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  #2141  
Old Posted Nov 5, 2013, 8:40 AM
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I think the opposite. There is a literal straight along the waters edge at Riverfront where this could go with each side of the property being relative open space (empty lot to the west, unobstructed surface parking lot to the east. Whereas the path through/around Harbortown is far more convoluted just given the geography given that the marina at Harbortown is not built off the riverfront like at Riverfront, but into the riverfront.
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  #2142  
Old Posted Nov 5, 2013, 11:24 AM
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Riverfront Towers already has a "riverwalk" of sorts in front of the marina. I highly doubt there would be much opposition to opening that stretch to the public.
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  #2143  
Old Posted Nov 5, 2013, 12:08 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LMich View Post
I think the opposite. There is a literal straight along the waters edge at Riverfront where this could go with each side of the property being relative open space (empty lot to the west, unobstructed surface parking lot to the east. Whereas the path through/around Harbortown is far more convoluted just given the geography given that the marina at Harbortown is not built off the riverfront like at Riverfront, but into the riverfront.
I see what you mean.
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  #2144  
Old Posted Nov 5, 2013, 11:40 PM
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Originally Posted by LMich View Post
Yeah, it does look disjointed, for sure. For once, they seem to have an awfully optimistic view of retail in the center, but the only way that'd materialize is if 1). you undo Northland or 2). you include far more housing than what I see rendered in the concept to support said retail. I, too, would like to have seen much greater attention paid to residential infill. This looks really great if you're working in the office towers and civic center, but it almost doesn't address actual Southfield residents' access to the town center, which is who you'd pull on for support of the retail in the downtown. At the end of the day, it looks like an outdoor mall on Civic Center, as opposed to something connected to the neighborhoods.

All that said, anything is better than what is there, now. I understand they should have done this years ago, but Southfield is still a huge retail draw for northwest Detroiters, so I don't quite buy the prevailing opinion that it's "too late." I think a reinvigorated town center, here, wouldn't necessarily compete directly with the demographic who frequent the retail and nightlife along the upper Woodward corridor communities. There is a really big opportunity, here, to cater to the middle-class black suburban demographic in this area of the region, and make it their premiere suburban spot in a way you couldn't even do with the gentrifying Midtown and downtown Detroit. I've always seen this area as a missed opportunity - maybe, it's because my family frequented this area a lot as a child as far as retail was concerned - but, it's better late than never.
I completely agree. Better late than never. Almost anything would have to be better than the asphalt jungle that 'Center City' Southfield currently is. It has the potential to be a much more engaging urban destination than it currently is if certain factors, as you outlined, are addressed.
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  #2145  
Old Posted Nov 6, 2013, 11:17 AM
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Quote:
Downtown building sales spark Corktown buying spree
LOUIS AGUILAR THE DETROIT NEWS. NOVEMBER 6, 2013



Detroit— A land-buying spree is erupting around the popular Michigan Avenue strip in Corktown.

Call it “the Dan Gilbert” effect, or an unexpected product of Detroit seeking Chapter 9 bankruptcy, but it’s the latest sign a rush is under way to buy in Detroit’s gentrifying swath, stretching from Corktown to Midtown to downtown, say commercial real estate brokers and building owners.

“Some people want to buy as a way to support the city, and others think they are getting bankruptcy prices,” said James Horn, a broker for Wilhelm & Associates, who was involved in one of the five pending Corktown sales made in the past month.

....



Among the Corktown sales contracts is one signed last week for a structure most Michigan Avenue visitors will recognize: the triangular, graffiti-riddled “CPA building” across the street from Slows Bar BQ restaurant.

“We signed a contract, we are feeling pretty good, things continue to look up for this neighborhood, really looking up,” said Ray Kouza, owner of the six-story CPA building at the corner of Michigan and 14th Street. The building was for sale for 11 years, according to CoStar, a commercial real estate information service. The list price was $900,000.

