DETROIT | Development & Construction: Motown Lowdown

[The North One]

I really hope they don't follow through with those renders, they're really old so they might change the design.

[Urbannizer]

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

Very edgy infill project that ties in well with its neighbors.

[rlw777]

^ Build these right now!

[subterranean]

Context

[99spartan]

I love the 11-storey building!! That 'falling' design is awesome!! I hope they don't change that much. Although it would be nice if it were a little taller.

[hammersklavier]

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

This makes me curious: How are they pulling that falling aesthetic off?

Whatever they're doing, I like it. It's a very Detroit take on cutting-edge architecture.

[subterranean]

A play on the eyes. Clearly the floors are parallel with the ground. The exterior curtain wall's lines are offset 10-15 degrees. Curtain walls are not structural.

[animatedmartian]

Big update this week.

Healthy Living Medical Supply to move offices from Troy to Detroit
By JAY GREENE. Crain's Detroit. August 30, 2016.



Healthy Living Medical Supply plans to move its corporate headquarters to Detroit from Troy in November as part of an effort to locate offices closer to its customers and health plan clients, company officials said.

The mail-order diabetes supply and maintenance medications provider plans to move into a 7,000-square-foot space in the 12-story Francis Palms Building, 2115 Woodward Ave., a block from the Fox Theatre, said Cliff Grabowski, president of Healthy Living. It currently rents space at 1095 Crooks Road in Troy.

"We also will be leasing additional space in the city, most likely in the Corktown area, to house our pharmacy and shipping departments," CEO Mike Lewis said.

The new space in the Palms building is designed for about 35-40 employees, Grabowski said. Healthy Living employs about 30 full-time equivalent personnel.

Grabowski said being located in downtown Detroit will give the company close access to health plans with which it does business, which he declined to name. Other community organizations with which it works include the American Diabetes Association and Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

.....

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...roy-to-detroit

Second big Corktown project emerges
Louis Aguilar, The Detroit News. August 31, 2016.





A Metro Detroit billionaire’s plan to build a new blocks-long residential development near old Tiger Stadium site has taken the first steps to gain city permission to begin construction.

It’s one of two major developments planned near the corner of Michigan and Trumbull, which could bring at least 220 new residential units to the neighborhood in the next few years.

Detroit-based Soave Enterprises, founded by Anthony Soave, filed plans this month to build four new buildings with a total of 89 residential units, behind the Checker Cab building at 2128 Trumbull. The cab dispatch center, owned by a Soave entity, is across the street from the old stadium.

Another development, called The Corner [rendering below], aims to build 105 apartments, 35 townhouses and 35,000 square feet of retail space on the grounds that once housed Tiger Stadium. The developer of that $35 million project, Larson Realty, is awaiting approval of a $15 million tax credit to begin construction early next year. The Larson and Soave projects are separate, unrelated deals.



The two projects are testimony to the popularity of Corktown, Detroit’s oldest neighborhood. Located on the southwest edge of downtown, Corktown, always a stable working-class community, has been a magnet for millennials and budding entrepreneurs for more than a decade. Michigan Avenue, Corktown’s main business strip, has evolved into a dense area of restaurants, bars and small independent retailers.

“It’s going to be a boon — that’s what people are expecting,” P. J. Ryder, owner of nearby PJ’s Lager House, said of Soave’s plans.

Only the broad outline of Soave’s development is known. A spokeswoman for Soave declined comment for this story.

....

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/bus...roit/89618024/

National Theatre’s fate unclear as redevelopment looms
Ian Thibodeau, The Detroit News. August 31, 2016.



Preservationists warn time is running out to save the severely deteriorated yet still ornate National Theatre building in Detroit’s downtown.

But city officials hope the 105-year-old Albert Kahn-designed landmark, which sits at 118 Monroe in the middle of a forlorn stretch, will be redeveloped in the next few years, after other major projects in Detroit’s central business district finish.

It sits amidst the Monroe Block, a two-square-block area between Campus Martius and Greektown that is mostly vacant land bounded by Monroe, Bates, Cadillac Square and Randolph, and cut down the middle by Farmer. The former theater district is one of the last large chunks untouched by the city’s downtown revitalization.

“The Monroe Block and land around the National Theatre, as well as the theater property itself, are important targets for redevelopment,” Bob Rossbach, spokesman for the Detroit Economic Development Corporation, told The Detroit News in an email.

