DETROIT | Development & Construction: Motown Lowdown

[Thirteen Mile]

I like the location for the Godfrey it’ll add some density & mass along with tying the south side of Michigan ave in with Elton park and tiger town.

[uaarkson]

EDIT: Guess I spoke too soon. Bars and restaurants to close, excepting take-out and delivery, at 3 pm today (03/16). God help the people of Detroit.

[DetroitSky]

Originally Posted by uaarkson

EDIT: Guess I spoke too soon. Bars and restaurants to close, excepting take-out and delivery, at 3 pm today (03/16). God help the people of Detroit.

We’ll be fine. We’ve been through worse.

[animatedmartian]

For the most part, the shutdown is mainly affecting small businesses. A lot of factories are still operating and most companies have their office workers working remotely.

Chains will probably take a hit but have a better chance of staying open versus the independent shops.

With all the countries announcing border closings, the main thing to worry about is freight travel and so far there hasn't really been any restriction on trade. Though that may become an issue later in the year depending on how long this drags on and if a global recession gets triggered.

[uaarkson]

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

For the most part, the shutdown is mainly affecting small businesses. A lot of factories are still operating and most companies have their office workers working remotely.

Chains will probably take a hit but have a better chance of staying open versus the independent shops.

With all the countries announcing border closings, the main thing to worry about is freight travel and so far there hasn't really been any restriction on trade. Though that may become an issue later in the year depending on how long this drags on and if a global recession gets triggered.

Aren’t most people in the city of Detroit working low-wage service jobs for small businesses and chain restaurants? I know that’s a broad generalization but this can’t be good news for a sizable chunk of people.

[animatedmartian]

Originally Posted by uaarkson

Aren’t most people in the city of Detroit working low-wage service jobs for small businesses and chain restaurants? I know that’s a broad generalization but this can’t be good news for a sizable chunk of people.

You're probably right, though I'd say anecdotally it's definitely not a majority.

[DetroitSky]

Hudson's Site is now going to be 680 feet - second tallest in Michigan, according to Crain's.

Lafayette Park residential development scales back due to construction costs

This time it’s Lafayette West, the multi-building development set to bring a mix of units for sale and rent to a 5.2-acre site near Lafayette Park.

When it was first announced, the approximately $110 million project would consist of 373 units. Now, the project will cost slightly more ($113 million), but have 325 units with an increase in the ratio of condominiums to apartments. The number of parking spaces in the central structure has also been reduced from 413 to 291, and there will now only be 0.9 parking spots per unit.

There was also going to be an 12-story high-rise set amongst mid-rise buildings and townhomes—similar to the Mies van der Rohe–designed community across Rivard Street. Now all building types will be four-story mid-rises.

The new details came out in a mandatory annual update as part of the Community Benefits Agreement. Amin Irving, president and CEO of Ginosko Development, lead developer on the project, told Crain’s Detroit Business that the reason behind the changes is the “absurd” cost of construction in Detroit right now.

See the annual update report here for more info and renderings.

Here's a few recent photos I uploaded to Emporis showing some developments:


Selden Street Lofts, now open


Heather Hall on Third in Midtown is experiencing some work


655 West Willis St


The Assembly Parking Garage


Wayne County Adult Detention Center


Bonita Apartments, Seward St in New Center


This is what the Bonita looked like last summer


Work is underway at TCF Tower


SoMA Garage 1

[DetroitSky]

These photos all date from this past December until a few weeks ago:

Downtown


Randolph Plaza. Could use some plants, art, statues, benches, trash cans...anything. Its really just a big concrete pad. The Detroit sculpture seen here is gone now.


Hotel Indigo Detroit Downtown


WCCCD's downtown campus expansion is complete


Tin Roof, now open


Addition to DTE's headquarters campus






TCF Tower


Women's City Club Building


Cambria Hotel & Suites

Columbia Street

Quite honestly I'm really underwhelmed with this. I think it would have been better to reopen the street to traffic and only close it off during games. Most storefronts are still vacant and I haven't heard any more announcements lately. It does look nice, at least, besides being bookended on the west end by two Ilitch-owned abandoned buildings with no reopening in sight.









Westside


Finnish Hall, 14th and McGraw. I'm not sure what the plans are.


Weston Hall Apartments, 2211 Pingree

Eastside


Woodward and Brentwood


The former Packard Motel on Grand Blvd is being renovated for use by a nearby rehab facility


Retail building on the south side of Grand near Mount Elliott. That's the Packard Plant in the background.


