DETROIT | Development & Construction: Motown Lowdown

[LMich]

Originally Posted by subterranean

I'm hopeful that Highland Park ain't goin' nowhere. There are ongoing multifamily rehabs assisted by the state housing authority along the Woodward corridor. If the city could continue to bring back that density and fan out with new development atop the demolished/land banked properties, this could put HP into (slow) growth territory since they've already dropped so low. However, population estimates show that their decline has pretty much bottomed out.

I'm really interested in this. How many units are we talking? Do you know the names of any of these places?

I don't want to belabor this too much further, but I'm trying to figure out even under another EM where the city is going to find the money to pay the basics? Street lighting is already at a bear minimum after they were habitually late on their bills. And, after their city-wide water system was shutdown by the state because of its poor condition, not only could they not raise the money to open it back up, but after DWSD took over, they couldn't even afford to regularly pay the water bill.

The problem with HP isn't just its size - in fact, that issues ranks way down HP's list of problems - but its valuation. It's one of the poorest - if not the poorest - incorporated city in the state. You couple these two things together, and you have to wonder even if the population stablizes, where the money is going to come from to support a local government? Of course, Michigan has small cities, poor cities; it has cities that are both small and poor. HP is an actual whole other level of disinvestment. We're talking 47% of the population below the poverty line. With property values basically worthless, and at least half the city you can't collect an income tax from, that leaves you scrounging for income taxes from people who work in HP and live elsewhere, and shaking some money loose from industries in the city from the PPP tax.

[subterranean]

Sorry, I was wrong. They received Cities of Promise and NSP funding through the Authority and demolished somewhere on the order of 600-700 properties.

What I was thinking of was right across McNichols bordered by Woodward and Pontchatrain, just inside the City of Detroit. There are a number of multifamily projects that went through major rehab there just south of Palmer Park golf course.

Till, I think if the transit happens, and with that many people traversing Woodward, I think HP is positioned well for TOD.

[hudkina]

I could eventually see Highland Park benefiting from the transit system. There are a few neighborhoods in the city that still have great bones and could eventually see some form of gentrification. I can't remember the name of the neighborhood, but the southeastern portion of the city with the "state"-named streets is actually quite nice from an aesthetic point of view.

[animatedmartian]

Originally Posted by hudkina

I could eventually see Highland Park benefiting from the transit system. There are a few neighborhoods in the city that still have great bones and could eventually see some form of gentrification. I can't remember the name of the neighborhood, but the southeastern portion of the city with the "state"-named streets is actually quite nice from an aesthetic point of view.

According to HP's 2010 master plan, that neighborhood is called Medbury-Grovelawn. Pretty catchy name.

[animatedmartian]

Canadian hotel plans meetings on Belle Isle boat club
By Tom Henderson. February 02, 2014.



The CEO of a Canadian hotel group that wants to spend $40 million to turn the Detroit Boat Club on Belle Isle into a luxury hotel and conference center met with city and state representatives last week and said he will come back this week for further meetings.

Bob Jackson said the Vintage Hotels group, based in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, has bought 7 acres of waterfront property on Detroit's far east side next to Mariner Park and plans to develop it as the first residential property in the group's portfolio.

He said that it hasn't been decided whether to build houses, condominiums or a combination and that the project would stay on a back burner while he pursued the boat club deal.

He said the best scenario would be to open the hotel, which will have up to 120 rooms, in 18 months.

Jackson said his group, owned by Hong Kong-based developer Jimmy Lai, decided last year that it was time to look into Detroit real estate, and he made a trip here in September, which included a tour of Belle Isle and a look at the boat club.

"The property struck me as a real gem. We like the natural setting," he said.

Vintage has four hotels in Niagara-on-the-Lake, two in Toronto and expects to close this week on a hotel in Stratford, Ontario.

"We want to turn this into a four- or five-star hotel. It's a historic building, so you have to do it right. You want to be respectful of the property and its history," said Jackson, who has had renderings made into a booklet that shows how the hotel might look when done.

"There will be a lot of banquet space on the property, and we don't think there's a better place for miles to shoot wedding photos."

He said the property would also continue to be the base for the Detroit Boat Club Crew, which has been rowing on the Detroit River since 1839.

Jackson said the deal isn't contingent on financing or tax credits.

