I loved the quote about the World Trade Center being hated until it was gone. The Ren Cen is off centered covers a beautiful part of the skyline from traditional viewing spaces like Bell Isle and is cut off from downtown. That’s after the cooling towers Ford built were removed.
Well we have what we have and that includes the Greektown Casino Tower, the BCBS Tower & Lafayette & Elmwood Parks. The eastern skyline is a mess. I’m interested what could be done with 375 removed along with the Jefferson interchange.
A more pedestrian friendly Jefferson, a renovated Hart Plaza (to some extent) a more intuitive pedestrian experience by the Marriott western entrance, a stair down by the parking garage next to the port. Woodbridge has an opportunity to return to its original grid just like second in between Huntington & the newly planned hotel.
There is an opportunity to tackle the demolished east riverfront & the opening up space provided by 375. I have a love hate relationship with the Ren Cen but I don’t want to see it go.
I try not to look at HF II to badly as before the Ren Cen he proposed a heavy rail network for the city and some inner burbs. He had the money to build a giant office complex but not a city wide rail network that would underperform financially.
If only Ford knew a President Ford was to be in power soon and give the region the money it needed to say complete such a plan. A Ren Cen less Detroit with mass transit may have kept the inner city alive.
https://detroitography.com/2014/02/07/ford-rapid-transit-plan-map-1970/
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As of Monday, Renaissance Center's vacancy rate was 18% vacant at Tower 100, 66% vacant at Tower 200 and less than 1% vacant in Tower 400, according to CoStar. The report notes no availability in Tower 300 where GM occupies about 614,000 square feet of office space.
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https://www.detroitnews.com/restricted/?...73332184007%2F&gps-source=CPROADBLOCKDH#
As of 2022 half of downtown office vacancy was in Tower 200. 2,500 workers are to be moved from Tower 300 which GM fully occupies. To further muddy the waters “guru of troubled building turnarounds” some media quote not mine purchased the side towers in January. 500 is fully occupied by BCBS with a total of 19% vacancy sounds like 600 is ~60% occupied. I’m a little put off by a total vacancy for both when one is fully occupied it seems strange but it could be a turn of phrase for his whole investment.
Friedman buys two Detroit towers amid downturn
Downtown Detroit offices have 19% vacancy rate
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Michigan-based real estate firm Friedman Real Estate bought two towers of downtown Detroit’s iconic Renaissance Center.
The company, headquartered in Farmington Hills, acquired for an undisclosed sum the 500 and 600 towers from a New Jersey utility company, with plans to maintain them as office spaces, the Detroit Free Press reported.
The two towers, standing at 21 stories each, are part of the RenCen complex, which originally opened in 1977 with four 39-story office towers surrounding a central 73-story hotel (now a Marriott).
The remaining five towers are owned by General Motors, which is headquartered in the center.
Tower 500 is fully occupied by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, while Tower 600 is mostly vacant and available for leasing.
According to Jared Friedman, executive managing director of Friedman Real Estate, both towers offer Class A- office space, and each tower has over 300,000 square feet and has gone through renovations in 2011.
Friedman said he’s confident in the Detroit office market, but his firm faces the challenge of filling the vacant Tower 600 in a post-pandemic world.
The downtown Detroit office market has had a rise in vacancies and a decline in leasing prices, reflecting broader trends seen nationally. The vacancy rate reached 19 percent in the third quarter, up from about 14 percent a year earlier, with an average asking lease price of $23.28 per square foot gross, down 4 percent, the outlet reported, citing data from CBRE.
Companies, influenced by remote and hybrid work policies, have downsized office spaces, resulting in increased availability and bargaining power for tenants.
Looking ahead, the completion of Dan Gilbert’s Hudson’s site office building in 2024 is expected to introduce an additional 400,000 square feet of new Class A office space to the market.
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