DETROIT | Development & Construction: Motown Lowdown

[LMich]

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

Downtown Detroit office building vacancy rate drops 7.7 percent from 2012

The vacancy rate in downtown Detroit’s most prized office buildings fell from 19.2 percent in 2012 to 11.5 percent last year, according to a new report issued by the Detroit office of Jones Lang Lasalle.

The second annual Detroit Skyline Review, which keeps tabs on office buildings over 100,000 square feet built or renovated since 1985, also says that 1.5 million square feet has been absorbed in the last three years in the 10 million-square-foot skyline. During that time period, the vacancy rate decreased from 26 percent to 11.5 percent, according to the report.

...

I'm not sure what the significance is of a 1985 cut-off date, but it seems obvious to assume that a more recently renovated or built office building will have more up to date facilities which makes them more desirable to possible tenants.

It is a very odd measurement. They aren't even talking classes, rather, year-built. You can assume that it's mostly Class A, but it's still a strange sub-set to measure, and feels as if they were spinning something. Either way, it's good news. All conventional measurements have been showing singificant dents put in the vacancy rates. We get Class A below 10%, and then it's much easier to rationalize and dream about new-construction office high-rises.

[animatedmartian]

Looks like the city is finally being thorough and specific with development.

Tiger Stadium vision: Youth baseball, commercial development
March 25, 2014. By John Gallagher and Tom Walsh.



....

In a request for proposals (RFP) being issued Tuesday, the city’s Detroit Economic Growth Corp. said that Detroit PAL, a nonprofit youth sports organization, would build a new 10,000-square-foot headquarters on the site and maintain much of the historic playing field for youth baseball.

The RFP also said the city is seeking “mixed-used development,” meaning a blend of retail, residential, and office space, on a portion of the 9.5-acre site running along Trumbull and Michigan Avenue. .

Interested development parties have until May 23 to submit proposals for the mixed-use development. The city anticipates making a selection of a development team by late August.

Besides these uses, the city is reserving a big chunk on the north end of the site along I-75 for future development.

The city’s plans are designed to resolve the many conflicting demands for the site that have stymied redevelopment efforts there in recent years, said George Jackson, the outgoing president and CEO of the DEGC, which controls the site on behalf of the city and which is issuing the RFP today.

By retaining youth baseball, the city’s new vision would honor the historic nature of the parcel, where baseball has been played for more than a century. Then, too, the mixed-use development would help satisfy the needs of the city’s Corktown district for new development, including new retail. And it would contribute to desperately needed new tax base for the city.

...

In choosing a development team to build the commercial side of the site, the city will look for a proposal that achieves high density development on Michigan and Trumbull and “demonstrates a well-understood relation to the surrounding neighborhood.” The city also hopes for proposals “that responsibly evoke or commemorate the location of the original baseball field” but that do not “come at the expense of the project’s overall economic viability.”

Also, a little more info about the HKHC RFP.

Herman Kiefer Health Complex in Detroit offered for new use

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Detroit announced this month that it’s seeking proposals for redevelopment of the nearly 18-acre site. [Brad] Dick said the building could be renovated into apartments or condos, but he concedes that the size of the building and costs estimated in the tens of millions to restore it could be prohibitive. He’s not expecting the city to reap top dollar from potential bidders.

“You really want someone who’ll do something that benefits the city,” Dick said. “It’s less about the dollars you get for it.”

Bids are due April 11, with a decision expected on proposals by mid-May. If none proves viable, Dick said, the city will put out requests for proposals to strip the building of its valuable materials — metal piping, marble walls and the like — before boarding it up and preparing it for demolition so the land can someday be redeveloped.

Dick said the city needs to move quickly because the facility is under guard 24 hours every day, which costs Detroit about $200,000 a year.

...

[LMich]

I'm not sure sure that it's them finally being through, and more that this is just the public roll-out of the RFPs. They've done RFPs, before. Hopefully, these yield results. I guess the news, here, is that Jackson is finally putting his cardes on the table. We'll have to see if anyone bites this time.

The Tiger Stadium RFP looks easy. Herman Kiefer is going to be a much greater challenge, and the reuse will almost certainly have to include public and non-profit tenants to fill up that much space outside the downtown core. I'm talking something like a Focus:HOPE project, a police sub-station, a health clinic, etc...before you even get to talking about market-rate apartments, office space, etc...

Back on the Tiger Stadium site, though, what do you guys think could go up at Zone 3? I'm thinking that location would be limited to something like office.

