DETROIT | Development & Construction: Motown Lowdown

[LMich]

Yes, DetroitSky quoted the height in the article.

[LMich]

Big, big deal. Press release from the city:



SMART, DDOT announce unified payment system: Dart, a new way to pay for public transit

Transportation and elected officials from Metro Detroit announced today a unified payment system for the region’s bus systems, taking another step towards aligning SMART and DDOT. This new system, Dart, will launch on May 1. Dart will be a new way to pay for transit in Metro Detroit and make taking transit more seamless in the region for riders.

Dart passes will be available in 4-hour, 24-hour, 7-day and 31-day increments and customers will be able to use them interchangeably on SMART and DDOT buses, eliminating transfers and streamlining the number of fare options between the two systems. Reduced fare options will be available for seniors, people with disabilities, Medicare Cardholders, and youth. A Dart mobile app will be available this summer.

“The new Dart payment options will improve the experience for transit riders across Detroit and the metro region,” said Mayor Mike Duggan. “Dart will bring our two systems closer together with seamless transfers and more flexible payments making riding transit easier for everyone.”

[DetroitSky]

Originally Posted by lambe160

What Is going up in its place?

Lafayette West:



New diner Babo planned in Park Shelton as owner looks to 'reprogram' some retail space

A self-described "high-end diner" plans a summer opening in the Park Shelton in Detroit's Midtown as its landlord re-envisions some of the 12-story building's first-floor retail space.

Babo Detroit would serve breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as weekend brunch, owner Kris Lelcaj told Crain's. Lelcaj expects to open around mid-June, seating approximately 65 people in 1,964 square feet.

The new owner has cleaned the limestone of the historic building's facade and plans "minor" improvements such as landscaping, window work and some interior restoration, Sturgeon Bay Partners co-founder John Gibbs said. He wasn't immediately able to provide investment figures.

The joint venture wants to "reprogram" some of the office and retail space, Gibbs said, meaning finding new tenants in some cases. It is looking to accrue more foot traffic and work alongside the DIA as plans move forward to redesign parts of Midtown as a more walkable cultural center.

"For us, we prefer to kind of work with younger, exciting restaurant groups, or people like that, and we're just looking to bring some life to the building," Gibbs said.

He added that they're combining several vacant spaces into a larger offering for a yet-to-be-disclosed tenant that would move from downtown Detroit.

Home Sale Prices Increase Nearly 5% in Southeast Michigan, Nearly 49% in Detroit

The median price in Detroit increased 48.6 percent to $39,000, up from $26,240 the year before. While a big jump, Detroit home prices are still much lower than county averages – the average price increased 6.3 percent in Livingston County to $285,000, 5.5 percent in Macomb County to $174,000, 4.2 percent to $125,000 in Wayne County, and 2.7 percent to $257,200 in Oakland County.

[LMich]

That jump in Detroit is amazing. I know they are focusing on how low it still is, but, man, I remember back in 2009 when the median price was around $7,000, when you got all of those stories that lazily kept repeating how you could buy a house for the price of a used car. In any case, I hope things remain affordable for years.

[animatedmartian]

Now you can buy a house for the price of a base new car!

[DetroitSky]

Here's some photos from the last month or so:

Downtown






City Club Apartments CBD Detroit


Work on the ground floor of The Farwell


The entrance to the LinkedIn offices in the Fisher Arcade and Grinnell Bros buildings is on the ground floor of the Grinnell Building


MadCap Coffee is now open in the Shinola Hotel. This leaves only one vacant retail space at the hotel, directly behind MadCap on Parker's Alley


UBS office entrance in the Traver Building


Work has begun on the Women's City Club Building, an Ilitch property


Work has been continuing on the Marquette Building despite Adient pulling out and selling the building. I'm not sure if it has sold or not.


