Posted by Hayward

Apparently? They have polished renderings on their official website. That's just a screengrab of a working model of the building

https://www.shinola.com/shinola-hotel

I know, but those renders never really showed us clearly what was going on in the back and it seems they added floors to the portion on the left. It also shows that the art deco low-rise is going to stay.

[LMich]

Are you talking about the little five-story Singer Building? Because that's always been part of the plan.




Michelle & Chris Gerard


Michelle & Chris Gerard


Michelle & Chris Gerard

[The North One]

No, if you click on the link I provided you can see the model shows a five story building with a balcony on the left side of the singer instead of the two story facade we see in the render.

[animatedmartian]

It seems like the 3D model keeps the buildings as is and builds new construction on top of them. The rendering shows them as demolished and new construction built in their place.

The latter is what ended up happening and so the project will end up looking something like the official renderings.


(source of image although it seems to be down as of right now)




(there's also 3 other construction projects in this view; the Wulitzer, the Metropolitan Building, and Hudson's)


http://www.bartonmalow.com/projects/shinola-hotel

^Something neato about this gap is that it was laser-scanned to get precise distances between the buildings since there was a bit of uncertainty about the thickness of the brick on each side. I could see how that'd get messy if parts of the new steel were 8 inches too long.


http://enewsletters.constructionexec.com...te-condition-data-saving-time-and-money/

[LMich]

Thanks for that, Animated! I wonder how the back of this block is going to be used; if it's part of this project?

[animatedmartian]

AFAIK, the part of the development that faces Farmer Street will have a restaurant or two towards John R. Though I'm not sure if anything mentioned about the bigger part of that block was more than "mixed-use". Maybe a banquet hall or more hotel rooms, I'm not sure.

[LMich]

Okay, I see The North One's post shows that this (the parking lot) is indeed part of the project. I wonder what's to become of the building on the corner?

[animatedmartian]

It's not apart of the project.

[bobjgumby]

Originally Posted by LMich

Okay, I see The North One's post shows that this (the parking lot) is indeed part of the project. I wonder what's to become of the building on the corner?

The building on the corner is supposed to remain unchanged. The steel has begun to rise between the Singer and TB Rayl buildings. I do not have any pictures at the moment but hope to soon.

[detroit_alive]

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

AFAIK, the part of the development that faces Farmer Street will have a restaurant or two towards John R. Though I'm not sure if anything mentioned about the bigger part of that block was more than "mixed-use". Maybe a banquet hall or more hotel rooms, I'm not sure.

You are correct. First floor is retail/restaurant spaces facing both Farmer and the alley. Second floor is event space and terrace. Third is mechanical. Fourth and fifth are hotel rooms.

[animatedmartian]

The Elton Park project in Corktown has been halted due to damage caused to the UFO Factory by a cement truck. You can see in the photo that it damaged the building to the point that it might likely have to be demolished.

The details in the article kind of leave a sour taste in your mouth if this really was nefarious in nature (then again, the other possibility is that the contractors were just sloppy). There's not much excuse these days for construction projects to damage existing buildings without intent.


http://www.dailydetroit.com/2017/08/03/u...arge-development-next-door-damages-wall/

[LMich]

Unless I hear some kind of claim of bad-blood, I'm not going to assume it was on purpose. The UFO Factory was clearly rendered into the renderings and everything. I think if it was intentional, they'd have finished the job and just knocked down the building "by accident." It's fortunate that no one was hurt.

[bobjgumby]

Originally Posted by LMich

Unless I hear some kind of claim of bad-blood, I'm not going to assume it was on purpose. The UFO Factory was clearly rendered into the renderings and everything. I think if it was intentional, they'd have finished the job and just knocked down the building "by accident." It's fortunate that no one was hurt.

Reading the articles and comments about it, it certainly sounds like the owners clearly think it was intentional. The UFO Factory has had to fight Soave in court about ownership and just last week UFO Factory turned down another offer to buy their building. At best it is very suspicious.

[subterranean]

I don't know much about the situation outside of what I just read in the article, but that place is probably lucky they haven't seen more 🞵🞵🞵🞵 slangin' given the marketing they do with their "New Detroit, MI" logo.

[animatedmartian]

Found something interesting today. A scale model of Downtown Detroit with Bedrock's properties. Looks they're trying to attract retailers into their properties during a convention that happened recently. Model includes the Monroe Block and Hudson's site proposals (soon to be under construction).











Source video.

Video Link

[animatedmartian]

Originally Posted by LMich

Unless I hear some kind of claim of bad-blood, I'm not going to assume it was on purpose. The UFO Factory was clearly rendered into the renderings and everything. I think if it was intentional, they'd have finished the job and just knocked down the building "by accident." It's fortunate that no one was hurt.

http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/mi...-factory-detroit-construction/541963001/

According to this Freep article, the UFO Factory owners actually sued Soave arguing that the vacant land around the bar was technically owned by the bar through adverse possession. Basically, since the bar was using the land next door for parking and access to the back door, they claimed that land was now theirs. The UFO Bar had their case dismissed in court last year.

That doesn't really seems like enough evidence to suggest Soave had any intent on damaging the UFO Bar, but it does give the UFO Bar fuel to perhaps get something out of Soave after losing the earlier legal battle. I don't know if it'd be anything other than monetary payments, but it'll be something.