[animatedmartian]

I guess I mean thorough in the sense that now they've actually shown a plan that includes preserving the field whereas it seemed like previous statements about the demand for development didn't guarantee the preservation of the field. They basically would leave it up to the developer on what to do with the whole lot. I like that they've split up the block rather than just have one huge development over the whole thing.

Zone 3 could be anything. It could be an office, but the freeway off-ramps into this area are kind of weird. I don't think it'd be a necessarily large office building. I was thinking it might be more denser housing, possibly a high rise tower, but they're holding out on it just to be on the safe side.

[hudkina]

I don't think it would be that hard to find retail interested in the Corktown area. While there isn't a large population base as of now in the immediate area, it does draw people from beyond. Eventually it would be nice to see the north side of Michigan Ave fill up with dense residential, mostly low-rise "lofts" with a few midrise/highrise towers sprinkled in. Maybe a small extension of the street car along Michigan Ave to MCS would help drive demand for denser living.

[LMich]

State OKs $10-million loan to Detroit's M-1 Rail line

By John Gallagher | Detroit Free Press

March 25, 2014

The odds that Detroiters will be riding a Woodward Avenue streetcar line by late 2016 rose Tuesday thanks to a $10-million loan from the state to the planned M-1 Rail line.

The Michigan Strategic Fund, meeting in Detroit, voted Tuesday to approve the $10-million loan to M-1. As part of M-1’s complex, multilayered financing plan, the state money will serve as a sort of bridge loan to help free up some of the money from longer-term pledges.

The MSF supported the state loan in part because of the long-term economic development expected to result from construction of the M-1 line. Jenilyn Norman, the chief financial officer of M-1, told the MSF board Tuesday that the multiplier effect from M-1’s investment could produce more than $2 billion in new development in the Woodward corridor.

“You build density, folks want to live there,” Norman told the MSF board. “It will build new jobs.”

...

M-1 Rail will create a curbside streetcar line running along Woodward from Jefferson Avenue to Grand Boulevard in the New Center area. Construction is slated to begin this spring and the line would be finished in later 2016 if the groundbreaking occurs on time.

...

At the same meeting, funds were approved to clear the riverfront site of The Joe:

Michigan approves funds for Joe Louis Arena demolition

By John Gallagher | Detroit Free Press

March 25, 2014

The Michigan Strategic Fund voted Tuesday to approve $6 million in demolition funds to raze Joe Louis Arena once the Detroit Red Wings move into a new arena on the north end of downtown.

Under terms of the agreement for the demolition funds, the new arena must be built before the demolition money would be freed up for use. The demolition funds would eventually be repaid to the Strategic Fund through new tax revenues captured by the city in the downtown district.

The exact cost of the demolition is not yet known. The $6-million estimate approved Tuesday could go as high as $10 million, although MSF staff said the cost is expected to be closer to the $6 million or even less than that.

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These are some pretty creative financing deals, for sure. The JLA site is some prime real estate. We're talking a riverfront location with a People Mover station and parking. I think at least part of the site would make for a reall signature, bad-ass residential tower right on the river.

As for Zone 3, I was thinking anything tall regardless of the use. Optimally, it can't be tall if you want to keep shadows off the field. My thinkging of Zone 3 is that while you could have residential there, it's not the most attractive location off the freeway when you can help it. I know the Gardens at Brush Park - or whatever it's called is on the service drive - but it's probably better to have some other non-residential usage there.

[animatedmartian]

Developers unveil two downtown building proposals
LOUIS AGUILAR THE DETROIT NEWS MARCH 26, 2014




The other proposal to be reveled is for the Statler site.

[animatedmartian]

Was expecting something a lot taller to front GCP, but either way, this will bring in a lot of residents and doesn't look too bad for a mid-rise apartment building.

2 new apartment projects OK'd for downtown Detroit as Mayor Duggan shows hands-on interest in development
March 26, 2014. By John Gallagher. Detroit Free Press Business Writer





Downtown Detroit’s hot rental market will get some needed units with approval of two apartment projects Wednesday by the Downtown Development Authority, including a bank of rental apartments planned for atop the Griswold parking deck near the Westin Book Cadillac.

The Griswold was originally planned as condominiums but the project fell apart during the Great Recession. It was resurrected and came back to the DDA on Wednesday as a $22-million apartment rental project.

