METRO DETROIT | Development & Projects

[X E N O]

This thread is for development updates for the Detroit metropolitan area.

All cities, villages, and townships from the following counties will be included in this thread:

• Lapeer (Lapeer, etc.)
• Livingston (Brighton, Howell, etc.)
• Macomb (Chesterfield Township, Clinton Township, Macomb Township, St. Clair Shores, Shelby Charter Township, Sterling Heights, Warren, etc.)
• Monroe (Monroe, etc.)
• Oakland (Auburn Hills, Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Bloomfield Township, Farmington Hills, Northville, Novi, Pontiac, Rochester, Rochester Hills, Royal Oak, Southfield, Troy, Waterford Township, West Bloomfield Township, etc.)
• St. Clair (Port Huron, etc.)
• Wayne (Canton, Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, Grosse Pointe, Livonia, Northville, Plymouth, Redford Township, Taylor, Westland, etc.)

Success! Pontiac Silverdome implodes in a cloud of dust in 2nd attempt

John Wisely and Brian Manzullo
Detroit Free Press
December 4, 2017



The second time's a charm.

Crews tried once again to demolish the upper ring of the Pontiac Silverdome on Monday afternoon after Sunday's failure, and this time they succeeded, or at least made progress.

https://www.freep.com/story/news/loc...try/920791001/

[X E N O]

New $31 million condo complex planned for downtown Rochester, developers want input

Natalie Broda
The Oakland Press
May 24, 2017



A new condominium complex is in the planning stages for downtown Rochester and its developers are looking for community input on the project.

412 Water, named after its location downtown, will consist of three, four-story buildings with about 14 units per building and enclosed parking on the first floor. The approximately $31 million development is intended to serve an upscale market of buyers, a population that according to Joe Salome, partner with Grandview Building Inc., is currently underserved in Rochester.

http://www.theoaklandpress.com/gener...ers-want-input

[deja vu]

Thanks for this thread idea. But bear in mind that Flint and Ann Arbor both have dedicated threads already and updates for these regions should be posted there.

Ann Arbor

Flint

[X E N O]

Originally Posted by deja vu

Thanks for this thread idea. But bear in mind that Flint and Ann Arbor both have dedicated threads already and updates for these regions should be posted there.

Ann Arbor

Flint

Duly noted. I've updated the OP.

[X E N O]

$80 million condo project springs to life in Birmingham

Jay Grossman
hometownlife.com
October 19, 2017



Location, luxury and lots of money are the key components in the $80 million Brookside Terrace development going up on North Old Woodward in downtown Birmingham.

The five-story building overlooks the Rouge River and will include 28 condominium units that start at $1.7 million – or north of $875 per square foot. Developer Matt Shiffman said there’s nothing comparable in the Michigan marketplace in terms of price and polish.

http://www.hometownlife.com/story/mo...ham/775803001/

[X E N O]

Detroit Zoo to build $10M Great Lakes Nature Center in Macomb County

Bill Laitner and Christina Hall
Detroit Free Press
February 13, 2018



The Detroit Zoo’s director stood beside Macomb County leaders Tuesday to announce that within a year the zoo would begin construction of “a world-class freshwater nature center” at a site yet to be chosen in the county.

The new Great Lakes Nature Center is to cost “at least $10 million” and to house “at least 20,000 square feet” of aquariums, animal habitats and displays on the science and ecology of the lakes, Detroit Zoo CEO Ron Kagan said.

https://www.freep.com/story/news/loc...ure/331632002/

[Docta_Love]

Edit sorry the story is from 2015 but there was never any more information put out on the project that I could find even though phases 1 & 2 are complete, perhaps they didn't want to let anyone know how plain looking they were making the buildings.

I got one it's right down the street from me considering I see it every day figured i'd add it in. Back in 2015 Google signed a lease at an office building on the s.w. corner of 12 mile and Farmington for a call center. At the same time on the opposite side of Farmington Road the city was apparently about to condemn the h.q. of a former insurance. The site it was subsequently torn down and has already been replaced by a Courtyard Marriott and a Holiday Inn which just opened. Site prep for the 3rd hotel unnamed as of 2015 is progressing with construction to most likely start soon.

