DETROIT | Development & Construction: Motown Lowdown

[Docta_Love]

High end grocer Plum Market is coming to New Center will occupy space in the Pistons training facility.

Plum Market to open in new Henry Ford-Pistons facility in New Center

By TYLER CLIFFORD
Crain's Detroit Business
November 15, 2017



Plum Market signs on to provide food services to Detroit Pistons
The grocer will open a cafe and market in the team's sports center
Shop will feature Zingerman's products


Plum Market will be the official food service provider for the Detroit Pistons and open a cafe and market featuring Zingerman's products in its new Henry Ford Detroit Pistons Performance Center in the New Center area.

The Farmington Hills-based grocer is the first retailer announced for the $65 million facility that is expected to open in 2019.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The deal makes way for Plum Market to open a 5,000-square-foot cafe and boutique store in the facility. The market and cafe will offer the public indoor and outdoor seating. Plum Market will also offer catering services for local businesses and private events.



The grocer said it will source products from local food companies through its Miles to Market program. It will sell Zingerman's pastries, baked goods, cheeses, coffee and candy, and will serve sandwiches with bread from the Ann Arbor-based company. Other products include grab-and-go items, beverages, wine and beer, according to the news release.

Elsewhere in Detroit, Zingerman's products can also be found at the Little Caesars Arena and District Market, as well as Astro Coffee and Slows Bar BQ.

"We are proud to partner with Plum Market and Zingerman's on their first ventures in the city of Detroit," Pistons owner Tom Gores said in the release. "They are both Michigan-based companies that share our desire to contribute to the continued revitalization of our city. This partnership will be great for our team, our employees and for the community, making New Center even more attractive to additional investment."

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...-in-new-center

[Docta_Love]

Never heard of it which is surprising since gq magazine named it one of the 10 best new restaurants last year.

Flowers of Vietnam in Southwest Detroit Plans Jan. 3 Reopening



Deadline Detroit
November 16th, 2017

Flowers of Vietnam began as a weekend pop-up inside Vernor Coney Island at 4430 W. Vernor Highway in Southwest Detroit in January 2016. It quickly gained popularity with its pho and Korean fried caramel chicken wings. But it abruptly closed in March, with the thought of opening later in the year with a major renovation.

The renovation got delayed, but now the restaurant plans to open with a multi-course dinner Dec. 31 in collaboration with local music venue El Club, reports Brenna Houck of Eater Detroit. Tickets are required (contact@flowersofvietnam.com).

On Jan. 3, it will officially open, Houck writes:

Now, [Chef George] Azar tells Eater that renovations are wrapping up on the building and he expects to begin getting back into the kitchen and training staff by early December. Designed by Et al. Collaborative, the expanded space will incorporate portions of the old Coney Island layout such as the 8-seat lunch counter with newer elements like an expanded 14-seat bar area lined with drink rails. The dining room, which features a image of a terrace farm mounted on sound-dampening cork, will seat roughly 44 people.

Last April, GQ Magazine named Flowers of Vietnam on of its 10 Best New Restaurants in America.

http://www.deadlinedetroit.com/artic...an_3_reopening

[The North One]

Somebody posted new renders of the Shinola Hotel on Reddit, this is the first time we get to officially see what farmer street will look like.






https://imgur.com/a/CUd1r

[subterranean]

A welcome addition to downtown/Woodward. I really like what they're doing with it.

[animatedmartian]

That looks just as fancy as their products. Nice.

[LMich]

That's...that's...beautiful.

I'm always so appreciative when they can keep an interesting streetwall and not demolish it to replace it with something you know they will no longer build because of how time-consuming (read: costly) it would be. I really, really wish the Monroe Block could have been saved. They could have developed over the top of it or even just kept the facades of the buildings for the ground floor.

[Detroit]

I'm optimistic that we may finally see something done with the Fine Arts Building. The facade, as we all know, has been sitting(standing lol idk) for a long time and the market may dictate the site has value.
On another note, I love that the facade was saved. Would anybody out there be opposed to the facade coming down if a developer wanted to develop the site, but didn't want to save the facade?