When asked about the project, Robert Rossbach, a consultant to the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. said: "Representatives from DEGC meet regularly with many representatives from many organizations, but they generally do not discuss or even confirm those meetings unless they are presenting something to one of the public authorities that DEGC staffs."

The non Belle Isle project mentioned is out on the Grosse Pointe/Detroit border.

[LMich]

Before I scrolled down, I was about to try and figure out where Mariner Park is. lol This is literally in a corner of the city. I wonder what occupied the land, before? This is a really interesting part of the city. In fact, I've never been down that way except for what you pass on Jefferson. I remember seeing a ghost-hunting show, Paranormal State, do an episode on a famous house down that way.

[animatedmartian]

I've been to the park. It's mostly a popular fishing spot for older folks. The neighborhood behind it has a lot of homes with attached boat docks and canals with one going up to Jefferson along Alter. The non-canal blocks basically look like any typical Detroit neighborhood, both in terms of architecture and condition of the neighborhood. Surprisingly quiet and secluded part of the city despite being on the waterfront.

As far as the lot in question, it was apparently a trailer park. Judging by historical aerial pictures, the trailer homes went vacant between 2002 and 2004 and subsequently demolished (or removed) sometime between 2004 and 2005.



Supposedly, the trailer park and Mariner Park was set to become redeveloped with high rise condominiums. Of course, the crash prevented that from happening.

Also, Mariner Park itself used to have a building. Apparently it used to be a hospital that looks like it became vacant and demolished sometime during the 80s. It was built in 1857 and looks like it was expanded sometime during the 1920s. It was a hospital specifically for sailors.




http://dlxs.lib.wayne.edu/cgi/i/imag...-X-8853%5D8853


Marine Hospital, Detroit by southofbloor, on Flickr

[LMich]

The city has approved the new Red Wings arena for Midtown:

John Sullivan
Plans call for the new Red Wings arena to be built in this largely vacant area north of downtown and bracketed by Woodward Avenue (left), Cass Avenue (right) and Temple Street (foreground).

City Council approves new hockey arena

By Bloomberg

February 4, 2014

Something that came out in the coverage of this in the past few days that I think is new is that the actual 8-block arena site is big enough to fit three arenas the size of the one planned for the Red Wings, which brings into question how they are going to do the parking. It sounds like the arena is going to front Woodward. In my dreams, there would be no surface parking, and they'd just attached a parking garage or two to the back of the thing and use, and maybe put a pedestrian plaza on the north or south side fronting Woodward.

[animatedmartian]

Meanwhile in the suburbs, lots of new residential on the way. Nothing too spectacular, but at least a good sign that things are picking up.

$10M Burton Katzman urban loft project planned in Auburn Hills
February 04, 2014. By Kirk Pinho.




A $10-million mixed-use development is planned on 1.07 acres of vacant land at the southwest corner of Auburn and Squirrel roads in Auburn Hills.

Construction on the 53,000-square-foot Rivers Edge of Auburn Hills development is expected to begin this summer and be complete by the end of summer 2015.

The four-story building will have 9,300 square feet of retail space on the first floor and 31 one- and two-bedroom apartments on the second, third and fourth floors.

Bingham Farms-based Burton Katzman LLC is the developer of the project, which received city council approval on Monday night.

"We are pleased that Burton-Katzman is bringing this type of popular mixed use/urban loft project to downtown Auburn Hills," Steve Cohen, director of community development for Auburn Hills, said in a news release.

Detroit-based Albert Kahn Associates Inc. is the architecture firm on the project.

$11M Lawrence Tech residence hall to be completed in fall 2015
February 03, 2014. By Kirk Pinho.



Construction on an $11 million residence hall for 160 students at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield is expected to be complete by the fall 2015.

The 48,000-square-foot building will be the third residence hall for LTU students and will be located north of the university's North Housing residence hall off of 10 Mile Road and west of M-10 (The Lodge), according to a news release.

Farmington Hills-based JPRA Architects is the architecture firm on the project, while University Housing Solutions and Adena Corp., both based out of Mansfield, Ohio, are responsible for development, design and construction of the two-story building.

There will be a cafe and retail space on the first floor, according to the release.

"The building is designed to encourage students to be out of their rooms with plenty of spae for interaction and collaboration," stated Virinder Moudgil, president of LTU. "One of the goals is to get new students involved in campus life by fostering collegiality on a regular basis."

The project, approved last week by the LTU Board of Trustees, will be funded with housing fees, according to the release.

