DETROIT | Development & Construction: Motown Lowdown

[Docta_Love]

Now that the David Whitney reno is complete i wonder how long it will be until we hear an update about the Statler Block redevelopment?

[animatedmartian]

Originally Posted by Docta_Love

Now that the David Whitney reno is complete i wonder how long it will be until we hear an update about the Statler Block redevelopment?

Psssh, I'm still waiting to hear about the Brush Park development, any of Dan Gilbert's developments, and the Uniroyal site with the football player. It seems like years for anything to get through the city's red tape.

[Docta_Love]

Psssh, I'm still waiting to hear about the Brush Park development, any of Dan Gilbert's developments, and the Uniroyal site with the football player. It seems like years for anything to get through the city's red tape.

Hah yeah seriously can't forget the Monroe Block high rise that they seem to redesign every 3-5 years or the Book Tower finally getting a bath, i guess there's not much point trying to speculate on when the Statler site will be redeveloped. But man with all the interest in the GCP area plus the light rail and new arena you'd think they'd try to grab some attention for their project by releasing some new renderings or some kind of an update. Who knows the whole city is still holding its collective breath over the Hudson's Block and its been 15 years.

[mousquet]

Hm, the Whitney building is full as an egg already, I saw. How surprising...

[Docta_Love]

Hm, the Whitney building is full as an egg already, I saw. How surprising...

That's what happens when your Downtown has a 98% residential occupancy rate

[animatedmartian]

What's crazy about it is that the cheapest rents were just about $1,000/month and the most expensive was around $3,000. I at least expected the expensive rooms to stay vacant but they got filled somehow. Guess that just means rents still have room to go up or maybe that maybe more of these developments need to be condos.

[hudkina]

They need to be apartments to get the tax credits, and there are a lot of people who are willing to spend that kind of money on housing without the extra baggage of having to "own" the property.

[animatedmartian]

The city put out an RFP for the Brodhead Armory. The city is looking for proposals that make adaptive reuse of the Armory and for development on the surrounding land, most of which is between the Armory and the riverfront. No demolition allowed.

The land up to 65 feet from the riverfront is reserved for the Riverwalk, although considerations will be made if a proposal keeps that area public and fits in with the Riverwalk.

Proposals are due around Valentines Day though the city probably won't announce anything about proposals a few months well after.

http://www.degc.org/degc-news/cityde...ad-armory-site

[skyfan]

The Riverfront Conservancy posted a review their construction work this fall

BUSY FALL CONSTRUCTION LEADS TO RIVERFRONT PROGRESS
.

Riverfront construction continued throughout the end of the year with several projects making significant progress.

Gabriel Richard Park

The just-completed winding concrete walkway and a 38-spot parking
lot will provide easier access to Gabriel Richard Park for spring visitors. During the fall, dramatic ground-level lighting was installed at the popular brick labyrinth.Construction of the new restroom facility, which will accommodate larger crowds using the park in 2015 will be completed in the spring.

Chene Park—East/West Parcels
During the last several months, contractors successfully completed the restoration of the seawall, installed underground utilities and poured
concrete for walkways and planters at parcels east and west of Chene Park. The iconic stainless steel RiverWalk railing, benches and waste
receptacles are in place at both locations. Contractors are now installing light poles and security cameras. At the entrance to Chene Park, the remaining concrete planters are being poured and work on the circular concrete section adjacent to Atwater Street is now underway.
Crews will be back on site at both parcels in the spring for the installation of all final landscaping.

Dequindre Cut — North
Significant progress on the half-mile extension of the Dequindre Cut has been made this fall. All restoration work at the Division and Adelaide street bridges is complete and the Alfred Street bridge has been demolished. New structural supports for the Wilkins Street bridge are underway.
Along the extension, storm sewer piping has been installed, and most of all underground electrical for lighting and security cameras is complete. A retaining wall surrounded by decorative stone that allows for easy drainage is in place.
Next spring, asphalt will be poured along the walkway, landscaping will be installed, and all accessories such as benches, waste receptacles and
security call boxes will be placed. Once the project is complete, the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy will be responsible for the operation and maintenance of the entire two miles of the Dequindre Cut.

The Outdoor Adventure Center
Exhibit crews continue to work inside the historic Globe Building as it transforms into the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ Outdoor Adventure Center. Over the last several months, workers have been making significant progress on the center’s three-story waterfall and Michigan forest. Since relocating this summer from Southfield to the OAC, the DNR’s Operation Service Center has been extremely busy facilitating visitor requests for information.

http://detroitriverfront.org/news/co...-new-president

[skyfan]

Gabriel Richard Building Promises Over 100 Future Apartments



As happy renters flood into fresh apartments at the Whitney and the Ashley, another empty office building is defecting to Team Residential. Take a look at the Gabriel Richard Building, a former Archdiocese of Detroit property kitty-corner from the Book Cadillac hotel. Built in 1914, the Gabriel Richard has 10 floors dressed in terra cotta. With a conversion into 110 apartments on the horizon, the building is under contract to be sold for $3.2M.