Some facade work being done on the Buhl Building


220 West

Midtown


2700 Riopelle, Eastern Market


Temple Detroit


2700 John R, City Modern


The Keleman


Brush Park Village North phase 2


James Place Lofts

Woodbridge


1797 W. Willis Street


1786 W. Willis Street


This one was on Avery Street


Putnam Street near Rosa Parks

Westside


Work has begun on Henry Ford Hospital's art space on Holden and Trumbull


Henry Ford Hospital's new garage behind the Brigitte Harris Cancer Pavilion

Corktown


Work has begun at North Corktown Cider Mill. They were removing debris from the second floor a few days after I took this. Haven't heard anything about this project.


Another building has begun construction at Tiger Towns at The Corner


Michigan Central Station


8th Street Row, Elton Park


8th Street and Elizabeth




The Crawford, Elton Park


The Robertson, Elton Park


2100 Trumbull, Elton Park


Checker Alley, Elton Park


The Corner

Core City


1716 Brainard. Notice the new garage on the right


The Cymbre, Trumbull and Ash


Ash House, 1577 Ash Street


Cox House, 2710 Harrison Street


Davies House, Harrison and Temple


Construction on Harrison

Eastside


Packard Administration Building


Renovations on Forest Park are complete and it seems much more active than it used to be. A lot of kids playing, people using the exercise machines, etc


Sweetest Heart of Mary Church steeple repairs


Some work on the main entrance to St. Albertus is occurring too


Demolition for the new court and jail continue on Russell


I posted this one last summer. It's on Moran in Poletown East


I've also posted about this one on E. Canfield in Poletown East. Looks great


1710 E. Grand


St. Paul on the BLVD, E. Grand at St. Paul


394 E. Grand Blvd.


610 E. Grand


381 E. Grand


262 E. Grand


9384 Emmons Street


8646 Kercheval


Gratiot Central Commons

[DetroitSky]

UBS to open downtown Detroit office next week

After a nine-month delay, UBS is set to open an office in downtown Detroit.

The office, which will house UBS Group AG's U.S. and Canadian wealth management business, New Jersey-based UBS Wealth Management Americas, was originally scheduled to open in mid-2018 at connected buildings at 1515 Woodward Ave. and 1529 Woodward Ave, which now makes up 1523 Woodward, owned by Detroit-based Bedrock LLC.

UBS instead will open an office on the third floor at 1201/1217 Woodward, also owned by Bedrock, at the corner of State Street and Woodward Ave. on April 22, John Bush, Michigan market head for UBS Wealth Management Americas, said.

^This also marks the end of 20+ years of the Traver being empty

Detroit MLS effort not dead yet as expansion process adds more cities

Detroit's chance at a Major League Soccer expansion team was thrown a lifeline Thursday when the league opted to widen its plan to include two more markets for a total of 30.

The ongoing expansion process, announced in late 2015, was to add four teams to reach to 28 clubs. Nashville, Cincinnati, and Austin were awarded teams according to that plan. (In a separate process, Miami also got a team.) MLS said Thursday after its board of governors meeting in Los Angeles that "the Commissioner's office was authorized to advance discussions with Sacramento and St. Louis ownership groups regarding their bids."

If those two cities are awarded teams, that would leave one market left in the strategy to reach 30 teams. MLS said it is in talks with other cities besides Sacramento and St. Louis but didn't disclose them.

In fast-changing 'Greater Corktown,' team of firms to shape growth

Detroit — A team of international firms — whose work ranges from designing the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture to hydrogen-powered public buses in England — is expected to help shape development in the fast-changing “Greater Corktown.”

City officials notified area residents in early April that the team led by the Chicago-based firm Perkins + Will will create the “Greater Corktown Framework.”

The team, made up of seven firms from a variety of disciplines, will soon begin a months-long campaign to determine what kind of development should be permitted and where; what spaces should remain open and be enhanced; what kind of infrastructure upgrades are needed; what kind of steps are needed to have some affordable housing, among other things.

City documents state the goal is to “create a framework that recognizes the great potential for inclusive growth of Detroit’s oldest established neighborhood while preserving its cultural integrity.”