In the second deal, the Village Green apartment development firm plans to build a 200-to-250 unit residential apartment project on the site of the former Statler Hotel near Grand Circus Park. The total project cost was estimated at $35 million to $40 million. The project is called the Statler City Apartments and will face Grand Circus Park between Washington and Bagley. Developers hope to start construction in two years.

“There’s just an incredible demand,” David DiRita, a partner in the Roxbury Group, developer of the Griswold project, told the DDA board. “We see the Griswold as an critical component of the larger redevelopment of the West District and builds on the current momentum in Capitol Park.”

Although many older buildings in the greater downtown have been renovated as rental apartments recently, the two DDA-approved projects mark the first large-scale new construction of apartments since the Riverfront towers in the early 1990s.

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The Village Green project would take at least two years to finish its project including an initial year of city planning and permitting. Duggan urged the DDA staff to work with his administration to shorten that time span.

“This is phenomenal,” Duggan said of the project as he insisted on speed. “I would like to cut out whatever we can cut out on the front end.”

Jonathan Holtzman, head of the Village Green development company, told the DDA board that his project was designed to bring more walkable urbanism to the downtown core. He said he is negotiating with a restaurant, a pet store, an ice cream shop, and other retailers to take space in his building in addition to the apartments.

“We need to drive that retail by having more people downtown,” he said. Apartments at the Statler City project will range from 400 square feet to 1,200 square feet, aimed at a younger renter just entering the market.

http://www.freep.com/article/2014032...s-unemployment

[animatedmartian]

Not to rain on Detroit's parade, but rather to keep in perspective. It's still plenty easier and quicker for development to occur in the suburbs and I hope Duggan definitely finds ways to expedite development in Detroit.

DDA delays selling land at I-696 and Main Street
By Robert Guttersohn. C & G Staff Writer. March 25, 2014.


Schostak.


Singh.


Farran.

ROYAL OAK — While the Downtown Development Authority formally accepted three of four requests for proposals March 19, it held off on a final decision to sell the plot of land at Interstate 696 and Main Street.

The DDA instead voted to request additional information from the prospective buyers, who presented detailed development plans during the meeting.

The DDA asked the potential developers — Farran Realty Partners, Singh Development LLC, and Schostak Brothers and Company — to provide projected costs of their developments, an approximation of taxable value and the highest amount of tax increment financing reimbursements they’ll be requesting.

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Jeff Klatt, the architect who designed the Farran development, said his goal in designing the project was to keep it “an extension of the downtown area.”

The Farran development would include up to 180 residential units and two separate retail and office buildings totaling 70,000 square feet.

Singh would turn it into luxury apartments and lofts.

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Schostak would want to turn the land into a headquarters for an international tech company that would bring high-paying jobs downtown and a “daytime population that we believe this community needs.”

Mark Schneider, the president of the Royal Oak Chamber of Commerce, said during the public comment portion of the meeting that the chamber would like to see the land sold to anyone looking to turn it into office space.

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[mind field]

The prior design for the condos on top of the Book Cadillac garage was infinitely more attractive. The current design looks like a giant turd was carelessly plopped on top of the garage, very disappointed.

[LMich]

Statler City looks like a podium that you'd stack something like the David Whitney atop. This would be too small a development for the Tuller site let along the Statler site. It's like building townhomes on Woodward...Crosswoods 2: Electric Bugaloo. This is something you build in Midtown or on some outlot at the edge of downtown on the freeways or at the Madison Lennox lot. Or, hell, at the back of the Statler site even. It's not as if they had to take up the whole site with this. It's shorter than the Claridge across the street, even. And, to think, had the economy not bombed, Gilbert was going to put up a legitimate skyscraper on the site. Hopefully, we're not disappointed by what SHoP comes up with for the Hudson block.

But, hey, 300 uits west of Woodward, so...

Up Woodward in Royal Oak, not even knowing what the other developers would proposed, Schostak should have been embarrassed to put that plan out to the public. lol This is not 1999, anymore, Schostak.

[animatedmartian]

Who knows, since it's going to take 3 years to even get this built, maybe demand will skyrocket by then and they'll add a tower on the end before starting construction.

I also sort of think the rendering actually makes the building look smaller than it actually will be. It's actually the same height as the Claridge. If it's going to be 7 floors than it has to be the same height. If you're standing at Adams and Woodward, it'll peek over the tree canopy of the park.

The bottom rendering seems totally out of scale. Actually, after looking at it for a while, I noticed that all they did was photoshop the building into a streetview image.