Rossbach said there is no timeline for any redevelopment and declined to further comment on the theater or surrounding area.

The vacant, blighted National Theatre — now owned by the city — is the only known theater designed by Kahn, the architect who also created the Fisher Building and the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House.

Even in its current state of neglect, the white-glazed terra-cotta facade and gold-domed towers flanking the recessed entryway arch make the theater one of the most opulent buildings downtown.

A plywood barrier closes off the entrance and the stained-glass that once adorned the archway over the entrance is long gone, leaving the theater’s interior exposed to the elements for at least 25 years. It has been vacant since its last tenant — an adult film theater — went dark in 1975.

The city already has two big downtown development projects on its plate: the massive $52.4 million Paradise Valley Cultural and Entertainment District project, which calls for redevelopment that would highlight African-American arts and businesses; and billionaire Dan Gilbert’s pending plans for a high-rise retail and apartment complex at the former J.L. Hudson’s site on Woodward.

The Monroe Block is expected to be redeveloped after the completion of those major projects.

.....

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/new...king/89617854/

Housing at Wayne State remains tight but new projects may ease overflow
By Chris Ehrmann. August 25, 2016.Crain's Detroit.


This year Wayne State is expected to have about 40 students living in the Hotel St. Regis.

Housing is again posing a challenge for students who want to live on campus at Wayne State University in Detroit's Midtown.

The move-in date for students is Saturday and continues through Tuesday. For the second year in a row, students are being housed at the Hotel St. Regis in the New Center area because on-campus housing is full.

Last year, 3,033 students were living in university housing, including 89 students placed at the hotel, but the school has come up with some solutions to help alleviate the overflow problem in the dorms. This year Wayne State is expected to have 3,050 students living on campus with about 40 living in the hotel to start.

Tim Michael, associate vice president for business and auxiliary operations and chief housing officer, said it costs the university more money to house the students at the hotel and transport them to the campus, but the university has a responsibility to help the students. Additionally, the university has converted lounges in the Towers Residential Suites into rooms for 21 students over the last three to four years.

....

There are a couple of projects in the works to combat the housing problem, including converting the Thompson House, which housed theSchool of Social Work, into living space for 60-80 students. Construction is to begin next month and is expected to open next fall.

There are also plans to build two new dorm buildings on Anthony Wayne Drive in 2018 and demolish Helen DeRoy Apartments by 2019. Currently DeRoy holds 415 beds and the two new apartment buildings would build 868 new beds for an increase of 453. Other plans include renovating Chatsworth Apartments to turn it into a suite-style building and raise occupancy from 120 to 330 in 2020.

There are other options for students to live off campus in the areas surrounding Wayne State, but demand is high as well.

Occupancy around in the area is around 98 percent, said Susan Mosey, executive director of Midtown Detroit, Inc., a nonprofit organization that deals with planning, development, maintenance and revitalization of the Midtown Detroit neighborhood. Mosey also said that rent over the last year has increased 10 percent.

There are many renovations and new apartments coming in the area. Mosey said there are 499 units under construction for a variety of types of housing and 2,782 more units planned. Between 2010 and 2016, there have been 1,547 new units completed for people to live in encompassing the Midtown area.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...jects-may-ease

[Docta_Love]

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

Glad they added in trees on the roof also very Detroit

But this is really cool capitol park has infill going up all around it and with these two planned buildings going up plus a couple other planned/current developments i think that just about covers all the vacant lots in the neighborhood. Not to mention every vacant building has been or is currently being renovated.

[The North One]

I'm glad you all like it but I'm not sold yet.

It has a very gimmicky illusion, it's like one of those "look a me!" developments you would find in New York or something. The one on the left also doesn't look right, why aren't the windows aligned correctly? I love the black brick though.

[animatedmartian]

Little Ceasers HQ broke ground today. Expected completion sometime in 2018.


http://detroit.curbed.com/2016/9/7/1...uction-detroit

Also arriving in 2018...

$35M luxury condo complex planned in downtown Detroit

Ian Thibodeau, The Detroit News. September 7th, 2016.





Developers plan to open a brand new 11-story luxury condominium complex in downtown Detroit by 2018. Named The Ashton Detroit, the 83-unit facility will be the first condo complex built downtown in 20 years.

Once finished, the 83-unit project on the west end of downtown will stand in what’s currently a parking lot behind the former WWJ building at 600 Lafayette, which now houses Michigan AFSCME Council 25. Construction on the building will start next year, and is expected to be ready for occupancy by 2018.

