DETROIT | Development & Construction: Motown Lowdown

[animatedmartian]

In kind of the same vain as the Amazon bid, Detroit is considered a long shot with many points against the MLS expanding here (at least for 2020). But Gilbert isn't one to stop trying.

MLS expansion: Detroit power players stress adaptability of Ford Field

Quicken Loans founder and Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, Pistons vice president Arn Tellem and Lions president Rod Wood were part of a Detroit contingent that made a final pitch on Wednesday in front of the MLS Expansion Committee in hopes of being awarded one of two expansion clubs in 2020.

Each of the four finalists — Detroit, Cincinnati, Nashville and Sacramento — made presentations at the league’s office at 420 5th Ave. Nashville went first, followed by Sacramento, then Detroit. Cincinnati presented last.

Detroit is the only one of the four finalists that has an ownership combination featuring three billionaires. MLS has long coveted the 13th largest media market in the country.

....

Although the county announced it is nearing a deal with Gilbert's Rock Ventures to build a $520-million criminal justice center at a different site, the soccer-specific stadium idea was scrapped when the Fords were added to the bid in November.

“The Gratiot site is still a good site, for sure,” Gilbert said, adding that whatever ends up there should probably be available to be used on a daily basis, something that wouldn’t happen with a soccer-specific stadium."

....

https://www.freep.com/story/sports/n...cer/927929001/

• Video Link

[deja vu]

That promo video features Detroit's Architecture more than soccer.

[animatedmartian]

^To be fair though that promo is by a small advertising company. I'm sure a bigger budget production would be a more believable sell.

Also, the Anthony Wayne Drive apartments have gone up pretty fast. I think they've done one floor per week?


https://app.oxblue.com/open/gilbane/awdwaynestate

[mousquet]

Originally Posted by deja vu

That promo video features Detroit's Architecture more than soccer.

Really, the dude hardly can use his feet and a ball...

Football is a collective sport. Make a team of it, with an authoritarian manager like Napoleon to make real players forget about money and parties and focus on glory only, it goes fast and furious. Spectacular.

Unfortunately, it's most often, usually a mess of individual egos, then it's boring as hell.

[LMich]

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

In kind of the same vain as the Amazon bid, Detroit is considered a long shot with many points against the MLS expanding here (at least for 2020).[/YOUTUBE]

Which really shows the weakness of the bid more than anything else, given that Detroit is by far the largest metro area vying for a team. You'd think that alone would at least put it in the middle of the pack. I will maintain forever that the last-second change in plans adding in Ford Field was a bad idea, if even the Ford's bring more money to the bid. Sometimes, it's not about money. MLS made it fairly clear they are looking for purpose-built stadiums for the expansion.

[Docta_Love]

True North wins top residential design award
Quonset huts FTW

By Robin Runyan
Curbed Detroit
Dec 7, 2017



One development that’s garnered a lot of attention, both in the city and worldwide, is True North, the community of Quonset huts off of Grand River. They officially opened to residents this spring, and the unique community has now won another notable architecture award.

The design was led by architects Edwin Chan/EC3 from Los Angeles and developer Philip Kafka and Prince Concepts. The development received the top award in Residential, Multi-Unit design in The Architect’s Newspaper, with the honorable mention going to SHoP Architects and the American Copper Buildings in New York City.

Seven of the huts are rented out to residents, while the three-story hut is used for events and another serves as an Airbnb. The community has been landscaped and is often noted for its inspirational feel and design.

https://detroit.curbed.com/2017/12/7...e-design-award




The Redford Theater on Lasher just north of Grand River in N.W. Detroit is the heart of the "downtown" area for the neighborhood of Old Redford which was the essentially the somewhat developed part of Redford twp. in the 1920s. For something like the pas ten years an artists community has developed in the area while the block east of Lasher has seen a fair amount of abandonment and blight the west side of Lasher is a well manicured middle-class neighborhood, an interesting area over all. There recently was a project announced to renovate the old Holcomb School into a community center plans call to renovate or demolish homes, with 20 percent for affordable housing the city as issued RFP for 7.5 acres in Old Redford neighborhood.

More info on Old Redford or the development http://www.detroitmi.gov/holcomb

Explore the Redford Theatre, a restored Detroit movie palace

By Robin Runyan and Sam Reichman
Curbed Detroit
Nov 27, 2017

Detroit isn’t known for its plethora of movie theatre options, but one place to catch an old classic is a classic theatre itself: the Redford Theatre in northwest Detroit. Curbed’s video team recently visited the theatre to capture the restoration and the historic Barton Organ.

The volunteer-run theatre regularly plays old movies on the weekends. Built in 1928, the theatre was a popular place to see silent movies in Detroit. It saw a decline after World War II, and volunteers with the Motor City Theatre Organ Society took on the theatre in mid-1960s in order to save the historic Barton Theatre Pipe Organ. To this day, the organ is played before movies and at intermission. In the decades since, the Japanese-inspired murals and motifs have been restored, as well as the lobby and more. The theatre houses over 1,600 seats for movie-goers.

It’s truly a unique cinematic experience that’s still volunteer-run.

There is a link to a video in the article showing the progress made with the continuing renovation of the Redford Theater. The theater was saved for its vaudeville era Barton Theatre Pipe Organ so the theater itself has been slowing being renovated and restored since the 60's.

https://detroit.curbed.com/2017/11/2...vie-video-tour

[The North One]

Originally Posted by LMich

Which really shows the weakness of the bid more than anything else, given that Detroit is by far the largest metro area vying for a team. You'd think that alone would at least put it in the middle of the pack. I will maintain forever that the last-second change in plans adding in Ford Field was a bad idea, if even the Ford's bring more money to the bid. Sometimes, it's not about money. MLS made it fairly clear they are looking for purpose-built stadiums for the expansion.