Kouza and other sellers declined to name the buyer or the sales price. Most said it was simply too soon since the deals have to go through the usual due diligence of any sale, which often takes one to three months.

The only known price and buyer is the $116,000 paid for a weedy, empty lot at 2126 Trumbull, about a block north of Michigan Avenue. A man named Jim McClellan bought the lot during last month’s Wayne County tax foreclosure auction. The empty 6,700-square-foot lot had 102 bids, according to county officials.




Other pending sales include a former art gallery on the eastern edge of Corktown. It’s latest incarnation was the 5E Gallery. “We had so much interest from local and national buyers,” said Horn, the broker involved in the deal. “Everyone had big plans — restaurants, bars. Someone actually wanted to make it their personal loft.” The space is 4,600 square feet, according to CoStar. The list price was $149,000.

The highest listed price for any of the sold buildings was $3.7 million. That was for the Corktown Inn, a motel at 1331 Trumbull, about five blocks south of the former site of Tiger Stadium. The Corktown Inn had been for sale for 3-½years, according to CoStar.

“It’s the Dan Gilbert effect,” said Albert Ellis, senior associate for Colliers International, who was involved in the motel deal. “Investors feel pushed out of downtown because of Gilbert’s buying spree there.”

...
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...xt|FRONTPAGE|p
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  #2146  
Old Posted Nov 6, 2013, 11:34 AM
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It would be nice to see something happen to the CPA building.
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  #2147  
Old Posted Nov 6, 2013, 3:25 PM
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A couple of thoughts today:

The first is of an opportunity, which may or may not come to fruition.
Mike Duggan is the Mayor of Detroit. He has a great opportunity to start real reform, in conjunction with the city (hopefully) receiving bankruptcy protection. Its a chance for a clean start. Although change will be slow, Duggan needs to show real results in a relatively short amount of time. His best bet will be with the police force. If he can find money to cut response time and increase neighborhood presence he will win the trust of the residents.

The second is a certainty in my mind.
Downtown Detroit will not fail. It will be renovated piece by piece until it is a viable market without massive subsidy. Dan Gilbert went all in and he will personally see to it. Its not goodwill, its business. His empire has become "too big to fail" -- if Detroit fails, Dan Gilbert will lose a fortune. He will not let this happen. He will continue to personally subsidize retail and development until critical mass is reached. Then he will profit enormously from all of his cheap buys.

[Edit]: Also really looking forward to Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown Detroit episode, which airs this Sunday. Really curious to see where he went and hear his take: Preview
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  #2148  
Old Posted Nov 8, 2013, 12:40 PM
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An historic apartment building saved and reused.
Quote:
Grand opening of Detroit apartment building ends homelessness for tenants
By Tammy Stables Battaglia November 7, 2013

...

Author Mitch Albom, who also writes for the Detroit Free Press, presided over the grand opening celebration at the building at Elmhurst and Woodrow Wilson today. The new tenants — who will pay 30% of their income — were expected to start moving in today, filling the building by the end of the week. All have completed training programs and lived in shelters run by Cass Community Social Services, a nonprofit run by Rev. Faith Fowler.

“What Faith Fowler and Cass Community do is astounding,” Albom said. “The reason this is so special is because it potentially permanently ends homelessness for 41 residents.”

The Homeless Action Network of Detroit estimates Detroit, Hamtramck and Highland Park are home to about 20,000 homeless people. Adults 45 to 54 years old are the largest age group of homeless people, with 61% of them men, according to a 2012 survey the homeless action network conducted in metro Detroit.

Fowler — with developer Bill Pulte, founder of the Detroit Blight Authority, — told the crowd that the Cass Community board was hesitant to delve into the project in October 2012.

“The walls looked like they’d been through the second world war; there were holes in the walls where they’d stole the copper,” she said to laughs. “They finally told me I could buy the building if I got a drug test.”