Grand Blvd and Ellery St


Pullman Parc


FCA Mack Avenue Plant


McClellan and Amity


Franklin Lofts, Rivertown

The Villages


This building on Kercheval and Van Dyke had just started renovations when I took this.


D&D Storage, Mack and Van Dyke


I can't remember exactly where this is but its in West Village


Kercheval and Fischer


This is right next door to the above building on Fischer


St. Paul and Shipherd


Seminole and E. Vernor


The Parker Durand

Jefferson-Chalmers




IDAO Building


E. Jefferson and Ashland

Poletown East






Storefront on Mack near Jos. Campau


This former barber shop on Chene and Mack has been fixed up recently

Woodbridge


W. Willis and Rosa Parks


New apartments next to the house above


New homes on Lincoln and Canfield


Woodbridge Estates Senior Apartments

The North End


Former Packard building on Hague and Woodward. This is the back of the building viewed from E. Philadelphia


John R and E. Philadelphia

Midtown


Canine to Five has finally moved into its addition


Sauce Detroit


632 Prentis


Cass Cadillac appears complete


DMC Sports Medicine Institute


Boulevard Hostel


Temple Detroit


Midtown West I

Eastern Market


Former water and sewarage department warehouse. I can't remember the name of this project


Riopelle and Adelaide


Eastern Market Garage renovations


1515 Division


1527 Division

New Center


Woodward and Milwaukee

Milwaukee Junction


Rebuild Group's headquarters


Wayne County Criminal Justice Center


Elaine Apartments

Corktown


I believe this building on Trumbull is going to be a restaurant


Bagley 10


House on Labrosse St


House in North Corktown


North Corktown 11


Newark and 17th




North Pine Street Townhomes


Rosa Parks and Temple


Michigan Central Station


Renovations have began at Ford's Roosevelt Warehouse across the street from MCS

Brush Park


Henry Glover House


The Flats at 2700 Brush, City Modern


The Flats at 440 Alfred, City Modern


Brush Street, City Modern


Patterson Terrace


304 Erskine




Brush Park Village North


Signs are up for Brush 8

[Marshal]

Thanks for all the photos. I miss the days I used to explore Detroit.

I don't know how long it will be, but Detroit will eventually rebuild itself into a great city of some future form we can't even imagine or see now.

[uaarkson]

Originally Posted by Marshal

Thanks for all the photos. I miss the days I used to explore Detroit.

I don't know how long it will be, but Detroit will eventually rebuild itself into a great city of some future form we can't even imagine or see now.

This is why people continually cite Detroit as the most exciting city in America. A 140 sq. mile blank slate.

[The North One]

It's not a blank slate in any way shape or form...

These strange patronizing comments make my eye twitch. Keep it to yourselves, nobody wants to read it. It's a great city right now.

[davidberko]

Originally Posted by The North One

It's not a blank slate in any way shape or form...

These strange patronizing comments make my eye twitch. Keep it to yourselves, nobody wants to read it. It's a great city right now.

No need to be so sensitive bubs. I don’t get why people get so easily offended over everything, geeze!

[M. Brown]

Originally Posted by The North One

It's not a blank slate in any way shape or form...

These strange patronizing comments make my eye twitch. Keep it to yourselves, nobody wants to read it. It's a great city right now.

Agreed!

[uaarkson]

Guys, come on. I know the entire city isn't literally a blank slate, but there are still vast swaths of empty land in the core, and the city itself is in the midst of a transformation into something new. These are all exciting factors to me. Pull the stick out of your ass!

[Marshal]

Originally Posted by The North One

It's not a blank slate in any way shape or form...

These strange patronizing comments make my eye twitch. Keep it to yourselves, nobody wants to read it. It's a great city right now.

No, I won't keep it to myself, you overly sensitive soul. Patronizing? Only if your confidence in Detroit is weak and shabby.

If you think Detroit is a great city now, good for you. But, come on . . . Detroit is not a great city now. I live in booming urban Vancouver, along with all the great 'natural setting' stuff: Vancouver is not yet a great city. It's a good city for its size, but great? It's got a ways to go. Toronto long passed Detroit on the road to greatness, but Toronto is hardly a truly great city yet either. New York, sure. London, sure. But come on, grow up and learn how to take reality. Love Detroit. Miss going there. Great? No.

(Only on a forum can it be so hard to compliment something.)

[M. Brown]

Originally Posted by Marshal

No, I won't keep it to myself, you overly sensitive soul. Patronizing? Only if your confidence in Detroit is weak and shabby.