BTW there have been new 7 hotels counting this 3rd which work is starting on now that have been built in or on the border of F.H. in the past 2-3 years there is one at 14 mile and Orchard Lake in West Bloomfield and one at 14 and Haggerty in Commerce Twp.

3 hotels planned for office park in Farmington Hills

JC Reindl
Detroit Free Press
March 26, 2015



Blueprints of the three proposed hotels. The far right hotel would be a Courtyard by Marriott and built first. The middle hotel would be a Holiday Inn and built second. The third hotel may then follow. (Photo: Provided by City of Farmington Hills)




The former Farmington Hills headquarters of what was Alexander Hamilton Life Insurance...

The Hamilton building had a handful of office tenants after the insurance workers left and was eventually condemned by the city. Today six weathered statues of lions stand sentinel over its former entrance gates.

https://www.freep.com/story/money/bu...ills/70391556/



Link to an article about the F.H. Google call center. -

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...rmington-hills


Link to PDF report on health of Metro Detroit hotel market its from last year but using the most current data from then it explains why they expect the boom to continue as a healthy market continues to successfully absorb new rooms coming online. -

https://www.madonna.edu/pdf/Detroit_Hotel_Industry.pdf

[deja vu]

^ I had no idea that was happening - it's been a while since I've been around there. I didn't even realize that the colonial-style buildings were gone. They weren't architecturally amazing by any stretch of the imagination, but they were a landmark for me when I was younger and driving to visit family in the area.

[deja vu]

Here's another one from Rochester Hills - set to open this Spring (at M-59 and Crooks Road) -

Griffin Claw Readies For Unveiling of Big, New Rochester Hills Brewing Facility
Brenna Houck | EaterDetroit
January 2, 2018

Griffin Claw Brewing Company is preparing to unveil its Rochester Hills production facility in 2018 with plans to begin canning a fleet of small-batch beers on site. The four-year-old Birmingham-based brewery took over the former Eastside Mario's American Italian Eatery building in 2016. At double the size of its Birmingham brewery, the new 33,000-square-foot building will house a 20-barrel brew house, a larger cooler, more distilling equipment, and a second canning and kegging line...

Here's an early rendering, from 2016:

Source: EaterDetroit

I must say, the finished product turned out quite a bit different:

Source: Crain's Detroit

[deja vu]

Last week, Royal Oak City Planning Commission approved the site plan and granted a zoning variance for a new five story apartment building downtown. The name for the new building (Billings Pace) will reflect the fact that it will be on the current site of Billings Lawn Equipment (221 N. Main St). The plan is for the units to be rentable at first, and sold as condos later, depending on demand. It will be right across from the new Main North Lofts, further adding to the growing density in this booming area.

65-unit apartment project gets OK on Main Street in Royal Oak’s downtown
Mike McConnell | Oakland Press
February 16, 2018

The Billings Lawn Equipment store on Main Street north of 11 Mile in Royal Oak is slated to be developed into a five-story apartment building. The city’s Planning Commission granted a zoning variance for the project to move ahead this week...


Source: Oakland Press | Courtesy Krieger + Klatt

[Docta_Love]

Originally Posted by deja vu

^ I had no idea that was happening - it's been a while since I've been around there. I didn't even realize that the colonial-style buildings were gone. They weren't architecturally amazing by any stretch of the imagination, but they were a landmark for me when I was younger and driving to visit family in the area.

Yeah I know what you mean the area is not easy to see because it's set back with a bank and other offices fronting 12 Mile but there's a nice view coming north on Farmington as you pass over 696 and come down the hill.

[Docta_Love]

Dearborn's west downtown poised for surge in development

By KIRK PINHO
Crain's Detroit Business
February 18, 2018



Wagner Place, a $60 million project by Ford Land Development Corp., the real estate arm for Ford Motor Co., is expected to result in about 600 employees moving there this summer.



-Wagner Place draws interest from other developers
-Boom in new housing, retail expected
-Face of west downtown Dearborn changing as millennials move in


The shape of west downtown Dearborn is poised to change in the next several years as Ford's massive Wagner Place development spurs a boom interest in the area.

Wagner Place, a $60 million project by Ford Land Development Corp., the real estate arm for Ford Motor Co., is expected to result in about 600 of the automaker's and its suppliers' data insights and analytics employees moving there this summer through relocation and consolidation once completed.