But dozens of community organizations, volunteers and churches pitched in, and most of the rooms were sponsored by a different group. The basement offers a community room, laundry room and computer room and there are plans for a hair salon. Cass Community Social Services plans to hold everything from vocational and literacy training to 12-step programs and cooking classes for residents.

...








http://www.freep.com/article/2013110...Cass-apartment
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  #2149  
Old Posted Nov 8, 2013, 11:08 PM
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Quote:
Have a Look At The Globe Building Now
November 8, 2013, by Sarah Cox


















http://detroit.curbed.com/archives/2...ilding-now.php
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  #2150  
Old Posted Nov 10, 2013, 8:04 PM
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Quote:
Children's Hospital to build tower, expand rooms
By Sherri Welch. November 10, 2013.

Children's Hospital of Michigan is making plans to construct a six-story patient tower and reconfigure all of its double-occupancy rooms to private rooms for an estimated investment of $100 million or more.

To make room for the tower at Mack Avenue and Beaubien Street, the hospital plans to relocate the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southeastern Michigan house in Midtown from land it deeded conditionally to the charity to a new site at Mack and Brush Street, about a half mile away, for an additional $3.5 million.

The new tower and hospital reconfiguration are part of the $850 million promised when Vanguard Health Systems — now Tenet Healthcare Corp. — acquired the Detroit Medical Center in 2012, said Luanne Ewald, vice president of business development and strategic planning at Children's Hospital.

...

The hospital has hired Boston-based Shepley Bulfinch as project architect and plans to spend the next 12-18 months plotting out departmental needs from space and technology standpoints, Ewald said.

....

Children's Hospital plans to put out a request for proposals for construction firms for the tower and hospital projects by the third quarter of 2015, Ewald said. Construction is expected to begin late in 2015 or in spring 2016.

But before work on the new tower can begin, the hospital has to relocate the Ronald McDonald House.

The hospital donated the land for the charity's use with the proviso that should the hospital ever need it for any purpose, the hospital would provide another location and house, Ewald said.

Children's Hospital acquired four contiguous parcels of land, two from the city and two from private owners, on the south side of Mack off Brush for the new house, Ewald said.

The hospital expects to break ground on the house by spring and has said it hopes to complete it by the end of next year, said Jennifer Litomisky, executive director of the Ronald McDonald House.

Detroit-based Hamilton Anderson Associates is serving as architect for the new house.

Litomisky, who's walked the architects through the charity's current house, said plans call for a 2 1/2-story, 18,000-square-foot home that will look like the historical homes on Mack. That would be 2,000 feet larger than its current site. The new house will still have 25 rooms, but each will have its own bathroom.
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...r-expand-rooms

This is the rendering for the tower.


http://www.dmc.org/project-photos.html

Where it'll be and the Ronald McDonald House that'll have to be relocated.



And also where the new house will be built. The actual spot is just to the left of the edge photo where there is currently one other home and a vacant lot.



HAA is a pretty good firm though most of their work consists of modern designs. So I'm curious to see how much of a historical compliment their house on Mack will look.

These aren't the exact homes are Mack, but this is pretty much what's left of the historical housing in this area,

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  #2151  
Old Posted Nov 11, 2013, 8:17 AM
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Nice updates, animation. I'm particularly happy to see the Antsidel Apartments renovations. There's a lot of unconventional housing being renovated in this area. In fact, this is not too far from where I grew up, and where my mother's family grew up. There are so many great apartment buildings - many of them mid-block or on residential corners - in these westside hoods, and it's good to see even one vacant one being saved.
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  #2152  
Old Posted Nov 11, 2013, 2:02 PM
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I think they did a good job of "recreating" the sections of the Globe that had to be torn down. That's going to be a great development for the riverfront.
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  #2153  
Old Posted Nov 11, 2013, 3:16 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hudkina View Post
I think they did a good job of "recreating" the sections of the Globe that had to be torn down. That's going to be a great development for the riverfront.
I've been watching the progress from over here in Windsor, very easy to see from our riverfront parks. Can't wait to see how it turns out"
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  #2154  
Old Posted Nov 11, 2013, 6:00 PM
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Originally Posted by hudkina View Post
I think they did a good job of "recreating" the sections of the Globe that had to be torn down. That's going to be a great development for the riverfront.
Totally agree. I was very concerned when I started seeing large brick sections coming down initially. But this recent set is comforting. The Globe is shaping up to be a really cool building.
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  #2155  
Old Posted Nov 12, 2013, 8:13 AM
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Out along the Gold Coast:

