DETROIT | Development & Construction: Motown Lowdown

[LMich]

This building nearly sold for only $1.8 million back in 2014.


Salwan Georges, Detroit Free Press

Plans in the works for this prime downtown Detroit building

Oh what a difference three years makes.

Amid a strengthening downtown real estate market, Wayne County reached a tentative agreement to sell a downtown Detroit office building near Campus Martius for $4.65 million to the Elia Group, according to a joint press release on Sunday.

The deal for the four-story, 29,968-square foot building along Woodward Avenue in the shadow of the towering 40-story Guardian Building still needs approval by the Wayne County Commission. But if it comes together, the sale's price would be more than double the amount tentatively agreed to in 2015 with a different prospective buyer.

Plans:

Completed in 1972, the glass-covered former bank building is at the southern-most stop on the QLINE. Plans for the building include two first-floor tenants: an unidentified restaurant and a joint downtown Detroit-Wayne County welcome center. Above that would be three floors of office space, including for the Downtown Detroit Partnership.

[LMich]

Next month's Planning Commission agenda has a few Brush Park projects making it through the works.

1. Brush House (Brush/Erskine): This is the for amendment of the existing PD (Planned Development) for 168 units with groundfloor retail and commercial space with a level of underground parking.



2. Brush 8 (Brush/Watson): This is an amendment of the PD for 8 townhome units across the street from Brush House.



3. Brush Park Form-Based Overlay District: Looks like the city is finally getting around to starting the formal process of the adoption of a Form-Based Code for Brush Park. The city has required all new developments to conform to the draft Form-Based Code for many months, now, but it's never been formally adopted. Mostly, the city has been able to do this because they owned much of the empty land in the district upon which most of the new development is riding. The new overlay zone covers everything within the Brush Park Historic Detroit plus the Brewster-Wheeler Recreation Center Historic District, and even some parcels outside the historic district.

[DetroitSky]

Originally Posted by LMich

This building nearly sold for only $1.8 million back in 2014.


Salwan Georges, Detroit Free Press

Plans in the works for this prime downtown Detroit building

There was also once plans 10-15 years ago to demolish it and replace it with a parking garage for the Guardian. I hope these plans go through. I was able to take a pretty thorough walk downtown today and noticed some other renovations on formerly "hopeless" vacant properties. There's really only a handful of empty buildings without plans downtown now.

Found some renderings on the Elia Group's website:

[LMich]

What a huge improvement at ground level that will be. Wow.

It should also be mentioned that what made this building so difficult to tear down, thank god, was that it carries the cooling towers for the Guardian on its roof.

[Rizzo]

Originally Posted by LMich

This building nearly sold for only $1.8 million back in 2014.


Salwan Georges, Detroit Free Press

Plans in the works for this prime downtown Detroit building



Plans:

I could almost imagine a flagship tenant like apple occupying a space like this. Have this thing be a totally transparent box

[DetroitSky]

Detroit-style pizza maker Shield's is opening a Midtown location

Andoni says renovations are underway at the new restaurant, which is in the Wayne State University-owned Maccabees Building at 5057 Woodward Ave. It'll likely open in early January.

Andoni and his brother and co-owner, Peter Andoni, are working with designer Ron and Roman Associates, which recently did the Shield's Troy store's renovation. Paul Andoni says to expect some similar elements as in the Troy location, but the 185-seat restaurant with a full bar will also be tailored to fit the historic building.

The location will offer pick up and dine in service, as well as catering and brunch service.

I posted about Spread Deli in one of my updates a few months back. They opened on November 19th.
Midtown Detroit's Latest Addition: Spread Deli And Coffee

New Detroit restaurants just keep on coming. The latest: Spread Deli and Coffee, which opened Monday at 4215 Cass Ave.

It offers bagels, deli sandwiches (pastrami, corned beef, turkey) and other items from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Also, 48307 over on DetroitYes posted a photo from earlier today showing that foundation work at the Hudson's site has progressed from the southeast corner:

[The North One]

The layoffs at Hamtramck suck, how likely is the plant to be repurposed into other jobs or brought back into making different cars?

[animatedmartian]

Originally Posted by The North One

The layoffs at Hamtramck suck, how likely is the plant to be repurposed into other jobs or brought back into making different cars?

Depends on whether GM sees it as cost effective to do so. Pretty much any plant can make any car, it's just a matter of retooling the plant so that it's capable of doing so. The car companies actually do this every time the model of a car changes so it happens somewhat regularly. Usually the plant is only down for a couple of weeks per year.

As for actually making different cars specifically at Hamtramck, it's a bit more complicated. The car companies use a myriad of factors in determining where to build what car but almost always if a car is moved from one plant to another, the plant losing the car will be closed.

These plants are also purpose built to make cars. It'd be very hard to use that space for anything else other than a car factory. And usually the car companies don't have a need to buy other company car plants so there's 99% chance the Hamtramck Plant will be torn down if nothing changes before 2019.

[Warrenite84]

So true. FCA had some difficulties retooling Sterling Heights Assembly Plant from mid size cars to trucks. Many issues crop up when the larger bodies move through the assembly line during turns in the line or from floor to floor.

[LMich]

Not Detroit specific, but I found it pretty interesting Michigan had the second-highest GDP growth by state in Q2 of this year. This seems to have been driven by "durbale goods" manufacturing during that quarter. Exactly what those were, I'm sure.


https://www.bea.gov/news/2018/gross-domestic-product-state-2nd-quarter-2018

[The North One]

^ That's interesting since peak auto-industry sales were awhile ago.

[animatedmartian]

Michigan was coming off a very low base. I think we lost more jobs than any other state from 2004 to 2009. It's only very recently that we've made up for lost ground since the recession, but still way behind the peak reached in the late 90s.

