DETROIT | Development & Construction: Motown Lowdown

[LMich]

Kind of just generally development related, but I see that newly sworn-in mayor Mike Duggan had an interview in the NYT, yesterday. It seems the most notable thing to come out of the piece was that Duggan says that he "expects" Detroit to post a population gain in five years. I mean, boy if he's ever going to be disappointed, but I guess I appreciate his dogged tenacity. lol

He was clear that he's not being blindly optimistic; as an example he made it clear that the Detroit Works Project will continue (he appointed former interim mayor Ken Cockrel, Jr. as the new director, BTW). So, I guess I'm just happy to see the new guy shoot for something big, whereas Bing was sometimes a realist to the point that it crossed over into short-sighted pessimism. This was also a long-term goal as opposed to what he's going to be working on this year: public lighting, blight clearance, and revitalization of DDOT.

[animatedmartian]

Heck, even if Detroit gets a net-zero change, that'd be pretty good in my book. The hardest part is stopping the bleed from the neighborhoods. I feel pretty optimistic that if services are sorted out (and possibly lower taxes) residential redevelopment ought to come fairly easily.

[LMich]

Oh, I think that's what he meant. He wasn't talking about a net-gain over the 2010 number, but at least one year showing year-to-year growth. I still think that's ambitious over five years. Hell, post-industrial cities much further along in their revitalizations schemes are still bleeding population. I'd be happy with even just halving the 25% 2000-2010 loss by 2020. Detroit had been doing so good, too, over the 90's in cutting the percentage loss before the bottom absolutely fell out.

EDIT: Actually, SEMCOG estimates do show the loss slowing pretty significantly over last decade, though - looks to be an approximate 15% loss as of July 1, 2013 if projected to the 2020 Census if I'm doing my math correctly. So, I guess it's more possible than I may have thought to post some year-over-year growths during this decade, and even possible that the city could post a net single-digit percentage lost by decade's end if the slowdown in loss accelerates. I mean, SEMCOG is posting a 40% slowdown in the percentage loss in just a bit over three years, right?

[animatedmartian]

Yea, a gain over the 2010 numbers would be pretty optimistic but I figured he meant year over year.

I think the SEMCOG estimates don't factor in the movement of residents and companies from suburb to city (which is pretty uncertain at this point anyway), but simply bases growth on births, current employment growth, and assuming new residents come from outside the metro.

[LMich]

I've come to trust SEMCOG's estimates much more than I used to when I actually used to mock them. For the municipal level, anyway, they were much more on the money, and their formula is much more complicated than what the Census uses...mostly because they use Census estimates when they come out and then improve upon it. They still make the error in weighing housing unit gains or losses too much - it's why even with their much closer guess at the 2010 count was quite a bit off - but I'd say their numbers are far more reliable than the Census Bureau, alone.

What made Detroit, specifically, hard to estimate was the sheer size of the exodus, last decade, and when it took place. The loses were actually fairly "normal" (for Detroit, anyway), I believe, until about 2006, and then the bottom totally fell out in 2008.

[animatedmartian]

Totally agree. The housing market collapse plus the auto industry bankruptcy really gave Detroit a double whammy. I think unemployment went from 15% (which is really high to begin with) to 30%. The most recent numbers put it back around 17% but no doubt the greatest exodus happened around 30% unemployment.

By comparison, the end of the 90s saw unemployment fall to a low of 6%. The 90s seems like it'd been the best chance for near net-zero migration and maybe even a YOY gain if only a small one.

Based on Census Estimates, 1998 and 1999 came pretty close to a flat change in population; looks to be about a -0.2 decrease. Most other years seem close to less than 1% decreases. However, as far as I remember, there was no major push to get people downtown or into the city like there is now. That could have made a big difference and probably push it over a net-zero change.

[animatedmartian]

Peruvian developer gets Packard Plant deed after making final payment
THE DETROIT NEWS . JANUARY 2, 2014

Detroit — Peruvian developer Fernando Palazuelo now has official ownership of the 40-acre Packard Plant site.