If you think Detroit is a great city now, good for you. But, come on . . . Detroit is not a great city now. I live in booming urban Vancouver, along with all the great 'natural setting' stuff: Vancouver is not yet a great city. It's a good city for its size, but great? It's got a ways to go. Toronto long passed Detroit on the road to greatness, but Toronto is hardly a truly great city yet either. New York, sure. London, sure. But come on, grow up and learn how to take reality. Love Detroit. Miss going there. Great? No.

(Only on a forum can it be so hard to compliment something.)

Here is what I take issue with. When someone says Detroit is a "blank slate", they are saying the almost 700k people who have continued to live in the city don't matter and can just be thrown away. I understand there are way more dilapidated and abandoned homes and structures and worse public transit than other cities we would call better than Detroit, but you CANNOT forget about the people who live there who have made the city as good as it is today.

Now assuming when the original comment was made, the intention was not to include the people of Detroit, then sure, much of Detroit could have been re-done maybe 10 or 11 years ago, but I think at this point the city is far enough ahead to be able to continue on the progress it's made.

[Warrenite84]

It's a lot farther along than I could have expected. Early 2000's the only spot with nightlife was Greektown and it was also a bit shady. You could drive downtown all day on Sundays and see a ghost town. Even when the old Hudson's Department Store was a shell in the late 90's was a ghost town.

I'm very optimistic now after ALL that is being renovated and built new. Some missteps? Sure. A very anti preservation mindset among city officials and some guy who bought a bunch of buildings to sit on and rot; who happens to sell a lot of pizza.

World class? Maybe not, but it has unique character others don't with great old architecture and theatres, and a solid work ethic. Detroit would do best to try being the best Detroit it can be and not a copycat somewhere else...

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by Warrenite84

It's a lot farther along than I could have expected. Early 2000's the only spot with nightlife was Greektown and it was also a bit shady. You could drive downtown all day on Sundays and see a ghost town. Even when the old Hudson's Department Store was a shell in the late 90's was a ghost town.

This isn't true. Woodward Ave. downtown was much busier in the 1990's than now. It was still a shopping district. It was low-rent, rundown and tacky, but it was busier.

Now Woodward is much nicer, but it isn't busier or more filled-in.

The big difference is that downtown Detroit was very black in the 1980's-1990's, and now it's very white. It was a black shopping district. Shoppers came by bus. That district was eviscerated, the buses are relocated and a new gentrified future is being built on its bones.

My dad had an office downtown in the 1990's, and I would frequently visit him for lunch. Woodward, Washington Blvd. and the in-between streets were full of honky-tonk, working-class black-oriented business. Wig shops, cheap shoe stores, cash for gold, fast food joints, plus-sized womens stores. Everything was rundown. Many of these stores were owned by immigrants. The streets were very busy, on nice days, much busier than today. But it was not the "right" kind of crowd.

At night, though, downtown was much quieter than today. But during M-F business hours, there was no comparison. Detroit was much more populous back then, and still had intact black neighborhoods close to downtown, with heavy bus patronage.

The working class inner-city black or Latino shopping districts seem to all die in the Midwest by the early 2000s. There are still a bunch on the East Coast, though, in places like Paterson, NJ. Really any working class, heavily minority town in the NE Corridor will have a shopping district that feels vaguely like how Woodward in Detroit felt in the 80's-90's.

Stuff like this. This is how downtown Detroit felt:

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.9186...7i16384!8i8192

[Warrenite84]

I see what you're saying. My earliest experiences without my parents was the Autorama shows in February, dinner in Greektown. Sometimes we would park where the riverfront towers are now. The bus stops on Cadillac Square and Capitol Park along with that 70's style lighting/fountain on Washington Blvd. were poorly maintained.

I do hope downtown returns with restaurants and shopping for all price points. Not just high brow, upscale, ridiculously expensive businesses.

[Marshal]

Last words from Vancouver.
- When someone says 'blank slate' the intent is likely rhetorical, not empirical.
- "These strange patronizing comments make my eye twitch." Sure, have an emotional reaction to someone's comments, but it is pretty weak to try to shut the opinions that bug you down: "Keep it to
yourselves, nobody wants to read it." If you don't want to read it, don't go on a forum in which public discourse is significant component.
- Wherever there are 700,000 people surrounded by 3 - 4,000,000 plus people, there will be interesting and positive things going on.
- Detroit has never ceased to be a living organism, even during the worst of the contraction.
- Detroit is experiencing its own version of what most other North American cities are doing. There are unique and similar aspects to this, just as most cities experience.
- Detroit, like almost any place certainly does have many great things about it.

- Again, love the large dose of Detroit photos, especially those dedicated to active projects.