[subterranean]

I've always found it odd when the choice is made to save a facade and not the building itself. As if all of the value is wrapped up in that veneer. It's usually the other way around to me, unless the facade is truly unique or detailed. I don't think I'd mind at all in its current state. It's also pretty squat compared to its immediate neighbors, so if someone wanted to complete that wall, I think that could be cool. Then again, I'm not part of the community and don't know the Fine Arts Building's history.

[subterranean]

I'm wondering if anyone knows what is happening over at 1300 E Lafayette. There are a number of condos for sale for cheap, but a closer look at the HOAs and they are north of $1,000/mo. What would have to happen to make HOAs rise that high? Structural issues? Pure speculation on my part, but that seems insane.

[Detroit]

Originally Posted by subterranean

I've always found it odd when the choice is made to save a facade and not the building itself. As if all of the value is wrapped up in that veneer. It's usually the other way around to me, unless the facade is truly unique or detailed. I don't think I'd mind at all in its current state. It's also pretty squat compared to its immediate neighbors, so if someone wanted to complete that wall, I think that could be cool. Then again, I'm not part of the community and don't know the Fine Arts Building's history.

I agree with you about the value being in the building itself. One benefit of saving the facade, I suppose, is the Fine Arts Building (in my opinion) had good scale compared to its neighboring buildings. Keeping the massing and scales in this area would be great!

[Docta_Love]

It's about damn time we see some kind of movement on this site while nothings clear yet it's going to be a bit of a joke if after saving the facade of the fine arts building for a decade they knock it down now.

Ilitches seek developer for mixed-use project on Fine Arts Building facade property
Residential planned; restaurant, retail, office could be in the mix

By KIRK PINHO
Crain's Detroit Business
November 17, 2017



-Olympia RFP calls for residential, other uses on site of historic facade
-Property purchased by Ilitches in 1993; mostly demolished in 2009
-Part of sweeping District Detroit redevelopment plans


Olympia Development of Michigan is seeking a developer for a mixed-use project on the site of the Fine Arts Building facade in downtown Detroit.

A request for proposals obtained by Crain's says the Ilitch family's Detroit-based real estate company wants a developer for a project with residential and other uses that could include retail, restaurant and/or office space on the site on Adams Street and Grand Circus Park, which features the facade of a historic building designed by Louis Kamper that was demolished eight years ago.

Messages were sent to an Olympia spokesman seeking comment Friday morning.

The facade, at 48 Adams St. between the Kales Building to the west and Grand Park Centre to the east, is part of the Grand Circus Park Historic District. The RFP does not specify whether the facade is to be preserved.

However, the Detroit Historic District Commission approved the demolition of the building under the condition that the facade would be preserved. Demolishing the facade would require HDC approval and would almost certainly face resistance from the historic preservation community.

Responses to the 22-page RFP are due to Detroit-based Ventra LLC, the residential adviser for Olympia on its District Detroit projects, by 5 p.m. Dec. 31. The company is run by former Detroit Economic Growth Corp. president and CEO George Jackson and includes several former top DEGC executives.

There are no timeframes given for start or completion of the project.

The Adams Theatre opened in 1917 while the Fine Arts Building opened in 1905, according to Historic Detroit.

The Ilitch family purchased the Fine Arts Building and the adjoining Adams Theatre in 1993 for $500,000, according to city property records. Historic Detroit, which tracks Detroit buildings and architecture history, says the Adams Theatre, on the north side of the 0.52-acre parcel, was demolished, followed by most of the Fine Arts Building.

Its facade has sat suspended by scaffolding ever since.

It's the latest significant project to be revealed in the Ilitch family's planned 45-50 block The District Detroit redevelopment anchored by Little Caesars Arena at Woodward Avenue and Henry Street for the Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Pistons, both of which began their regular seasons at the 819,000-square-foot, $862.9 million arena last month.