The buyer, Barbat Holdings, has been doing an awfully good impression of a Dan Gilbert shopping spree. With this purchase, the Barbat Machine will have gobbled up two office buildings, a low-income apartment tower, and part of a hotel since early 2014. Barbat's promised renovation investment now totals $26.5M, with 388 market-rate apartments planned. We'll be excited to see the first one.

http://detroit.curbed.com/archives/2...apartments.php

[shakman]

Originally Posted by skyfan

http://detroit.curbed.com/archives/2...apartments.php

Excellent. Detroit needs these types of projects.

[subterranean]

Originally Posted by skyfan

http://detroit.curbed.com/archives/2...apartments.php

I always imagined the first Detroit Apple Store would go in the ground floor of this building. Don't know why.

[animatedmartian]

$28 million redevelopment of Strathmore Hotel in Midtown to create 129 apartments

Posted By Ryan Felton on Tue, Jan 13, 2015



For the last decade, the dilapidated Strathmore Hotel at 70 W. Alexandrine near Wayne State University has sat vacant, exposed to the elements, and appeared to be a lost cause.

But on a frigid Tuesday, a consortium of groups along with Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan announced that $28 million in financing has been finalized to redevelop the historic Strathmore into 129 market- rate and affordable units in Detroit's still-growing-at-lighting-speed Midtown district. An additional 2,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space will also be constructed.

....

About 40 percent of the Strathmore's apartments will be offered at affordable housing rates, project backers said Tuesday, a point Duggan stressed after the press conference.

"As we rebuild this city, we're gonna make sure the housing is available to everyone," Duggan said. The mayor told reporters he would like to see at least 20 percent of rental units in new housing developments in the city offered at affordable rates, depending on how the projects are financed.

...

http://www.metrotimes.com/Blogs/arch...129-apartments

[subterranean]

Crumbling Wurlitzer Building in Detroit finds a buyer

By Dan Austin, Detroit Free Press 8:57 p.m. EST January 7, 2015

(Photo: Ryan Garza / Detroit Free)

One of downtown Detroit's most infamous skyscrapers has found a buyer — and possibly a savior.

The Wurlitzer Building at 1509 Broadway has been snatched up by a developer, according to the CoStar Group real estate database.

Ari Heckman, a co-founder of ASH NYC, the New York developer reported to be buying the crumbling building, would not confirm the deal or give details, telling the Free Press only that, "I cannot discuss specifics at this point, but can say that we are very enthusiastic about Detroit and look forward to sharing more details in the not so distant future."

The pending sale comes in the wake of billionaire Dan Gilbert buying up multiple downtown buildings, the reopening of the grand David Whitney Building on Grand Circus Park, the groundbreaking for a new hockey arena and a slew of other redevelopment projects downtown.

A group out of Lansing had agreed to buy the Wurlitzer in 2013, but the deal fell apart.

The threat
The city has been ticketing the building's owner for years for code and safety violations.

In 2008, owner Paul Curtis switched the building's ownership over to a limited liability corporation, 1509 Broadway LLC. The move has largely shielded him and his wife, Wayne County Circuit Judge Daphne Means Curtis, from any personal liability in case someone is hurt from falling debris from the building's cascading facade.

The scariest such instance came April 12, 2011, when a 50-pound piece of the building tumbled 14 stories and punched a hole through the roof of the 1515 Broadway cafe next door. The business' owner, Chris Jaszczak, said the piece splintered a wooden ceiling beam and shattered his front window. Afterward, his employees put a chalkboard sign in front of the business jokingly offering "free coffee with purchase of Wurlitzer Building."

More Here

[Matthew]

Wow! The Wurlitzer could be close to restoration? I'm very excited about this news! The David Whitney Building looks amazing and I would love to see a similar restoration here, but I do realize The Wurlitzer is a much more difficult restoration.

[animatedmartian]

Marquette Building in downtown Detroit sells for $5.775M
By Kirk Pinho. January 14, 2015.




The 164,000-square-foot Marquette Building at West Congress Street and Washington Boulevard sold to a group of undisclosed out-of-state investors.

The purchasing entity, 243 Congress LLC, paid $5.775 million for the building in a deal that closed last month, said Bunia Parker, principal of Detroit-based Summit Commercial LLC, which represented the buyer.

Renovations are planned and the building will remain as office space, but exactly what the renovations will include, how much they will cost and when they will be complete has not yet been determined, Parker said.

The building, across the street from Cobo Center, is less than 5 percent occupied.

“Because of the large absorption of space in the CBD (central business district) recently, this building is uniquely positioned because it can house large tenants in a contiguous space up to (164,000) square feet — something that cannot be easily found,” Parker said in an email to Crain’s.

....

Chicago-based Triton Real Estate Partners LLC had the building under contract in the summer but decided not to buy it, according to A.J. Weiner, executive vice president in the Detroit office of Jones Lang LaSalle, which was representing Triton.

The company had planned a conversion into modern loft-style office space for creative and tech companies, similar to Dan Gilbert’s 46,000-square-foot Madison Building at 1555 Broadway St.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...lls-for-5-775m

[uaarkson]

itshappening.gif

[animatedmartian]

Went downtown Sunday for the Auto Show. Nothing major to show development-wise, not that I really wandered around to find anything. Just sort of took pictures as I went. It was also kind of a cloudy day so sorry if some of the pictures came out dark.

[subterranean]

What a city! Thanks for sharing.

[sentinel]

My GOD. So. much. potential. Sometimes, I really miss Detroit. Thanks for the photos.