Quote:

The 43-unit Hibbard Apartments, at 8905 East Jefferson Avenue and the 49-unit Kean Apartments, at 8925 East Jefferson Avenue in Detroit on Monday. (David Coates / The Detroit News)

Investment firm buys 4 Riverfront area apartment buildings

By Louis Aguilar | The Detroit News

November 11, 2013

Detroit — A Denver-area firm that buys and renovates historical properties continues to show its faith in Detroit’s east Riverfront area, acquiring four apartment buildings, according to a company spokeswoman.

Triton Properties Company announced Monday it bought the buildings — all of which are close to each other — for an undisclosed amount. The aim is to fix them up, said April Sedillos, Triton executive vice president.

“Our initial plans include addressing the deferred maintenance,” Sedillos said in an email statement Monday. “At this time, we are still in the process of formulating budgets for capital improvements to the properties.”

Triton bought the following:

■ Hibbard Tower Residences — 8905 E Jefferson Ave., 43 units.

■ Kean Residences — 8925 E Jefferson Ave., 49 units.

■ Parker Residences — 715 Parker St., 9 units.

■ Van Dyke Manor — 1000 Van Dyke, 38 units.

The buildings are close to Triton’s other investments it has made in the Detroit since 2009. In August 2013, it purchased the Alden Park Towers at East Jefferson and Parker for $2 million. It completed a $5 million renovation of the property earlier this year.

Triton also owns 23 single-family homes in East English Village, and has significant interest in the Harbortown residential complex.


The 38-unit Van Dyke Apartments, at 1000 Van Dyke and E. Lafayette street in Detroit on Monday. David Coates / The Detroit News
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  #2156  
Old Posted Nov 12, 2013, 1:16 PM
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There's a news story from a few months ago about TPC's renovation on the Alden Towers.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/D...7/-/index.html

If that's what to be expected at these newly acquired apartments, there's going to be a bump in interest for this area. I mean, the area is good as it is now, but you'd think this area would see a lot of developer interest giving the existing high-rises and waterfront real estate.

Good to see Triton expanding nonetheless.
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  #2157  
Old Posted Nov 13, 2013, 1:48 PM
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Until the RTA gets up-and-running - which is still at least a year away - we're not going to see a lot of movement from the public powers-that-be on regional transit, but a private company is looking to start a regular shuttle bus between Metro and Downtown. No telling how far off this is, but it'd be a start.

Quote:
Charter bus operator envisions round-trips to Metro Airport

By John Gallagher | Detroit Free Press

November 13, 2013

The Detroit Bus Company, a 2-year-old operator of charter buses, hopes to start offering regular routes soon between downtown Detroit and Metro Airport.

Andy Didorosi, founder and president of the operation, said he has been talking to the Detroit Department of Transportation for several months about his concept.

If launched as Didorosi envisions, a fleet of four buses would run a dozen or more round-trips per day between downtown and the airport, with stops at various downtown and suburban locations, he said.

“I wanted to find niches to fill that could be useful for everybody, citizens who have lived here their whole lives,” Didorosi told the Free Press this week.

If successful, the service could fill a gap in transit options between the airport and downtown.
Eventually, whenever the Ann Arbor-Detroit regional rail finds regular operating funds, I'd like to see them take the bulk of potential passengers, and the bus system supplement the rail.
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  #2158  
Old Posted Nov 13, 2013, 8:52 PM
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Demolitions plans from out of nowhere. I never thought these two buildings were urban friendly (being set so far back from Woodward and with a huge parking lot), but I never expected them to get the wrecking ball. The letter just states a proposal in zoning change. Not necessarily a possible demolition.