The deed for the land was issued late Tuesday, according to the Wayne County Treasurer’s Office. Palazuelo placed the final payment of $364,590 with an escrow agent last month, said Wayne County Chief Deputy Treasurer David Szymanski. He had made a down payment in November. The purchase price of the once iconic and now ruinous former auto plant was $405,000.

“While the sale of the Packard Plant is now completed, success will be measured over the course of the next several months and years as Mr. Fernando Palazuelo pools his resources and addresses the redevelopment of this iconic structure,” Wayne County Treasurer Raymond Wojtowicz said in a statement. “I am hopeful the years of neglect of this plant are now slipping into our rear-view mirror.”

Palazuelo was the third person awarded the winning bid on an online auction in October. Two others had their bids — for $6 million and $2 million — rejected after they failed to pay. Palazuelo was allowed to pay the lower price because that is where he dropped out of the bidding.

....

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...#ixzz2pIQgtVh8

I'm surprised they didn't reach Palazuelo for a comment. In fact, I've hardly seen many quotes from him.

[hudkina]

He has made lots of comments, including one that he will actually live on site. I'm not sure he can do that legally as of yet, but maybe he means once he gets a particular building renovated or something.

[LMich]

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...#ixzz2pIQgtVh8

I'm surprised they didn't reach Palazuelo for a comment. In fact, I've hardly seen many quotes from him.

He's been all over the local media, though, to the point of where it's gotten kind of annoying. lol The rough proposal for the hulking thing is really pie-in-the-sky, and it probably would have been better for him to team up with some investors first before jumping in. And, that he's promising to live in the thing blows my mind; it almost sounds like a joke. All that said, I really wish him luck, though, and that we finally have someone to go to when something happens with the property is a miracle and improvement in itself. At the very least, having security regularly patrolling the grounds is excellent for public safety, alone.

BTW, here are the operating license agreements that the City of Detroit and MDOT have come up with for M-1 Rail for approval. Along with the actual agreement, each agreement comes with detailed construction sheets showing station placements and alignments within Woodward.

[animatedmartian]

Detroit Club sold; revival hopes rise
LOUIS AGUILAR. THE DETROIT NEWS. JANUARY 3, 2014



The Detroit Club, a downtown social haunt for early- and mid-20th century elites, has been sold.

The 35,000-square-foot, Romanesque Revival building at the northeast corner of Cass Avenue and Fort Street was bought last week by Emre Uralli for an undisclosed amount, according to Lorna Abraham. Lorna and Nick Abraham had owned the building since 2011. The two are longtime members of the Detroit Club and they hoped to revive its one-percenter glory.

New owner Uralli said Thursday afternoon he couldn’t comment because he was rushing to board an airplane.

“I believe you will see more of the same in the future,” Lorna Abraham said Thursday. “It will be a place where top business leaders will meet and socialize.”

...

Two years ago, developers David Di Rita and James Van Dyke were approached to help boost membership. That plan hasn’t been carried out yet and the two hope to meet with new owner Uralli soon to determine whether the Detroit Club can remain in the building, Van Dyke said.

“We would like to see the Detroit Club get back to about 100 members and have it be a great social club for business and civic leaders,” Van Dyke said.

Uralli is a Florida-based investor who has owned the David Stott and Detroit Free Press buildings. Both of the downtown buildings were sold in auction to Chinese investors. The old Free Press building and the club are linked by a second-floor tunnel.

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...#ixzz2pLBtlHCD

I would think there's not really enough 1%-ters around Detroit to really support this club...at least not yet. It'd be pretty boring if it was just Gilbert and Illitch there the whole time.

[LMich]

It's bizarre folks are still talking about trying to resurrect a business club. Turn it into offices and/or apartments or maybe some entertainment options and call it a day. There is already a successful old boys' business club downtown; it's called the Detroit Athletic Club, and that era of multiple such clubs is gone.

[hudkina]

I was going to say, the Detroit Athletic Club already serves this purpose. I doubt this would amount to anything. I don't know how easy it would be to convert to residential. It might work better as offices for small law firms/accountants, etc.