It's a catalytic effort that will reshape the western end of Dearborn's central business district along Michigan Avenue.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...in-development

[Docta_Love]

Nonprofit aims to renovate Pontiac middle school for affordable senior housing

By ANNALISE FRANK
Crain's Detroit Business
February 20, 2018





A vacant school in Pontiac could get a makeover as an affordable senior living complex.
Venture Inc., a subsidiary of the nonprofit Oakland Livingston Humane Service Agency, is planning a $10.9 million renovation of the 108,000-square-foot Washington Middle School at 710 Menominee Rd.

Venture aims to preserve the two-story building built in the 1920s, and is looking at low-income housing tax credits and state historic tax credits — if Venture can get it designated as a Michigan historic site — to fund the project, said Brad Michaud, president of Venture and chief financial officer of OLHSA.

Venture would aim to buy the building from its current owner after funding comes through, and then start renovations this fall and expect to finish in late 2019, Michaud said.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...ordable-senior

[deja vu]

^Dearborn is looking good.

Playing off of Xeno's first post, more condos approved in Rochester (Hills) -

Rochester Hills City Council approves condominium plans
Andrea Peck | Oakland Press
January 30, 2018

The Rochester Hills City Council unanimously approved at the Jan. 22 meeting a final site plan for The Commons South, a future condominium development. The approved site plan calls for a 12-unit, single family condo development on 3.98 acres on the north side of Shortridge Road, east of Livernois. According to an agenda summary available to view on the Rochester Hills website, the site is surrounded by residential zoning with homes and is master planned residential...

[deja vu]

A preliminary neighborhood meeting revealed a lot of negative comments for a new development planned in Novi at 13 mile and Old Novi Rds. Concept plans show 57, three-story townhouse units. Preliminary site plans have not been submitted for review yet -

Neighbors skeptical about latest development proposal in Novi
Maria Taylor | Hometown Life
February 12, 2018

...The Robertson Bros. development, called Lakeview Townes, would encompass 4.5 acres along both sides of Old Novi Road: 30 units on the east side and 27 on the west side, priced in the high $200,000 range. Concept plans show three-story townhouses with a two-car garage on the first floor, standing 33 feet tall and measuring 1,500 square feet total. With two or three bedrooms per unit and small 25-foot backyards, they’re meant to attract first-time homebuyers in the market for new construction, similar to the recent development near 12½ Mile and Novi roads...


Source: Hometown Life

[Docta_Love]

United Shore HQ relocation gets $1.9 million in brownfield financing

By KIRK PINHO
Crain's Detroit Business
February 27, 2018





-Mortgage company moving from Troy to Pontiac
-Spent $80 on former Hewlett Packard Enterprise building, renovations, 60 acres of land
-It said project could be slowed, scale reduced without state grant


The Michigan Strategic Fund approved the financing Tuesday. According to an MSF board memo, without the incentive, the project to move the mortage company's more than 2,000 employees to 585 South Blvd. would be reduced in scope, take more time to complete and future United Shore growth "would likely take place in California where the majority of (its) customers are located."

....

United Shore has grown from 400 to 2,200 employees in the last seven years, according to the MSF memo.

HAP to move Southfield operations to United Shore's Troy building

By KIRK PINHO
Crain's Detroit Business
February 23, 2018



Detroit-based Health Alliance Plan is subleasing 180,000 square feet in the 275,000-square-foot former United Shore Financial Services LLC headquarters building in Troy.


Health Alliance Plan of Michigan will be the new occupant of the United Shore Financial Services building in Troy.

The Detroit-based nonprofit health plan announced it will move 1,100 employees and contractors from its building in Southfield at 21700 Northwestern Hwy. to 1414 E. Maple Road, a building being vacated by United Shore as it moves to a new headquarters in Pontiac later this year, according to a Friday evening new release.

HAP is subleasing its 180,000 square feet of space in the 275,000-square-foot Troy building from Detroit-based Henry Ford Health System, its parent company. It will remain in its buildings in Detroit and Flint.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...-troy-building

[Docta_Love]

Good Business sense

Icahn Automotive expands its footprint in metro Detroit

By TYLER CLIFFORD
Crain's Detroit Business
February 28, 2018


Icahn Automotive Group LLC has added four more service centers in metro Detroit to its portfolio.

