DETROIT | Ford Michigan Central Station - Corktown Developements

[ardecila]

I'm not sure if Amtrak has the equipment or staff for it, but they should add a shuttle train to connect MCS to Pontiac for those trains that will be re-routed to Windsor.

Right now, the suburban stops in Royal Oak, Troy/Birmingham, and Pontiac have just as many boardings collectively as the "downtown" stop at New Center. Neither the MCS or the Dearborn stop is very convenient for anyone in Oakland County...

Not only that, but MCS will not have any local transit connections at MCS except the bus. A QLine extension down Michigan Ave would also be great...

[subterranean]

It should be a commuter line to those suburbs and new center.

[Velvet_Highground]

According to Amtrak’s newest plan Metro Airport is going to be linked into the regional commuter rail as part of the new Toledo line. The lay of the land is beginning to crystallize the Woodward line is to keep its current form though hopefully including the planned rebuilding of New Center station.

Metro being added will could be a boon for regional ridership. It opens up the option of cutting out the long congested drive to the airport for those living along the Woodward spine especially in Oakland County. Michigan Central has the potential to grow into a real transportation hub perhaps becoming the urban counterpart to Metro.

At the least there’s the exciting prospect of the campus living up to its ethos as a living laboratory for new businesses models and technology while operating as a functional node of current transportation system.

Dan Gilbert stepping out to the forefront of regional actors positing that the public - private partnership that built the Q-Line is a successful model at this interesting to say the least after Michigan Central landing an Amtrak station.

It’s early days and the car is still king in the Motor City but light rail filling in local options for a regional commuter system with a pro-rail president in office is a development of note. If we see movement on completion of the Woodward line and development of a Michigan Avenue line it would go a long way towards dispelling the myth that transit doesn’t work in Detroit.

Of course that’s to say nothing of the alluded to east west options with expanded commuter rail and a few true regional light rail options Metro Detroit would have the basic framework of a comprehensive functional transit system. No doubt I’m getting the cart before the horse here there’s nothing officially on the table and that’s saying nothing of regional enthusiasm towards paying for something that’s engrained in our mentality to think is beyond our grasp but the stars are aligning as they do every generation or two towards the potential to get it done.


https://www.crainsdetroit.com/transp...article3-image

[DetroitMan]

Hotel eyed for top floors of Michigan Central Station

Want to book a night at Michigan Central Station?

That might become an option.

Ford wants a zoning change for its landmark building off Michigan Avenue in Detroit that would allow for future hotel operations there.
A spokesman for Michigan Central, the Ford subsidiary in charge of the former train depot's redevelopment, said Monday that it is seeking a change to the site's zoning from its current heavy industrial use, which doesn't permit hotels.

The potential hotel would go in the top two or three floors of the nearly rehabbed building, according to spokesman Dan Austin, who said that further details — including the brand of hotel — could be announced in the future. The proposed zone change was first reported by the Detroit Metro Times.

The tower in Michigan Central Station rises 15 stories above ground level and was originally built in the 1910s to hold offices, although many floors stayed vacant for lack of tenants.

Ford bought the old depot in 2018 to become the centerpiece of its new Detroit mobility campus, which is an open platform campus for dozens of various companies and startups — most of them unrelated to Ford Motor Co.

https://www.freep.com/story/money/bu...l/72399435007/

[DetroitSky]

Date is set: Michigan Central to re-open in Corktown after 36 years

Detroit — The city’s historic train station is setting up for a grand re-opening and the date is set.

After sunset Monday, "06.06.24" could be seen from Michigan Avenue on the facade of the station that first opened its doors over a century ago. The historic depot was shuttered 1988 — only visited by film crews like the "Transformers," building owners that replaced windows and urban explorers who ignored the no trespassing signs.

It's been nearly six years since Ford Motor Co. purchased the depot for $90 million in June 2018 from the billionaire Moroun family and began renovating the 110-year-old Beaux-Arts depot for a mobility tech campus that includes other buildings in Corktown, such as the adjacent former Book Depository building that's now known as NewLab. That renovated building opened in April 2023.

[deja vu]

Beautiful -


Source: Facebook | Jeff Harris

[DetroitMan]

Originally an office building was planned for the site of the old Brass Factory. Now the Ford-linked entity charged with redeveloping the site is looking at a mixed-use project instead.

Plans scrapped for office building at old brass factory in Corktown

Mixed-use is the name of the game now for a large Corktown development site owned by an affiliate of Ford Motor Co.’s real estate arm.

Originally slated for a large new building geared toward office and research space, the site of a now-demolished former brass factory in the shadow of Michigan Central Station is now in the early phases of being reimagined. That’s according to Josh Sirefman, CEO of Michigan Central, the district anchored by Michigan Central Station, which opens in less than two months after years of construction.

“We’d love to see over time, if there is an opportunity for additional commercial, but also opportunities for residential, whether that’s mixed income or whatever that may be,” Sirefman said in a meeting with Crain’s reporters and editors last month.