[Rail>Auto]

When are the Red Wings going to unveil any renderings for the new arena? I'm hoping beyond hoping they go with the Old Olympia Stadium design but my inner gut tells me they won't do it because they don't want to look like copycats from the guy who designed it on his blog.

Also, why the initial rush to commit to demolishing Joe Louis? Why can't it be gutted and repurposed just like Cobo Arena?

[animatedmartian]

Mostly likely costs. JLA is designed way differently than Cobo Arena was apart from the obvious that JLA is way bigger. It'd be a while before anyone figured out what to do with it and how to go about doing it.

The design is unlikely to be a replica of Olympia. The architects hired to design the new arena are HKS Inc and NBBJ. That means it'll probably look something similar to this. Just imagine more Red Wings logos all over it.


Go Jackets, Nationwide arena by couchsurfer, on Flickr

[Rizzo]

Pretty sure they'll design something more visionary than that. While I like nationwide, it was intended to blend in seamlessly into the surrounding of what is now called the arena district. I think Detroit's will end up bold and modern and stand isolated. Keep in mind the design of Nationwide probably began in the late 90's, that's a very very very long time ago in design trends. Though "trends" is awful thing to say. I do much prefer nationwide though to the steel blobs you see in the southwest

Barclays center was a huge leap in American arenas and I feel many firms with big sports portfolios are using that caliber as a standard

[Rail>Auto]

I didn't think JLA was that much bigger than Cobo. An aerial shot of it appears to show a slightly taller and wider JLA but a much boxier design that could be converted into trade show amenities much quicker.

As for the Red Wings new arena, I think I might actually cry if they don't go with something like this... http://newolympia.blogspot.com/

[Guiltyspark]

Personally, I would much rather have something like Barclays Center rather than that New Olympia concept. However, I feel like we will get something more along the lines of Nationwide. Only time will tell.

We went through a phase/trend of retro in this country with both stadium design and to a certain extent car design (from the big 3 at least). Perhaps it was because in the post 9/11 rise of china days we are feeling our best days are behind us instead of ahead mixed with a reaction to the horrid, cookie cutter designs of the 70s and 80s. We had to look somewhere for inspired design ideas and the only place to look was the distant past. While that period did give us some great stadium designs (looking at you Comerica Park and Camden Yards) I think that it is time to start looking ahead when it comes to our arena and stadium designs. The Europeans have some great arenas that could serve as inspiration.

[LMich]

Originally Posted by Rail>Auto

Also, why the initial rush to commit to demolishing Joe Louis? Why can't it be gutted and repurposed just like Cobo Arena?

I'm huge on reuse, and often to others' annoyance, but the Joe's exterior has exactly zero architectural value. It was built in a rush and on the cheap to keep the Red Wings from bailing to the suburbs...and it shows. It worked for what it was, and worked really well in spite of itself, but the location is awkward and it's got to be one of the ugliest arenas around.

Sure, recycle the steel, but what's the architectual argument for saving it? How is it comparable to Cobo Arena in what can be done with it in a reconstruction?


Fox Sports

The only thing I'll miss about it is the name. You know much like when the Tigers lost their stadium, that the new name will be corporate.

[animatedmartian]

Originally Posted by Hayward

Pretty sure they'll design something more visionary than that. While I like nationwide, it was intended to blend in seamlessly into the surrounding of what is now called the arena district. I think Detroit's will end up bold and modern and stand isolated. Keep in mind the design of Nationwide probably began in the late 90's, that's a very very very long time ago in design trends. Though "trends" is awful thing to say. I do much prefer nationwide though to the steel blobs you see in the southwest

Barclays center was a huge leap in American arenas and I feel many firms with big sports portfolios are using that caliber as a standard

I don't think Detroit's would be too isolated as it'll be built within a district as well. I also kind of figure it'd be built along the same lines as Comerica Park in that it'd have brick facades and lined on the Woodward streetwall. Then again, there's nothing to say it wouldn't be otherwise.

I honestly just want official renderings instead of trying to speculate.

[hudkina]

I think he meant isolated, in the sense that it will be a unique design that stands out from the architectural styles of the surrounding area.