Eric Means, CEO of Detroit-based Means Group, is heading up the $35 million project.

Greg Bowens, spokesman for the project, said the existing building on the lot at 600 W. Lafayette will be turned into office space. The AFSCME council, which currently occupies part of the building, currently has a one-year lease on the building. Bowens did not say if the lease would be renewed.

....

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/bus...roit/89964122/
http://www.ashtondetroit.com/

[The North One]

And it sits on top of a parking podium...

No thanks.

[hammersklavier]

Originally Posted by The North One

And it sits on top of a parking podium...

No thanks.

Gotta start somewhere.

[animatedmartian]

My issue is the podium is pretty uninteresting and seems to lack any retail. The area this condo complex is being built in is pretty dead already, but it could easily become a walkable west side of downtown even as far as being able to bridge the dead zone gap between Corktown and Downtown.

[The North One]

Originally Posted by hammersklavier

Gotta start somewhere.

Except there are plenty of new projects that interact well with the street without horrible integrated parking. Downtown has made major strides, it's well past "starting somewhere" at this point. This is a luxury development, they can and should do better.

I'm not about to go full NIMBY on it, but I can't say that I'm excited either.

[rlw777]

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

My issue is the podium is pretty uninteresting and seems to lack any retail. The area this condo complex is being built in is pretty dead already, but it could easily become a walkable west side of downtown even as far as being able to bridge the dead zone gap between Corktown and Downtown.

Retail sounds good in theory but I'm guessing there is no hope for making any money off from retail in that location for the foreseeable future.

[The North One]

I think this is the block it will be constructed on: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3289...8i6656!6m1!1e1

The article says they're also going to keep the existing structure and renovate it into offices so it won't be only a parking garage facing the street level which is good.

[skyfan]

They could've done a better job blending in the parking with the rest of building, but overall I don't hate it.

[Rizzo]

Parking garage is a clunker. It looks like it caught the River North "Podium Virus" from Chicago

[Docta_Love]

Brewster-Wheeler, Eastern Market, Brush Park plan increases to $416.6 million, 1,037 housing units

City awaits word from HUD on $30 million in financing for five-year project

By KIRK PINHO
September 12, 2016
Crain's Detroit Business



More details of one of the most sweeping development plans in greater downtown in recent memory were unceremoniously made public Friday on the city of Detroit's website.

In all, the effort to redevelop the property best known for being the home of the Brewster-Douglass housing projects and three sites in Eastern Market and Brush Park has increased from $267 million to $416.6 million, a 56 percent spike.

As part of the plan to bring 1,037 residential units to the approximately 25 acres the four sites encompass, the city also plans things like enhanced health, education, workforce development and youth services; a new 1-acre public park called Douglass Park at the Brewster-Douglass site; and improvements to and restoration of the street grid and pedestrian access from Brewster-Douglass/Brush Park into Eastern Market over I-75.

The city is awaiting word on whether it has received up to $30 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Choice Neighborhoods Program.

It's not entirely clear what is contributing to the increase in expected cost, although more housing units is likely part of that bump.

What is being called the Douglass-Market Transformation Plan says 1,037 residential units are planned; the city said in May that 900 to 1,000 units were expected as part of the redevelopment.

Instead of three separate sites, the plan now includes four:

The 22-acre Brewster-Douglass site, which is planned for 850 residential units, the majority of which would be rentals, although for-sale townhouses could be part of the mix. It would include 224 public housing replacement units. The site would include 13,400 square feet of neighborhood retail space, plus community and social services space.
A site at 3480 Russell St. in Eastern Market would have 71 Low Income Housing Tax Credit and market-rate apartments, 24 of which would be live-work units. The project would include 12,000 square feet of first-floor retail space and a 9,000-square-foot light-industrial building that would make possible an expansion of the proposed Detroit Regional Food Accelerator.
The open-air Shed 4 site in Eastern Market would be enclosed and 20,000 square feet of commercial space, plus 62 workforce and market-rate apartments, would be added on upper floors.
A property at 124 Alfred St. in Brush Park would be developed with a 54-unit age-restricted building with eight public housing replacement units.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...eases-to-416-6

There's an update on the Book Tower renovation too now looking at 400 million plus to complete the project properly, which they want to apparently.



http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...ious-plans-for