DETROIT | Development & Construction: Motown Lowdown

[Docta_Love]

We have our first look at the Valpey Building which was one of the last vacant buildings on Lower Woodward after its $10 million dollar renovation as part of the Lofts at Merchants Row.

A First Look Inside The Renovated Valpey Building
Jun 8, 2016
By Daily Detroit Staff
Daily Detroit



The Lofts of Merchants Row just finished their renovation project of the Valpey building, blending it into their existing development and adding 42 residential units as well as some retail space to downtown Detroit.

The retail space isn’t grabbed up yet, but all 42 loft-style apartments are all pre-leased with people already moving in. Wednesday evening we stopped through to take a look at what insides of a beautiful building on the outside that built approximately in 1896 and what it looks like now.

In the project are 630-square-foot studios; 780- to 950-square-foot one-bedroom units; and 1,000-square-foot two-bedroom, two-bath units.

The project ran about a $10 million. The prices on these are on the higher end – the only loft in the complex currently available is not in the Valpey and it’s $1,360 for 864 square feet. But that includes amenities like 24-7 valet parking and they also have a shuttle service.

The first round of Lofts of Merchants Row places opened back in 2004.


http://www.dailydetroit.com/2016/06/...lpey-building/

We also have an update on a another recently renovated building on Lower Woodward, International Bancard is moving into and has bought the naming rights.

International Bancard Moving To Downtown Detroit, Gets Naming Rights To Building
Jun 14, 2016
By Daily Detroit Staff
Daily Detroit





In what seems like a regular thing now, another business has picked up and moved into the city of Detroit.

This time, International Bancard, a 15 year old credit card processing company, is moving from Clawson to a historic building on Woodward Avenue, with the move to be complete in October of this year.

Detroit-based ROSSETTI is the architect on the project and Detroit-based Sachse Construction is the general contractor. They will be taking the top two floors as well as acquiring the naming rights to the building.

They’re moving into 1505 Woodward Avenue in downtown Detroit, and will be in the same building as the new high-speed internet service, Rocket Fiber.





http://www.dailydetroit.com/2016/06/...ntown-detroit/

The 2nd to last pic shows just how rapid the pace of development has become there are like half a dozen vacant buildings in this recent pic (2014?) that work has begun on or has already finished including the building in focus.

[subterranean]

The Valpey is stunning.

[99spartan]

Aren't the Hudson Site plans supposed the be revealed later this month?

[animatedmartian]

Originally Posted by 99spartan

Aren't the Hudson Site plans supposed the be revealed later this month?

I thought they were supposed to be released back in April. Gilbert officially has until December 31 of this year to actually submit the plans to the DDA so really he could drop them out of the blue anytime between now and then.

[99spartan]

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

I thought they were supposed to be released back in April. Gilbert officially has until December 31 of this year to actually submit the plans to the DDA so really he could drop them out of the blue anytime between now and then.

I can't wait to see the final plans...I'm hoping for something tall but idk if that'll happen

[animatedmartian]

Originally Posted by 99spartan

I can't wait to see the final plans...I'm hoping for something tall but idk if that'll happen

It's rumored to be taller than the Ren Cen. Either way, I'm sure Gilbert never had any plans for something short in such a prominent location.

[Docta_Love]

I'm honestly a lil bit more encouraged that we may end up being surprised with a taller than expected building because of how long it's taking to put out the renderings. Who knows tho, it could be the exact opposite we'll just have to wait n see. The last thing i had heard was that we were to expect renderings in late June but i also remember hearing that the finalization would be expected in the 4th quarter of this year so if the design is still pretty fluid than they may put it off till the last min.

I'm only expecting something of the 30-40 story range at best but i've heard the taller than ren cen rumor too and i don't think that would have been put out there if they didn't think there was a somewhat realistic chance that it could be accomplished (rumor came thru official channels if i recall correctly). Although i don't want tall for the sake of tall the ren cen hurt the CBD market and led to further decline not to mention the effect on the skyline...

But regardless i would be extactic to hear a 70+ story building was in the cards.

[99spartan]

That would be awesome if it actually is taller than the Ren Cen. I think it would be cool if they made the base of the tower something like the Water Tower Place mall in Chicago. The site of Hudson's would be a great place for lots of stores considering one of the biggest stores in the world once stood there.

[The North One]

This article offers more photos and detailed information about the Brush Park development: http://archpaper.com/2016/06/brush-p...lery-0-slide-6

[animatedmartian]

Progress on the DMC Children's hospital tower.



http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...-issues-remain

[99spartan]

Are the Hudson's site plans supposed to be released this week?

[Docta_Love]

Are the Hudson's site plans supposed to be released this week?

