DETROIT | Hudson's Detroit | 686 FT & 240 FT | 49 & 14 FLOORS

[CrazyCres]

They are back

[cityguy]

Any idea when the crane will be going up?

[Blocky858]

What exactly was the reason for shortening it to 680' instead of 912'? Was it because they couldn't find a hotel operator to fit 912'? Also for whatever reason the official site still has the renderings and height set to 912.

[DetroitSportsFan]

Originally Posted by Blocky858

What exactly was the reason for shortening it to 680' instead of 912'? Was it because they couldn't find a hotel operator to fit 912'? Also for whatever reason the official site still has the renderings and height set to 912.

I’m pretty sure it was due in large part to the hotel space. The amount of space dedicated to hotel(s) in the 912ft version would have required a nearly 1000 room hotel. From what I’ve read they’re planning on putting a high end hotel in the tower, which are typically a few hundred rooms. My guess is that they were trying to get two separate hotels in the hotel at first, but weren’t able to find an operator to fill the space.

[CrazyCres]

Anyone got an idea when they're gonna release the new design?

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by CrazyCres

Anyone got an idea when they're gonna release the new design?

Probably after they figure out what they're building?

And it wouldn't be a new design, it would be the actual planned design. The old, released renderings were just conceptual ideas, with no actual idea of building uses.

[animatedmartian]

Developer of Chicago's third-tallest skyscraper teams up with Dan Gilbert on Detroit's second-tallest skyscraper

Bedrock CEO Matt Cullen did not disclose terms of an agreement with Magellan Development in a Wednesday interview.

"We wanted someone who has done a lot of these high-rise/residential-hotel kind of projects and has done a lot of recent, iconic projects," Cullen said. "Magellan is certainly one of those folks. We added them to the team as a development consultant to help us. Detroit is a little different than Chicago. These high-rises have been popping up there for a long time, and it's nice to take advantage of that expertise there."

Cullen said Magellan has not taken an equity stake in the project but declined to further elaborate on the Chicago company's involvement.

"We are part of the team and lend our experience building high-rise, mixed-use projects in urban environments," Berger said. "We have been following this project for years and believe Bedrock is a transformational developer. We have been working for the last few months with them and our firms have known each other for years, sharing information and data."

Magellan is responsible for the Windy City's third-tallest building, the roughly 1,200-foot Vista Tower wrapping up construction on Wacker Drive.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/real-e...second-tallest

According to Crain's Chicago outlet, Magellan has been expanding outside of Chicago within the last year so they're already entering other major markets across the country. Still, pretty good news that talent from Chicago sees Detroit as worth investing in.

[Fvn]

From watching a few of the time-lapses it looks like there were covers placed over the exposed rebar for the columns; a sign this might go idle for a little while after drilled shafts are complete. I could be wrong, I hope I'm wrong, but it would make sense seeing as how I would imagine they would want to actually finalize a design before going vertical...

Normally I'd be concerned about the future of a project where this is happening, but seeing as how Magellan has joined the team, I'm not too worried; right now at least.

[CrazyCres]

Let's hope this extra firepower can help boost the towers height

[animatedmartian]

Originally Posted by Fvn

From watching a few of the time-lapses it looks like there were covers placed over the exposed rebar for the columns; a sign this might go idle for a little while after drilled shafts are complete. I could be wrong, I hope I'm wrong, but it would make sense seeing as how I would imagine they would want to actually finalize a design before going vertical...

Normally I'd be concerned about the future of a project where this is happening, but seeing as how Magellan has joined the team, I'm not too worried; right now at least.

It was expected that the tower would lag behind the midrise portion, although the pandemic has definitely added a longer delay than expected.

There's no risk of the tower stalling out, but there's probably still a bit of uncertainty on the exact size and programing which hopefully Magellan will help to resolve, I'm assuming.

[Fvn]

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

It was expected that the tower would lag behind the midrise portion, although the pandemic has definitely added a longer delay than expected.

Hmmm. For what it's worth I mainly noticed the coverings over the midrise columns/shearwalls first as those are really the only columns/walls that have been poured thus far. Why would they cover the columns if they plan on getting right back to work on the structure, which also noticeably, since starting work back up, they haven't done?

There's no risk of the tower stalling out, but there's probably still a bit of uncertainty on the exact size and programing which hopefully Magellan will help to resolve, I'm assuming.

I'm far from one of those "Hudson's Block deniers", but everything I've seen (or rather, not seen) since work started back up seems to suggest a possible pause in construction of the structure.

And to be honest, now that Magellan is part of the team, I'd be fine with a pause. Say what you want about Magellan (I know the quality of Vista is a point of contention right now) but they know how to start and complete tall buildings. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Magellan suggested that construction is briefly paused until the uncertainty of the size is resolved. This would make sense as the mat thickness and the elevator core size correlates with the tower height/size and I would think that if they're still trying to work that out, pausing would be sensible. A pause can't be too long though, I would imagine they have to be close to figuring out a final size. Crain's had a quote saying the height is currently 680 feet.

I mean I hope it doesn't pause, but I also actually want it to be built, and to be built right and if this means pausing construction for a bit, I'm more than ok with that.

[DetroitSportsFan]

It does seem as though they’ve been preparing for a pause in construction. There’s been basically no activity on the tower side since construction has resumed. Work on the block side also seems to have slowed to a crawl, and like you mentioned, they’ve been covering all of the exposed rebar on the existing columns.

[DetroitSky]

According to this, the tower height is 680ft/49 floors and the block height is still 232ft/11 floors.

[CrazyCres]

Any word on when we could get some renders?

[pianowizard]

Originally Posted by DetroitSportsFan

It does seem as though they’ve been preparing for a pause in construction. There’s been basically no activity on the tower side since construction has resumed. Work on the block side also seems to have slowed to a crawl, and like you mentioned, they’ve been covering all of the exposed rebar on the existing columns.

They have gotten busier more recently:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjs9k-_ANbg

[CrazyCres]

Are they working on the footprint for "the block"?

[The North One]

Originally Posted by CrazyCres

Any word on when we could get some renders?

You've already gotten renders, it's the exact same design but with a bit shorter tower. Until they actually do release something that shows otherwise there is no point constantly asking this.

[pianowizard]

Originally Posted by The North One

You've already gotten renders, it's the exact same design but with a bit shorter tower. Until they actually do release something that shows otherwise there is no point constantly asking this.

Some folks probably want more assurance that this tower is really happening. That's understandable, but I agree with you that they should just relax. The HudsonSite Construction videos on YouTube shows that construction workers have been working on Saturdays in addition to weekdays, so I think they are serious about getting this tower built. Let's just hope that there won't be additional height cuts.

[animatedmartian]

The chances of the tower getting cancelled altogether is a lot lower than the chances of a height increase (which is also low, but not impossible). If you're familiar with Detroit real estate, especially in the downtown area, then you'd know there is a lot of demand for new construction and the hudson tower would fill some of that demand.

However, I've always held the belief is that Gilbert wants to build something that is slightly beyond what Detroit might actually be capable of. This tower has been marketed/hyped up as a property that would be in competition with some of the top properties of Chicago. I don't think Detroit is at that level, but Gilbert has a lot of power and I wouldn't be surprised if he pulled it off. All it is is just a matter of timing.

People are impatient, but Gilbert has a virtual monopoly on downtown real estate and can take as long as he wants without worrying about competing projects. At least not anytime soon.

[Michigan48]

Yesterday most of the drilling equipment was hauled away and a new caisson wasn't started so it's quite likely that all the caissons have been drilled, hopefully meaning that the ramp can be removed and the tower cranes will be finished soon.