$50M Ford Lake development includes boardwalk-style retail, restaurant, residential
December 02, 2013. By Kirk Pinho.



A $50 million mixed-use development with commercial and restaurant space, along with 600 apartment units, is planned on the east side of Ford Lake in Ypsilanti Township.

The owner of Lake Shore Apartments, south of Grove Road between South Harris and Rawsonville roads, also plans senior housing for the development on two parcels totaling about 105 acres.

John Packer, general partner of Newport Beach, Calif.-based Delaware Lake Shore LP, the ownership entity of Lake Shore Apartments, said he expects construction to begin on the first phase of the development by the end of next year.

"There is no place to go on the lake to get a burger, a steak or to watch a game," Packer said. "The idea is to build a boardwalk that people would stroll a mile or two along the lake, then have some restaurant and dining options there."

The development would also include a marina, he said.

The senior housing would be located on a 14- to 15-acre parcel, and the mixed-use development would be on a 90-acre parcel. A 27-hole disc golf course currently on the larger parcel would remain open.

Packer's development plan is similar to one he presented to Ypsilanti officials about five and a half years ago, he said. That plan included a water park instead of the apartment units; Packer said he could not find an operator for the facility and that water parks took a hit during the economic downturn at that time.

Packer said the new one-bedroom apartments, which would be located above the commercial space and rent for about $1,000 per month, would cater to young professionals and college students with disposable income.

"If we build the retail and don't add (residential), the retail will do great on the warm, sunny days," he said. "Unless we've got people within walking distance — if you put them in a mid-rise building, that retail can survive the winter months and thrive in the summer months."

The first residential units would be available for lease by the summer of 2015, Packer said.

Lake Shore Apartments has 1,026 units, according to Washington, D.C.-based real estate information service CoStar Group Inc. It is currently 100-percent leased, Packer said.

93-unit loft apartment complex planned for Plymouth
Originally Published: December 16, 2013. By Kirk Pinho.



Construction on an $18.5-million loft apartment complex in Plymouth is expected to begin in May.

Starkweather Station, a proposed 93-unit complex on Plymouth Road east of North Holbrook Street, would be complete by 2015 pending approval of a planned unit development request by the city commission next month, according to a news release.

The Plymouth Planning Commission approved the PUD request on Wednesday.

The 128,000-square-foot, two-building complex will feature units ranging from 800 square feet to 1,300 square feet. They will include 10-foot ceilings, hardwood floors, granite countertops, stainless steel appliances and in-unit washers and dryers, according to the news release.

The developers are DevMar Development LLC and Burton-Katzman LLC, both based in Bingham Farms.

Mark DeMaria, founder and principal of DevMar, said rent will be between $1,352 and $1,945 per month.

Bingham Farms-based Core Partners Associates LLC will be the complex’s property manager, said DeMaria, who founded DevMar in 2012.

Starkweather Station would sit on 5.8 acres.

[NYC2ATX]

Thanks for that animated, I think it's important to remember that while a revival of Downtown Detroit is wonderful, an economic revival of the greater Detroit region is what will support a thriving, interconnected engine. The brilliant strangeness of Southeast Michigan today is that so much of the general populous and wealth fled to the suburbs that for the region as a whole to rise again, it may need to develop a more regional, multi-centered city/metro...a rust-belt skeleton turned a LA-style conurbation, if you will. Quite the paradox.

Also, being not from the Detroit area, I had no idea until just now that Lawrence Tech was located literally across the freeway from the Southfield towers. Maybe the redevelopment of that complex into a "downtown Southfield" could actually be successful if it portrayed the whole initiative as Lawrence Tech's "college town" ...they could market it as "a new Ann Arbor." Food for thought.

[animatedmartian]

Found a plan view for the development in Auburn Hills.


http://auburnhillsdevelopment.com/20...g-new-project/

[jodelli]

Originally Posted by LMich

Before I scrolled down, I was about to try and figure out where Mariner Park is. lol This is literally in a corner of the city. I wonder what occupied the land, before?

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

I've been to the park. It's mostly a popular fishing spot for older folks. The neighborhood behind it has a lot of homes with attached boat docks and canals with one going up to Jefferson along Alter. The non-canal blocks basically look like any typical Detroit neighborhood, both in terms of architecture and condition of the neighborhood. Surprisingly quiet and secluded part of the city despite being on the waterfront.