Each location will be transformed into Pep Boys Service and Tire Centers, a news release said.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...-metro-detroit

[DetroitSky]

Some projects I've photographed the past few days in the suburbs:

City Apartments, Tienken Road near Rochester Road in Rochester Hills. Will be 4 floors when completed.


Residences at Royal Park, a new residential component at the Royal Park Hotel in Rochester


Six Points of Auburn Hills. There's a total of 6 buildings like this in the project.


Homewood Suites, Novi


New parking garage in Royal Oak, built on the site of a parking lot.


150 West 2nd Street, Royal Oak


Hyatt Place, Royal Oak


460 North Main Street, directly north of Hyatt Place in Royal Oak. Will be residential.


Ferndale Haus Lofts, downtown Ferndale.

[deja vu]

^ Great updates. Thanks for the photos!

[Docta_Love]

^^Yea right on thanks detroitsky for doing a metro update as well as that sweet city one.

Wilson Foundation to invest $5 million for public parks in Southeast Michigan

By KURT NAGL
Crain's Detroit Business
March 01, 2018


-Detroit-based nonprofit working with KaBOOM! and Tony Hawk Foundation
-Built to Play initiative will take place over the next several years
-Work on public spaces to begin this spring


The Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation plans to invest up to $5 million in a new initiative that aims to build two "destination" playgrounds, as many as 10 skateparks and several play spaces across Southeast Michigan.

The Detroit-based foundation is working with nonprofit groups Tony Hawk Foundation and KaBOOM! for the initiative called Built to Play, which will take place over the next several years, said Jim Boyle, vice president of communications and strategy for the foundation. It also includes an up to $5 million investment in western New York, the foundation's other focus area.

....

To work toward that goal, the foundation is providing funds for nonprofits or municipalities through the Tony Hawk Foundation to build up to 10 skateparks, and through KaBOOM! to build two large playgrounds and up to 10 play space installations.

KaBOOM! is to release more information about applications to build public spaces this month and plans to award grants in August. Design for the two playgrounds will begin this spring and builds are to take place July-October, according to a news release from the foundation.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...s-in-southeast

Businesses in downtown Birmingham brace for Old Woodward closure

By KURT NAGL
Crain's Detroit Business
March 01, 2018


-Project scheduled to run from end of March through July
-New road, sidewalks, sewer lines, water main and lighting planned
-City, partners plan patron incentives to mitigate losses



Beginning late March, Old Woodward Avenue in downtown Birmingham will be closed to traffic for four months as crews work to replace the road, sewer system, sidewalks and water main.




The main four-block stretch through the city's swanky center, from Brown Street to Oakland Avenue, is scheduled to close to vehicle traffic in late March for at least four months. And Maple Road will be restricted to one or two driving lanes, with no room available for stopping or parking.

The $7 million overhaul of downtown Birmingham's aging infrastructure has been in the works for a while, but that has not made it much easier to bear for business owners who rely on foot and vehicle traffic to survive and who have to figure out logistics challenges of receiving deliveries.

At the same time, a $3.4 million state construction project planned to start in April on Woodward Avenue from 14 Mile to Quarton roads will almost certainly make it even tougher to access the city's downtown.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...odward-closure

Consumers Energy to stop burning coal by 2040
Utility plans to generate 40% of its power from renewables

By John Flesher AP Environmental Writer
Crain's Detroit Business
February 19, 2018





Consumers Energy Co. will phase out electricity production from coal by 2040 to slash emissions of heat-trapping gases that cause global warming, the Michigan utility's president and CEO announced Monday.

The utility plans to generate 40 percent of its power from renewable sources such as wind and solar energy by then, Patti Poppe said in an interview ahead of the public announcement. She said the utility will also will rely on natural gas, hydropower and improved efficiency to meet customer needs.

Jackson-based Consumers Energy and Detroit-based DTE Energy Co., which supply most of Michigan's electricity, are among many U.S. providers moving away from coal even as President Donald Trump's administration boosts fossil fuels and seeks to unravel former President Barack Obama's policies that promoted cleaner power.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...g-coal-by-2040