So yea, I think judging its impact just based on the rendering seems a bit flimsy. But nonetheless, it's not the 20 stories everyone was hoping for. I still think it's a good fill, at least.

[Rizzo]

I'm on the fence about the scale of it.

First, I really like the architectural design. Seems like the facade will turn out nice. Considering this project is by Village Green, the buildings are typically great products whether its new construction or renovation

Second, a highrise would have been most appropriate. I think downtown's opportunities for highrises is limited despite the vacant land. GCP certainly seems appropriate for height and increasing residential density, so I believe it's a lost opportunity.

However, I think this building will contribute some vibrancy unlike a tower. Here in Chicago our highrise buildings can often times be dull at the street level. They get these massive podiums or over-scaled lobbies. But this building brings residents close to street level and does permit sweeping urban vignettes of the surrounding towers. So maybe a smaller building isn't so bad.

[animatedmartian]

Originally Posted by Hayward

Here in Chicago our highrise buildings can often times be dull at the street level. They get these massive podiums or over-scaled lobbies.

The 3 residential high-rises in Downtown Detroit, Millender Center apartments, Trolley Plaza, and the Riverfront Towers, all exemplify this. Despite being 300-something plus units each, I've never got the sense that they brought vibrancy to the area. None of them have any real retail to speak of.

Trolley Plaza has at most 4 small spaces for retail, Millender has most of its retail located internally near the skywalk entrance for the Ren Cen and only one lone space on the Brush Street side of the building that has outward facing retail, and Riverfront Towers has no retail at all because it's too far away from everything. And these are pretty huge developments yet I bet the Statler City Apartments will have a bigger impact despite being smaller.

Though it's interesting now that I think about it. Village Green now owns Trolley Plaza (as well as Millender) so they obviously know what Detroit's market is like. Did they not have confidence that a newly constructed high-rise would get filled?

[subterranean]

I actually really like both the architecture and the scale of the Village Green development. It looks really sharp, and I'd prefer a quality looking building over a hideous behemoth in such a highly visible location. There will be no shortage of surface parking to build the talls of the future

[JonathanGRR]

Originally Posted by mind field

The prior design for the condos on top of the Book Cadillac garage was infinitely more attractive. The current design looks like a giant turd was carelessly plopped on top of the garage, very disappointed.

The rendering on the developer's website ( http://thekraemeredge.com/index.php/...d_capitol_park ) looks different than the one shown in the news. I'm hoping it turns out more like that...

As for the Statler City site, I agree with pretty much everyone else. I think that a building similar in scale to the Book Building/Tower would be appropriate for the site. It would provide for some real height and density along GCP but also provide for a slightly more intimate feel on Washington.

[Rizzo]

Originally Posted by jonathan.jam

The rendering on the developer's website ( http://thekraemeredge.com/index.php/...d_capitol_park ) looks different than the one shown in the news. I'm hoping it turns out more like that...

As for the Statler City site, I agree with pretty much everyone else. I think that a building similar in scale to the Book Building/Tower would be appropriate for the site. It would provide for some real height and density along GCP but also provide for a slightly more intimate feel on Washington.

That's an older design on Kraemer's website. I haven't seen that since I was in grad school. Wow it's been a long time......

[animatedmartian]

Yea, that was a 2006 proposal based on the residential units being aimed at a luxury market. The newer rendering reflects an aim at a rental market.

[LMich]

WSU Virtual Motor City Collection


WSU Virtual Motor City Collection


WSU Virtual Motor City Collection

It doesn't have to be a skyscaper, but it shouldn't be a waste of a site, either. For all empty lots around the downtown, there are actually just a few really prime sites to showcase large-scale architecture. This is one of them, and this proposal doesn't do this particular site justice. There is both a time and a place for everything. This doesn't fulfill the latter. It's like serving a McRib at a steakhouse or displaying a Thomas Kinkade at the Louvre.

[animatedmartian]

I'm not really so sure about that because it's only been one side of the park that was ever built up like that. The east side of the park has been more or less lower than the west side and gave kind of a lopsided skyline.







Plus the low-rise buildings have a charm that the high-rise buildings lack.

Statler specifically, among the other high-rises around the park, lacks a visual grace, IMO. It's a lot less ornate than the other towers and looks more plain and blocky. It doesn't seem like an extravagant piece of architecture. The only thing that I would consider prominent is its size. But size alone is not what I would merit as worth recreating.