As far as the lot in question, it was apparently a trailer park. Judging by historical aerial pictures, the trailer homes went vacant between 2002 and 2004 and subsequently demolished (or removed) sometime between 2004 and 2005.

I'd been there too while the trailer park still existed and thought at the time that it was a strange use of prime waterfront especially being right next to GPP.
Too bad the earlier proposal went south but I'm glad to see there's renewed interest in the site.

[subterranean]

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

I've been to the park. It's mostly a popular fishing spot for older folks. The neighborhood behind it has a lot of homes with attached boat docks and canals with one going up to Jefferson along Alter. The non-canal blocks basically look like any typical Detroit neighborhood, both in terms of architecture and condition of the neighborhood. Surprisingly quiet and secluded part of the city despite being on the waterfront.

As far as the lot in question, it was apparently a trailer park. Judging by historical aerial pictures, the trailer homes went vacant between 2002 and 2004 and subsequently demolished (or removed) sometime between 2004 and 2005.



Supposedly, the trailer park and Mariner Park was set to become redeveloped with high rise condominiums. Of course, the crash prevented that from happening.

Also, Mariner Park itself used to have a building. Apparently it used to be a hospital that looks like it became vacant and demolished sometime during the 80s. It was built in 1857 and looks like it was expanded sometime during the 1920s. It was a hospital specifically for sailors.




http://dlxs.lib.wayne.edu/cgi/i/imag...-X-8853%5D8853


Marine Hospital, Detroit by southofbloor, on Flickr

Great history lesson. Thanks for digging this up!

[animatedmartian]

I don't know what significance there is if any, but the city extended the deadlines for the RFP for the Brush Park redevelopment.

Proposals for Parcels A and/or B previously due 3 p.m. on February 5, 2014 – Have been extended an additional 30 days and are now due on: FRIDAY, MARCH 7, 2014 @ 3 P.M. –EST.

Does this usually mean that now there's more time given for more refined proposals?

[LMich]

It could mean almost anything. It could mean that they didn't receive any replies. It could mean that they've received plenty of responses and nothing was too their liking. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

BTW, thanks for the link to the RFP. I see that the city is looking to develop the land as multi-family units, which is interesting, because I'm so used to Detroit that I thought they'd be going to route of single-family homes - and maybe not even attached single-family given the previous build of the neighborhood. Good to see they realize that it's time for some level of density in the second tier of the inner-city.

[animatedmartian]

I think they realize the demand for housing that's present now that wasn't there in previous decades. SFH would definitely limit the amount of demand they could alleviate. So the obvious thing to do would be to create density.

Plus with the Stadium just across Woodward, I don't think too many homeowners would be fond of the noise and the crowds that for sure are going to fill the area. Even with the current stadiums, you get a lot of foot traffic because a lot of people park up this way.

[LMich]

Tailergaters and people trying to avoid parking tickets are going to be so pissed as Brush Park and Cass Park actually turn back into neighborhoods. You just know the DPD is going to follow the redevelopment. lol I've heard a lot of complaints from Crosswinds folks even know, as you say. And, when Tiger Stadium still existed, near the end, drunk Tigers fans used to use Corktown as a toilet, essentially. With things on the upswing, there's going to be quite a bit more pushback and civic pride shown by neighbors, for sure.

[animatedmartian]

Yea I had just thought about that. I'm surprised the city hasn't already considered expanding the areas that have metered parking. Then again, I wouldn't expect them to announce that sort of thing and I'm pretty sure the current set of meters probably need updating anyway.

Also, I discovered something on Google Maps that I can't quite unsee now.





I know painting whole buildings with single off-colors in Detroit isn't new, but... why though?

[LMich]

I don't know who owns it, exactly, or exactly the year it was done (maybe five or so years ago), but I think they painted it to hide the decay. There has been sporadic work done on it to keep it from going the way of so many vacant buildings in the area. I suspect the paint job was done to show potential vandals that the building may be vacant, but it's not abandoned.

It'll be interesting to see if the Olympia buys it - of if they already bought and it we just never heard. It's going to feel so good to see all that parking disappear. The northwest corner of downtown has got to be one of the most disgraceful parts of a city center of any downtown in this country.

On a totally seperate subject, for those interested in keeping up with the bids for the Woodward Avenue Streetcar, Stacy & Whitbeck has had a site out for some time with some interesting information on it:

https://stacywitbeck.app.box.com/m1rail/1/1517922581

[animatedmartian]

Four downtown office buildings for sale, but will the comps be strong?
By Kirk Pinho. February 09, 2014.