Others include a half-dozen residential projects peppered around the arena and Grand Circus Park, a combination of historic rehabilitations and new construction, as well as a new sports medicine facility for the Red Wings and the Ilitch-owned Detroit Tigers.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...-arts-building

[Detroit]

Originally Posted by Docta_Love

It's about damn time we see some kind of movement on this site while nothings clear yet it's going to be a bit of a joke if after saving the facade of the fine arts building for a decade they knock it down now.



http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...-arts-building

WOW! Talk about timing!

[animatedmartian]

Originally Posted by subterranean

I'm wondering if anyone knows what is happening over at 1300 E Lafayette. There are a number of condos for sale for cheap, but a closer look at the HOAs and they are north of $1,000/mo. What would have to happen to make HOAs rise that high? Structural issues? Pure speculation on my part, but that seems insane.

The units in 1300 E Lafayette are co-ops (as well as the Mies Van Da Rohe townhouses) and have always generally had higher HOA fees than other residential complexes.

Technically, you wouldn't be buying a condo, you'd be buying a share of the overall property with a unit you get to live in and the HOA fee is more or less your rent. However, in a co-op, the HOA covers everything including taxes, utilities, security, basic cable and internet, ground and pool maintenance, parking, building maintenance, etc. etc. So actually, it's quite the opposite and the 1300 (as a whole) is in pretty good shape.

Units are listed pretty regularly over on Curbed with many recent listings pushing past 300K.

https://detroit.curbed.com/neighborh...afayette-park/

[subterranean]

There are currently 3-4 units on Zillow at that property listed for around $100k. If that HOA figure includes taxes (which I’ve never heard of before despite working in the housing industry), then it makes more sense, but $1200/mo $14,000/yr still sounds astronomical for a boring 700 sq ft condo with a pool. Anyway, this is off topic, I was just worried the building had issues.

[The North One]

Lots of the HOA fees in Detroit will include property taxes.

The Detroit towers condo association does it, so do the towers in Lafayette Park.

[LMich]

$1,200 is not particularly high, either, given the location. Plenty of stuff in Detroit is what I'd call overpriced, but people are paying the prices, so whatever. Anyway, from 1300 Lafayette's website:

Benefits of co-op ownership at 1300 include:

Interior and exterior maintenance services
Lower real estate tax assessments than home ownership
Deductible real estate taxes
Personal income tax deductions
Lower utility costs
Resident participation and governance
Stable community and neighbors

At 1300 there is a monthly carrying charge. This covers the cost of:

Real estate taxes (which are tax-deductible)
A portion of the co-operative’s mortgage on the building (which is also tax-deductible)
Basic cable
Water
Heat and air conditioning
Use of many shared facilities like the pools, yoga room, and exercise room

So this is actually cheaper on the back end if even a little more expensive up front. The Lafayette Park area is doing very well with the comeback in downtown.

[LMich]

District Detroit

Construction on Ilitch School of Business half done

By Sarah Rahal | The Detroit News

November 18, 2017

After breaking ground on the site in July 2016, District Detroit has announced the Mike Ilitch School of Business at Wayne State University is halfway complete.

Work crews have begun installing the building’s exterior glass façade, along with its exterior limestone, metal panels and custom curtain wall systems.

District Detroit


District Detroit


District Detroit

Also, an update on the Little Caesars Global Resource Center:


District Detroit

[animatedmartian]

How Detroit's skyline will look with the New Hudson's tower via Mr. Hemi on Reddit.

Views from Windsor





View from Ren Cen



View from the south (for most people, this is almost the view they would see coming into Detroit after crossing the I-75 Rouge River bridge)



View from Comerica Park, likely will be shown often during broadcasted home Tiger games.



View from Campus Martius.

[deja vu]

The business school looks great. And that view of the Hudson's Block from Comerica is pretty boss.

[LMich]

The one view he left out is the view from Belle Isle or coming down East Jefferson. This is going to be very prominent on the skyline from those angles, too.

Put it in here next to the Book Tower:


Detroit by Rick, on Flickr


violet by Wade Bryant, on Flickr