Very interested to see what the proposals look like.

Quote:
Professional Plaza High-Rise Targeted For Demolition
November 13, 2013, by Paul Beshouri





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

Last edited by animatedmartian; Nov 13, 2013 at 9:26 PM.
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  #2159  
Old Posted Nov 13, 2013, 11:10 PM
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More residential on the way.

Quote:
Exclusive: Apartments Proposed Behind Westin Book Cadillac Detroit
NOVEMBER 13, 2013 BY R.J. KING



With demand for apartments in downtown Detroit outpacing supply, the Roxbury Group is reviving a plan to add 80 residential units atop a 10-story parking deck located behind the Westin Book Cadillac Detroit. The development company had proposed offering condominiums above the structure in 2007, but had to pull back due to the 2008 global financial crisis.

“We have submitted a proposal and are working with the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. and the Michigan Economic Development Corp., and we are in the preliminary stages,” says David M. DiRita, a Roxbury Group principal. “Where before we sought to do condominiums, we feel the timing is right for apartments. The demand is there.”

Since 2010, more than 15,000 workers have been added to the central business district. New entrants include Quicken Loans Inc. and its affiliates, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, and added workers at General Motors Co., among others. As a result, the residential occupancy rate downtown has soared above 95 percent.

Brian Holdwick, vice president of the DEGC, confirmed Roxbury had submitted a proposal for adding apartments above the deck, at Michigan and Griswold. The plan includes the construction of a five-level addition with open floor plans and the completion of a dedicated elevator offering access to on-site parking, retail offerings, and the hotel.

Called The Griswold, the project, to be designed by Detroit-based Kraemer Design Group, would take 12 to 18 months to complete, DiRita says. Many of the units would offer excellent views of the Detroit River, Belle Isle, and Canada now that the demolition of the Lafayette Building at Michigan and Shelby has been completed.

The DEGC, which oversaw construction of the 545-space parking deck for the Downtown Development Authority, designed the structure to accommodate five levels of residential or commercial office space. Detroit-based Walbridge built the deck.

In related news, DiRita says the Roxbury Group is on schedule with its redevelopment of the David Whitney Building at Woodward and Park in downtown Detroit. The 19-story structure, designed by David Burnham, is being converted into 108 apartments, a 136-room Aloft Hotel, two restaurants, and retail space. The project is slated to open in fall 2014.

Earlier this year, the Roxbury Group completed The Auburn, a 58-unit loft apartment building along with 9,000 square feet of retail space, at Cass and Canfield in Detroit’s Midtown District. The building is 100-percent occupied. The company also is redeveloping the Globe Building, located east of the Renaissance Center near the riverfront, into a $13-million adventure and discovery center for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. The project is scheduled to open next year.
http://www.dbusiness.com/daily-news/...roit/#comments

The design has changed slightly from 2007. It looks as though they closed up the balconies and squared off the garret. The new design looks a lot more contemporary. This is the old design:


http://thekraemeredge.com/index.php/...d_capitol_park
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  #2160  
Old Posted Nov 14, 2013, 8:11 AM
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It looks like they chopped off a floor, too. I like the old design better. The mansard roof is the only thing that made the architecture of it worthwhile, to me. Looks like they also took out the balconies. In fact, it looks like they are just going to continue to bland design of the garage to the top, basically. A missed opportunity.

BTW, always like Professional Plaza, if only for the height and creating a landmark in the middle of Midtown (the sign on top was cool, too), but I remember hearing about demolition plans for this years ago. EDIT: Just read the rezoing request. It's like the rezoning request in just about every city. Yes, they are rezoning this to demolish the existing properties to put up medical office building and parking garage.
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Last edited by LMich; Nov 14, 2013 at 12:48 PM.
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