“It’s a great opportunity for that. We’re very early and we’ve got our hands full, so we’re just now turning our attention to what would be subsequent phases (of Michigan Central) and start to really understand what that mix of uses might look like,” Sirefman said.

Dan Austin, director of communications for Michigan Central, said they are "actively studying mixed-use possibilities on the site and look forward to having conversations with the community about the future of the property."
There have been varying visions dating back several years for the property, which is about 3.84 acres and is generally bounded by Rosa Parks, Dalzelle, Vermont and Marantette.

Executives of Ford Land Development Co. said in 2018 that the plan was to create a 290,000-square-foot, four-story building with 247,500 square feet of office and lab space, along with 42,250 square feet of commercial space. And one point earlier in the planning process, the building had been envisioned to be twice that size, or about 500,000 to 600,000 square feet.

If residential is ultimately put on the old brass factory site, most recently known as The Alchemy, it would add to the growing list of options for the neighborhood west of downtown, joining the Perennial Corktown, The Corner, The Brooke and other large mixed-use new construction focused on apartments, along with historic redevelopments, in the areas surrounding Michigan Central Station.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/real-e...ctory-corktown

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by deja vu

Beautiful -


Source: Facebook | Jeff Harris

omg i have always dreamed of this.

for the longest while i never thought it could happen.

what a sight for sore eyes.

amazing.

[Velvet_Highground]

Here! Here! Of all of Detroit’s grand old buildings Michigan Central seemed the most likely to be the next goner 10 years ago. Thank you Matty for your greed mothballing the place just enough for Ford to come in and save it. The best part is it’s after you let it rot and then scramble sway public opinion for your new bridge political gambit! Gordie Howe and Michigan Central both nearly complete! A great day for Detroit and a middle finger to slum lords.


https://michigancentral.com/michigan...-next-chapter/

Fresh and crispy

https://michigancentral.com/michigan...-next-chapter/

[Busy Bee]

It's a beautiful thing

[deja vu]

Wow. Just wow -

Current -


Before -


Historic -

Source: Facebook | Historic Detroit

[TowerDude]

Part of me thinks it looked better "ruined" and they should have found a way to keep that look in the finished building.

[TowerDude]

I also hope that none of this redevelopment has precluded its eventual return to its true purpose of being a train station.

Any other use of this building should be subservient to passenger train service.

[deja vu]

Originally Posted by TowerDude

Part of me thinks it looked better "ruined" and they should have found a way to keep that look in the finished building.

I heard that the project team at least took photos to document the ruined state, including some of the more iconic artwork /graffiti. Not sure if / how that will be displayed in the finished project though.

[The North One]

Originally Posted by TowerDude

Part of me thinks it looked better "ruined" and they should have found a way to keep that look in the finished building.

Yeah no. This building deserved and needed to be fully restored.

Don't worry we still got the Michigan theater to fill the whole "ruined venue" aesthetic.

[subterranean]

Originally Posted by deja vu

Wow. Just wow -

Current -


Before -


Historic -

Source: Facebook | Historic Detroit

Man, incredible. I'm not a religious man, but I'm praying it becomes a HSR hub.

[OhioGuy]

Such a wonderful restoration!

• Video Link

[Rizzo]

Originally Posted by TowerDude

I also hope that none of this redevelopment has precluded its eventual return to its true purpose of being a train station.

Any other use of this building should be subservient to passenger train service.

It was interesting looking abandoned. I had at least the chance to photograph it 20 years ago and there was plenty of opportunities for people to do so prior to renovation. A ruined attraction isn’t an option because the damaged assemblies and materials that give this effect were toxic and in continuous decay. This isn’t like the ruins of Rome that are totally made differently and can last in perpetuity. You’d have to create that fake aesthetic out of plastic and fiberglass to mimic that natural effect and no one wants that outcome for a beautiful building. Watching the craftsman rebuild and restore capitals and flourishes on the facade was the most remarkable work I’ve seen on a renovation. Bringing this space back to life is a better image of Detroit’s future and vibrant past rather than the decayed state in between

So happy to see it restored to its original state.

[wanderer34]

Originally Posted by TowerDude

Part of me thinks it looked better "ruined" and they should have found a way to keep that look in the finished building.

Is that supposed to be a troll post???

I believe that many on here did not see MCS as surviving, and who could believe that now, MCS has already been fully renovated and will open in a couple of days. Only thing missing is will there be intercity rail in the near future? Ford can use the tower for their offices, but I'd like to see the rail infrastructure that's available used for intercity service for regional cities such as Ann Arbor, Pontiac, Lansing, and Toledo via local commuter rail, as well as major cities such as Chicago and Toronto via Amtrak and VIA Rail. Now that will be the harbinger to bring back MCS's glory days!

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by OhioGuy

Such a wonderful restoration!

• Video Link

It is so good to see this restored. What a treasure.