Construction on Pine and Vermont

[DetroitSportsFan]

Thanks for the updates! Regarding the building being renovated at 220 west congress, I found this website with renderings. Not sure if they’re current or accurate, but thought I’d share anyways.

https://www.bascomi.com/220-west-congress

[LMich]

Originally Posted by DetroitSky

Here's some photos from the last month or so:

I'm laughing so hard at Brush Park Village North; that style looks so out of place and cheap in the neighborhood, now. James Place Lofts turned out differently than what I thought the renderings showed, but not necessarily in a bad way.

The Farwell renovation is looking really good. And while 9100 on Gratiot may be nothing to remember, I've seen much worse done for neighborhood infill.

[subterranean]

I'm trying to get back to Michigan in August for my...20-year class reunion. Thanks for the road map on my Detroit visit.

[DetroitSky]

Glad you all enjoyed the update!

$10 million renovation of Breithaupt tech school in Detroit completed

A $10 million renovation of Breithaupt Career Technical Center on Detroit's west side has been completed.

The project was announced nearly two years ago and is part of an effort to recharge the career and technical education training of the Detroit Public Schools Community District.

Project completion was celebrated Thursday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Mayor Mike Duggan, Superintendent Nikolai Vitti and other dignitaries and sponsors, according to a city news release.

Historic LGBTQ bar and nightclub to reopen in Detroit

Backstreet, a storied venue in Detroit's LGBTQ bar scene, is making its return in a new location next month when the historic nightclub reopens on Livernois as the Backstreet at Large Multiplex.

Managing owner Doug Keller, 42, told the Free Press that he and co-owner Stephan Richardson, 32, are still waiting for the city to complete inspections but are expecting to officially open their doors during the second or third week of May. The actual date will be announced on the club's Facebook page.

While some renovations are ongoing, Keller said a soft opening night held March 23 was a "big success," drawing more than 900 people.

[DetroitSky]

Highland Park Opens First Bar in Decades

As WDET previously reported, it’s been decades since anyone can remember a bar in Highland Park. That is changing tonight with the official opening of Woodward Ave. Bar & Grille.

George Smith is one of the managers of the establishment. He says the upscale sports bar and music venue will fill a void in Highland Park.

“It means that our people, people in the community, don’t have to go downtown to have somewhere nice to sit and have a drink or listen to some music,” said Smith.

Woodward Ave. Bar & Grille (not to be confused with an iconic Detroit gay bar of a similar name) is owned by Lawrence J. Johnson, a longtime Highland Parker and crane operator at U.S. Steel. He bought the building in 2017 and did most most of the renovations himself.

The space includes a pool table, a small dance floor and outdoor patio seating. Live music will be Wednesdays and DJ nights will kick off with “Thirsty Thursday” and run through Saturday.

[DetroitSportsFan]

https://amp.detroitnews.com/amp/3537834002

HBO is airing a doc on the “District Detroit” and the Ilitches broken promises tomorrow

[LMich]

Originally Posted by DetroitSky

Highland Park Opens First Bar in Decades

That looks to be right next door to city hall.

[subterranean]

Liquor store across the street, bar next door lol.

[Detroit]

A few pics I snapped today. Statler from 8th floor of Detroit City Club Apartments, OCM expansion from 20th.

[SonoftheRustBelt]

Originally Posted by Detroit

A few pics I snapped today. Statler from 8th floor of Detroit City Club Apartments, OCM expansion from 20th.

Hope y'all don't mind an outsider chiming in but these seem so underwhelming for the site honestly. Forgive me if that's been said before. Hopefully demand for downtown living in Detroit will rise enough in the coming decades that something more prominent takes its place; in this regard it helps that the structure is made of wood.

[DetroitSportsFan]

Originally Posted by SonoftheRustBelt

Hope y'all don't mind an outsider chiming in but these seem so underwhelming for the site honestly. Forgive me if that's been said before. Hopefully demand for downtown living in Detroit will rise enough in the coming decades that something more prominent takes its place; in this regard it helps that the structure is made of wood.