Not since Dan Gilbert swarmed into Detroit's downtown real estate market in 2010 has such a flurry of central business district office buildings been poised for sales deals.

Four midsize buildings totaling 295,000 square feet have been put up for sale and are actively being marketed to potential buyers. Real estate experts say how those buildings fare in purchase offers will be a marker of the how high the level of investment interest is in the 12 million-square-foot downtown office market.

The buildings range from 15,000 square feet to 164,000 square feet. They are at 1260 Library St. (100 percent occupied); 511 Woodward Ave. (vacant); 243 W. Congress St. (53 percent occupied); and 415 Clifford St. (vacant).

Two of the buildings, the Woodward and Clifford sites, are being sold by Wayne County. The Library Street property is being sold by Vernier Holdings LLC with a registered agent of developer Michael Curis. The Congress building is being sold by Maria Gatzaros, widow of the late Greektown developer Ted Gatzaros.

"You want to see how this real estate is absorbed and what comes of it and what the sales comps are," said A.J. Weiner, executive vice president of brokerage in the Detroit office of Jones Lang LaSalle, which is marketing three of the four buildings for sale. "If the comps are strong, it bodes well for other sellers."

Charles Mady, CEO of Detroit-based Exclusive Realty -- the company marketing one of the four buildings, the 164,000-square-foot Class B Marquette Building at West Congress and Washington Boulevard -- said the CBD office market is still "sluggish." However, if the downtown buildings sell for high enough prices, that will be a milestone for the market.

"We would go up a full rung on the ladder," he said. "We are now attracting professional buyers and developers. I get calls every day from L.A. and New York. The excitement is out there, so that would be a major boost."

In the fourth quarter of 2013, CBD office buildings sold for an average of $23.69 per square foot, according to data from the Southfield office of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank.

What the four buildings are used for, whether office or a combination of uses, will become future indicators as well, brokers said.

"Are they going to be tapping into the demand for residential? One would argue that would be an easy sell," Weiner said.

Some would likely remain office space, such as the 15,000-square-foot Class B building just northwest of Gilbert's Z Site on Library Street. Others, like the 35,000-square-foot Class B building on Woodward between Larned and Congress streets, could be transformed into mixed-use space for retail and office, Weiner and Mady said.

The Clifford Street site, between Bagley Avenue and Times Square, includes 81,000 square feet of Class C office space. Jones Lang LaSalle is marketing the Clifford, Library and Woodward buildings.

Brokers and attorneys say the next wave of real estate sales downtown is expected to attract a different crop of people seeking to invest in a market on the upswing.

Joe Kopietz, a partner in the real estate practice at Detroit-based Clark Hill PLC, said approval of a business improvement district downtown might be something that "some of our more passive property owners may not want to be around for." That means more building sales could be on the horizon, he said.

...

Interactive map of the 4 buildings for sale.

Rivertown seniors development in 2nd phase
By Sherri Welch. February 09, 2014.



Presbyterian Villages of Michigan is in the second phase of development at its $43.5 million Rivertown Neighborhood near Detroit's east riverfront.

After opening an affordable assisted living complex in one of two former Parke-Davis manufacturing facilities on the Detroit campus last spring, Southfield-based PVM and Chelsea-based United Methodist Retirement Communities Inc. began construction of a $7.5 million independent senior apartment building in the fall. The four-story, 50-unit building, which is just under 50,000 square feet, is expected to open in July.

The development, and existing Rivertown complex, is at McDougall Avenue and Franklin Street, two streets south of Jefferson Avenue.

"The demand for that building has been the greatest we've ever seen," said PVM President and CEO Roger Myers.

More than 300 people have expressed interest in living there, but PVM won't begin taking applications until late March, he said.

....

As part of the new developments, PVM also plans to create additional parking to the north of the campus and a garden and park area -- the Rivergarden Community Park -- on property leased from the UAW-GM Center for Human Resources, Myers said. The hope is to complete at least part of the park this summer. The park will be just south of the Rivertown development on the grounds of the UAW center.

"We really see this Rivergarden as being an asset, a resource for the surrounding area even though it focuses on the Rivertown neighborhood," Myers said, noting conversations with the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy are already underway to look for ways to tie in Riverwalk programming with the new park.

...