That's a big MAYBE or that was the plan back in April, lol. We'll see though the design seems to have been somewhat fluid when he made that announcement, it may be that Gilbert wants to make it taller and he's still working out how tall he can make it and have the project work financially. Or another possibility is the design was changed after the garage was bought back in December and the ability to go taller came up and design issues came up with blending the "podium" and tower portions. This is just my speculation though i'm no expert just making guesses based on the info that's been released so far, he has until the end of the year to figure it all out so it may be that we will get another preview rendering and then a true one the the 4th quarter of this year.

[animatedmartian]

Little Ceasers has the dumped the original retro design instead opting for a more modern design for the HQ building.

New Little Caesars headquarters' unique glass design unveiled; construction to start this summer
By BILL SHEA and KIRK PINHO, Crain's Detroit Business. June 22, 2016.

The planned Little Caesar Enterprises Inc. headquarters along Woodward Avenue is expected to feature a unique formed-glass exterior that should make it a signature building in Detroit's downtown core.

The facade of the 234,000-square-foot Little Caesars Global Resource Center will be made out of glass shaped in 14-foot-tall triangles that look like pizza slices, an homage to the third-largest pizza chain in the country that helped produce the Ilitch family fortune.

Planned for the corner of Woodward and Columbia Street, construction on the nine-story building, which would be the first major new corporate headquarters built in Detroit since the Compuware Building (now One Campus Martius) was built for Compuware Corp. in 2002, is expected to begin this summer pending city permit approvals, Steve Marquardt, vice president of Olympia Development of Michigan, the Ilitch family's real estate company developing the project, said Tuesday during a media briefing.

One Kennedy Square, which is the newest addition to Detroit's skyline, was built in 2006. It was developed by Southfield-based Redico LLC.

Construction costs were not disclosed, but David Scrivano, president and CEO of Little Caesars, said it's expected to cost more than the general rate of about $300 per square foot of downtown Class A office space, which would put the new building's price tag over $70 million.

It's expected to be 100 percent privately funded with no use of tax abatements.

Speaking Tuesday, Scrivano called the building "sleek, fresh and modern." It is expected to be ready for occupancy in 2018.

....

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...esign-unveiled

[The North One]

Even though I despise Little Caesars Pizza and Mike Ilitch I'm happy to see a Michigan/Detroit company grow at such a rapid pace and have a large headquarters downtown. The design change looks surprisingly good. This is much needed infill on Woodward connecting the Fox with Grand Circus park.

[Steely Dan]

does anyone have the old design of the little ceasars HQ handy so that we compare it against the new design?

[99spartan]

I definitely like the new design way more than the old.


2014 conceptual rendering of Little Caesars World Headquarters Campus in The District Detroit (PRNewsFoto/Little Caesars)


2014 conceptual rendering of the Columbia Street neighborhood in The District Detroit (PRNewsFoto/Little Caesars)

[DecoJim]

I generally dislike attempts to recreate older styles unless they are done
using the same materials and same attention to detail.

I therefore, like the new design much better; I suppose the triangular glass shapes are there to remind one of pizza slices.

[rlw777]

Wow who is the architect on the new design? They knocked it out of the park. All those old Detroit buildings have such great detail and texture and it would have been easy for an architect to do something modern that ignores that. This design however does a great job of doing texture and detail in a modern way. This is a fantastic project for Detroit I'm glad they reworked the design.

[animatedmartian]

Originally Posted by rlw777

Wow who is the architect on the new design? They knocked it out of the park. All those old Detroit buildings have such great detail and texture and it would have been easy for an architect to do something modern that ignores that. This design however does a great job of doing texture and detail in a modern way. This is a fantastic project for Detroit I'm glad they reworked the design.

The architect of record is SmithGroup JJR which is a Detroit based firm. Their projects are very good if only understated, and they've already done a number of projects around town and nationally as well. IMO, their designs seem to follow common sense principles and seem to fit in wherever they're built.

Here's a few notable local projects they've done:

http://www.smithgroupjjr.com/project...y#.V2rshbgrLcs
http://www.smithgroupjjr.com/project...x#.V2rsQrgrLcs
http://www.smithgroupjjr.com/project...s#.V2rq4rgrLcs
http://www.smithgroupjjr.com/project...ansit-center#1
http://www.smithgroupjjr.com/project...lth-building#1

[mousquet]

Originally Posted by The North One

Even though I despise Little Caesars Pizza and Mike Ilitch ...

Why is that? Switch your mindset to positive mood! It's still a good thing to own regional champions, whether in pizza or in any other business, isn't it?

Anyway, only the architectural object matters here, and this is a proper choice. These glass boxes work very well combined with older buildings and textures, as is the case here. Especially when the basic structure is made of steel. I believe it allows some fancy quality glass façades more easily than concrete whose properties are quite different from those of steel.