I'm still kind of annoyed at how dependent on the auto industry Michigan is because it still feels pretty vulnerable. Even with changes in other parts of Michigan's economy, it's all still a fraction of the pie compared to the dominance of the auto industry. But I'm still hoping it won't be a repeat of the last decade. One plant closing in the region is pretty bad, but 10 years ago, it seemed like a plant on every corner was closing up. It was reaaal bad.

[Detroit1800]

Anybody know the status of the lot spanning Alfred-Edmund on Woodward across from the new WSU School of Business building?

[DetroitSky]

Originally Posted by Detroit1800

Anybody know the status of the lot spanning Alfred-Edmund on Woodward across from the new WSU School of Business building?

As far as I know, nothing is planned. It's still an overgrown lot. Definitely would be a perfect lot for a mid rise mixed use project.

[The North One]

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

Michigan was coming off a very low base. I think we lost more jobs than any other state from 2004 to 2009. It's only very recently that we've made up for lost ground since the recession, but still way behind the peak reached in the late 90s.

The economy size has been above pre-recession peaks for a bit now.

[LMich]

He's talking jobs/employment. In any case, I didn't mean to get us too far off discussion with this. Just found it interesting how well we did in that quarter.

[Detroit1800]

Originally Posted by DetroitSky

As far as I know, nothing is planned. It's still an overgrown lot. Definitely would be a perfect lot for a mid rise mixed use project.

Any idea who owns it?

[DetroitSky]

Originally Posted by Detroit1800

Any idea who owns it?

No clue.

Land next to the Plaza in Midtown sells for $15M

One of the most prominent pieces of vacant land long-slated for development has sold for a steep price. Crain’s reports that the land between the recently-renovated Plaza and Whole Foods has sold for $15 million.

The 3.78-acre parcel of land sold to a limited-liability company registered to Ciena Healthcare Management CEO Mohammad Qazi, who says an upscale, mixed-use development is in the works. Signage stating “More Midtown” is wrapped around the fence surrounding the land.

More plans should be revealed soon, and a groundbreaking could occur in the spring.

The Empowerment Plan grows into Islandview warehouse

Veronika Scott developed the idea for the coat while taking a class at CCS in 2010. The assignment was to design to fill a need. She worked at a warming center at MLK and 2nd for months developing a coat, which addressed an immediate need for the homeless population. When a woman yelled at her saying she didn’t need a coat, but needed a job, Scott started expanding the idea from more than a band-aid to something that could help people get out of the cycle of poverty.

The nonprofit, which started with three people making coats at Ponyride, now employs 35, with the intent to increase that number up to 60. The Empowerment Plan partners with other nonprofits and hires its workers from shelters for full-time employment. The group hires mostly women, and almost always individuals who have dependents. Employees spend about 60 percent of their paid workweek making coats; the other 40 percent of the time is spent with case workers, or programs like skills training, financial literacy, and GED prep. The goal is to get these individuals financially stable, ready for another job, and out of the cycle of homelessness.

State board OKs Ford's Corktown tax breaks

The state's economic development board on Tuesday approved a 30-year tax abatement for Ford Motor Co.'s planned campus in Detroit's historic Corktown neighborhood that is the tax-incentive linchpin for the automaker's revitalization of the long-vacant Michigan Central Station.

The Michigan Strategic Fund's board greenlighted Ford's application for a 30-year Renaissance Zone designation for the 18-story train station and its parking deck, the former Detroit schools book depository that is adjacent to the depot and the property of the former Lincoln Brass Works factory at 2051 Rosa Parks Blvd.

McDonald's, franchisees to invest $10 million in Detroit renovations

McDonald's and local franchisees are spending $10 million over two years to overhaul and bring new technology to stores in Detroit.

The fast food chain announced a wider $205 million in renovations of Michigan stores in August as part of a $6 billion national campaign to be complete by 2020.

Stores in Detroit and dotted across the country are getting new digital kiosks, mobile ordering and paying, and table service, corporate spokeswoman Anne Christensen said.

Substantially, these changes require more hospitality training so staff can usher customers through the ordering and receiving process, Christensen said.

Supplier plans $9.27 million investment, 300 new jobs in Detroit expansion

Gallagher-Kaiser Corp. aims to add 300 jobs as it grows its Detroit manufacturing operations, according to a memo from the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

The Michigan Strategic Fund approved Tuesday a $3.2 million grant to support the supplier's anticipated investment. Jobs would be created in Detroit and Troy, the MEDC memo said. It also expects a property tax reduction through the city of Detroit.

As its plan stands, Gallagher-Kaiser would buy two parcels and renovate a vacant building next to its existing Detroit facility.

Currently, it subcontracts some manufacturing work outside of Michigan. The expansion would allow it to end most of its outsourcing, the memo said, with Gallagher-Kaiser completing more work using Michigan employees.

[LMich]

Better view of 3750 Woodward via Crain's:


Kirk Pinho, Crain's Detroit Business

'Upscale' mixed-use development planned north of Midtown Whole Foods after $15 million site sale

An entity tied to Southfield-based Ciena Healthcare Management Inc. in Southfield has purchased a key piece of Midtown real estate with plans for a mixed-use development.

In what is so far the most expensive land sale of the year in Detroit, the 3.78-acre property at 3750 Woodward Avenue immediately north of the Whole Foods grocery store sold to a limited-liability company registered to Ciena CEO Mohammad Qazi for $15 million, or $3.97 million per acre, according to city property records. It was recorded with the city on Sept. 24.

Construction manager is saying they are already doing site-prep.

[The North One]

That site is so jarring, thank god it's being developed.