[NYguy]

Originally Posted by JayPro

I'm seriously wondering aloud right now how hard Detroit needs to work from essentially turning into the largest ghost town on the planet before erecting anything that looks like Libeskind's WTC1 in the middle of a Depression-era skyline....

Detroit faces major, major challenges. But I feel we need to save our cities, not write more of them off. If something positive can be done, then I'm all for it. There is enough negativity working against it as it is.

That being said, we still don't know what SHoP will come up with.

Billionaire Dan Gilbert, author of major changes in downtown Detroit, hired an architectural dream team to design an iconic new structure on the Hudson’s site...

Gilbert, chairman and founder of Rock Ventures, said the project “is an opportunity of a lifetime, and we are committed to getting it right...”

Jeff Cohen, founder of Rock Companies, part of Gilbert’s business network, said New York-based SHoP architects will spend the next several months brainstorming how to achieve the biggest impact for the city.

“We told these folks that they had a white canvas,” he said. “We didn’t want them predisposed to anything".

We'll see what they come up with, as a first step. But I'm for it whatever it is because that city is so beaten down already, almost anything would be welcome news.




http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...sign-mixed-use

Rock Ventures picks New York architects to design mixed-use development on Hudson's site





By Sherri Welch
November 25, 2013

Rock Ventures LLC has named New York-based Shop Architects PC to lead the design process for a mixed-use development at the former Hudson's site in Detroit's Central Business District.

Shop Architects will work with Detroit-based Hamilton Anderson Associates to create a development for the 2-acre Woodward Avenue site bordered by Gratiot, Grand River and Library Street, Rock said in a news release. Rock Ventures' investment in the project will be determined once the programming and design are finalized, and the timetable for the project will hinge on the company securing the necessary financing, said Carolyn Artman, senior public relations manager for Rock Ventures, in an email.

Constructed as an eight-story building in 1891, Hudson's Department Store was an iconic fixture in downtown Detroit and a shopping destination for millions for nearly a century. It expanded to 25 stories and 2.2 million square feet before closing in 1983 and being imploded in 1998.

Shop Architects and Hamilton Anderson will be charged with designing a development for the site that honors Detroit's architectural legacy and complements its recently renovated and newer buildings, said Jeff Cohen, founder of Rock Companies LLC, a member of the Rock Ventures family of companies.

In the coming month, the two architectural firms will meet with local stakeholders to discuss programming and design concepts, Rock said in the news release. They plan to host, early next year, a lecture series for the community to learn more about their firms, the Hudson's site and what it will take to get a project of this magnitude underway.

..."Designing a signature architectural project from the ground up in downtown Detroit — or any great city — is an opportunity of a lifetime, and we are committed to getting it right," said Dan Gilbert, chairman and founder of Rock Ventures.

In March Rock hosted a competition to solicit ideas for potential uses from architects, designers, planners, artists and the public. The contest attracted more than 200 entries from around the world. In June, Rock awarded $15,000 to a team from Rome, Italy that came up with a concept for "Minicity Detroit."