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Posted Oct 7, 2016, 3:10 AM
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Registered User
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Join Date: May 2012
Location: Metropolitan Detroit
Posts: 712
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I say hey why not it would certainly be an interesting addition to the cultural center. There is the obvious question of funding which is touched on and not many details are given also with the huge amount of construction going on in midtown it could be argued that this would be better suited to say the west riverfront or corktown but it certainly does fit mold for the kind of out of the box innovative project that would suit Detroit.
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To be or not to be? N.Y. man wants to build Shakespearean theater out of shipping containers in Detroit
By SHERRI WELCH
October 06, 2016
Crain's Detroit Business
An idea to build a reproduction of London's Globe Theatre made entirely from shipping containers is being floated in Detroit.
Angus Vail, a New Yorker who manages the business affairs of rock musicians and opera singers, came up with the idea for the Shakespearean theater. He's designed and patented the "Container Globe," a full-size, open-air reimagining of the Globe Theatre.
Though he has had preliminary discussions with associates in Denver, Los Angeles and other cities about building the theater in one of those cities, Vail said in a release that he's most interested in bringing it to Detroit's cultural district along the Woodward Avenue corridor.
While in the city on music tours and working on trademark and intellectual property matters for his bands with Warner Norcross & Judd LLP, Vail said he's become a fan of Detroit.
"I love this city's grit and its stunning comeback, and also the way Detroiters support all kinds of cultural events — rock, electronic music, opera, Broadway and … Motown."
A small theater with engaged audiences participating in the action will be "a home run, or as Shakespeare might say, 'such stuff as dreams are made on,'" he said.
Vail has been in Detroit this year, sharing his vision with local companies and foundations, arts organizations and the city. The response has been "extraordinarily positive," said Bud Liebler, principal of the Liebler Group, which is assisting Vail with local outreach.
Liebler declined to say which organizations Vail has approached so far, but said the early feedback has been very encouraging.
Vail estimates the cost of building the theater, which could be disassembled and moved, would be about $6 million.
As planned, it would be lit from within and enclosed by metallic mesh to preserve an open-air feeling, while providing some protection from the elements.
The theater would have capacity for 650 seated patrons and space for another 550 to stand in the "yard."
It would operate April through October and be available to host other events, from rock concerts and other musical performances to contemporary theater conferences and educational events.
Vail's business plan calls for ticket prices ranging from $75 for seats to $10 or less for the yard to attract students and other young people.
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...an-theater-out
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Despite potentially only adding on 6 or so stories this project's impact would have an out sized effect bringing it in line with the scale of the many of the buildings directly surrounding campus martius and creating a bit of a step down effect in relation to its tall neighbors which is a feature of the area. Plus i'm always happy to hear when Detroit is potentially fixing a mistake made in the 70's  .
Quote:
Going (back) up: Downtown Detroit building could get more floors with new ownership
44 Michigan Ave. has 2 stories now, had 8 until 1970s
By KIRK PINHO
October 04, 2016
Crain's Detroit Business
The First Independence Bank building in downtown Detroit is shadowed by a pair of looming skyscrapers owned by Dan Gilbert: The 38-story David Stott Building to the north in Capitol Park at 1150 Griswold St. and the 23-story 1001 Woodward skyscraper at Campus Martius to the east.
But under new ownership, the squat 21,000-square-foot building at Michigan Avenue and Griswold Street could get several new stories for apartments, bringing its height slightly more in line with what surrounds it.
Roger Basmajian, a downtown real estate investor who also owns the 751 Griswold building kitty-corner from the two-story First Independence Bank building, said it's not known how many stories would be built on top of it. "Right now we are doing a structural analysis of what we have there to see what it can support," he said.
There's recent precedent for that just across the street, as Detroit-based Roxbury Group continues adding 80 new apartments in five floors atop a 10-story parking garage in a $24 million project.
Here's what's even more interesting, though. The First Independence Bank building was originally eight stories, and then six were torn down in the 1970s because of high operating expenses, making it a two-story building (along with basement space).
First Independence Bank, which was founded in 1970, was founded to provide mortgage and commercial loans to the area's underserved black community at a time when redlining made it difficult for them to buy homes.
The bank recently opened a new location in the New Center area at 7310 Woodward Ave. at the northeast corner of Grand Boulevard. The bank safes, emptied, are still in the building on Michigan Avenue in the basement and first floor.
During a tour of the building Tuesday, A.J. Weiner, the managing director in the Royal Oak office of JLL (formerly Jones Lang LaSalle), which is marketing the space, said a decision on how to proceed will be made after the space is leased out, preferably to a single user.
....
He is also one of the investors in a $52.4 million series of development projects in Paradise Valley, where he and Patricia Cole plan to create a 25- to 30-room boutique hotel called the Harmonie Club Hotel at 311 E. Grand River Ave. That project is expected to cost $13.6 million, and there are several others planned as part of the effort to redevelop properties in the small downtown enclave announced in June.
Basmajian jumped into the Detroit real estate scene a few years ago after working on development deals in Ferndale and Royal Oak.
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...re-floors-with
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