Most people here will agree with you, It’s definitely underwhelming for the site. However, it’s nice to see something go there finally, as downtown has way too many empty lots.

[DetroitSky]

Waymo to build self-driving cars in Detroit, invest $13.6 million in factory

Waymo has reached an agreement with American Axle & Manufacturing to lease a factory in Detroit, where it will integrate its self-driving systems onto vehicles provided by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Jaguar, the Google affiliate announced Tuesday.

Waymo will invest $13.6 million to adapt an existing plant within the supplier's Holbrook Avenue campus and could eventually grow to 200,000 square feet and hundreds of workers. The size of the footprint Waymo will open with later this year is not clear.

The move will create Waymo's first full-fledged assembly plant for the purpose of retrofitting vehicles with self-driving systems and marks an expansion into the cradle of the traditional auto industry.

In January, when Waymo laid out its ambitions to find a manufacturing facility in Southeast Michigan, it said as many as 400 engineers from Canada's Magna International Inc., a Waymo partner, could eventually be hired to perform the system integration. Waymo did not say Tuesday how many employees would be hired initially.

"We've found the perfect facility in Detroit," Waymo CEO John Krafcik said Monday. "We will partner with American Axle & Manufacturing to repurpose the existing facility, bringing a work force back to an area where jobs in the automotive industry were recently lost."

Real Estate Insider: Pullman Parc for-sale units hit the market

More for-sale multifamily residences are now on the market in Detroit, this time in the Pullman Parc development.

Farmington Hills-based Hunter Pasteur Homes said today that 81 multifamily residences across three different style types — townhomes, park homes and corner flats — are now available for sale. Prices range from $250,000 to north of $750,000.

Townhomes are 1,700 to 3,500 square feet, park homes are 1,300 to 2,100 square feet and corner flats are 620 to 950 square feet, according to a press release.

Vertical construction is expected to begin in the late summer, with earthwork starting this spring, according to a press release.

Flagstar Bank, other corporations partner with neighborhoods in city’s revitalization efforts

At a press conference on April 22, city officials and representatives for Flagstar Bank announced that the bank’s $5 million contribution to the fund would be deployed in Old Redford on the city’s far northwest side. The city’s Northwest Neighborhood Framework plan was presented in July 2018, and presumably this commitment will fund future projects there.

”Old Redford is a proud Detroit community rich in potential,” said Sandro DiNello, CEO of Flagstar Bank, who grew up in the neighborhood. “The spirit of the community, combined with our commitment, has all the makings of a great partnership.”

New Fitzgerald greenway offers clues on what's next with Detroit's biking infrastructure

Spanning about a half-mile in length, the new greenway will connect the local neighborhood with two local colleges, Marygrove and U-D Mercy. Designed with pedestrians and bicyclists in mind, the nonmotorized path will be located south of West McNichols Road along a route that stretches between Livernois to the east and Greenlawn to the west. It will feature both an on-street section along Grove street and an off-street portion crossing through an area that includes Ella Fitzgerald Park, a 2.5-acre community recreation area that opened last July. The construction phase of the greenway, which will cost an estimated $750,000, is set to kick off in May and should be completed this fall.

And yet, there's a whole lot more to the pathway than just where it sits on the map. The new greenway is part of a broader effort called the Fitzgerald Revitalization Project, one of 14 neighborhood framework planning efforts taking place citywide right now. Led by the City of Detroit with the support from the Kresge Foundation and a Reimagining the Civic Commons grant, the Fitzgerald Revitalization effort seeks to transform publicly owned vacant land and buildings in the area for the benefit of the surrounding community.

[LMich]

Happy to see Pullman Parc hit the market. I'm always thankful for this kind of quality infill; it's like the City Modern of Lafayette Park. In a perfect world, you'd have something like this going up in Cass Park at the same time, but we know who owns Cass Park so nothing like that will ever happen so long as they own that land.

Anyway, a shot from within Elton Park by a Crain's reporter:


https://twitter.com/kirkpinhoCDB/status/1120781074752262144