Another stadium would have been embarrassing and it would have created an awful superblock, I'm glad it fell through that space needs to be used for living and working with pedestrian-friendly development not stadium events for suburbanites.

I don't really care about this MLS bid at all, what actual benefit is there?

[LMich]

The Elliott is about to open for occupancy on Woodward.

Michelle & Chris Gerard

The Elliott Building nears opening date for new residents

By Robin Runyan | Detroit Free Press

December 8, 2017

Another prominent downtown building is set to reopen after a substantial renovation. The Elliott Building at Woodward and Grand River is preleasing its 23 apartments to new residents who want a front row seat to all the activity downtown.

The building dates back to 1894 and served as a home to a dry goods and mercantile business. For decades, it was home to the first Kresge Five and Dime store. Now, after being purchased by a team of investors (the same team that did the Broderick Tower), it’s ready to reopen for a new generation. Kraemer Design Group handled the architecture, interiors, and historic consulting on the Lower Woodward building.

[deja vu]

Packard Plant Update:

Brewery planned for historic Packard Plant site in Detroit
By Dana Afana | MLive
December 8, 2017

DETROIT -- Detroit's historic Packard Plant site could house a brewery by 2019. A "Packard Plant Brewery coming soon" sign was posted to a building in the 1600 E. Grand Blvd. block of the site. Kari Smith, development director for the group that acquired the massive, crumbling property in 2013, confirmed that an architectural team is in pre-development stages for the project, which will involve renovating the space into a restaurant and brewery...

[animatedmartian]

Mr. Hemi of Reddit back with renditions of the Monroe Block plus the Hudson's Tower.

[Docta_Love]

Very cool i'd been waiting to see a mock up with the hudsons and monroe towers, the view down Grand River is going to be a completely different ball game with the Book cleaned up too.

I came across some old updates on the Packard Plant I hadn't seen so I thought i'd slip them in with a Milwaukee Junction update.

Emagine chairman makes a move in New Center the "we kahn do it" building is too small for a theater but the movie theater chain has expressed interest for a while now in opening a theater in Detroit. Perhaps Milwaukee Junction area is being eyed for a future project.

Emagine chairman, other investors buy 'We Kahn Do It' mural building

By KIRK PINHO
Crain's Detroit Business
December 09, 2017



-Paul Glantz, other investors bought the building in October
-Plans for the vacant property not yet determined
-Building's "We Kahn Do It!" mural created in 2010


The chairman of Troy-based Emagine Entertainment Inc. is one of the investors who bought a Milwaukee Junction building that sports a playful mural on its eastern side.

Paul Glantz confirmed he and other investors in 318 East Milwaukee LLC bought the three-story, 13,000-square-foot building with a mural saying "We Kahn Do It," a nod to renowned architect Albert Kahn, who designed some of Detroit's most famous buildings.

Glantz said he and his investment partners have not determined what the plans are for the vacant building, which Washington, D.C.-based real estate information service CoStar Group Inc. says was built in 1923. It is at East Milwaukee and Brush Street.

Glantz has been looking at Detroit locations for a new Emagine theater, but the site the East Milwaukee building sits on is too small to accommodate one, Glantz said.

BLAC Detroit reported in August 2013 that the mural was designed by Detroit Lives! LLC, which does Murals, art exhibits and clothing in the city. Philip Lauri, executive producer of Detroit Lives!, said it was painted in October and November 2010.

Lauri said he is not aware of any legal protections preventing the destruction of the mural.

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


However if they are looking in the area for a future theater project the Packard Plant would certainly fit the bill for space requirements. Although i'm not sure how practical the space would be for a conversion to a modern movie theater perhaps the best case scenario would be a Emagine centered mixed use development on E. Grand Blvd to help bridge the development gap between New Center and the Packard.

The big problem with the Packard has been its position on E. Grand past the massive Poletown Plant while distance wise it isn't far but is seperated from areas of redevelopment by industry. The Detroit Inner Circle Greenway is funded/under-construction all the way into southern Hamtramck up to the GM Hamtramck-Detroit Assembly Plant changes the calculation for the area the part of the Dequindre Cut between Hamtramck and Eastern Market has the potential to be very heavily used and a new Wayne County criminal justice complex at Forest and I-75 which seems all but certain now will also be in the general area bringing many new county employees to the area.

A redevelopment of the Packard Plant and surrounding neighborhood is the holy grail or Moby Dick of Detroit development and i'm not suggesting we're there yet but it's a very exciting prospect. I was doing a little googling and I came across some photos of the Display Groups renovation of Building no. 22 and some pics of the interior work on the admin building from early 2016 and restoration work of an elevator shaft from 2015 that I wasn't aware of.

This is exterior Display Groups newly renovated H.Q. in building 22 of the Packard Plant complex. Pic by Crain's


A still shot from a WDIV story of the Display Group workshop space.


Restoration of an elevator. The Old Motor had a couple updates from mid 2015 & early 2016 this is the newest update i've come across.


The admin building interior work just beginning. (2015-2016)

[subterranean]

Founders Detroit officially opened. The building looks great.

Look Around Founders Brewing Company’s Detroit Taproom
Dec 5, 2017 at 10:57 AM by Brenna Houck

Detroit’s beer landscape got a little bit broader this week with the debut of Founders Brewing Company’s Detroit taproom. The Grand Rapids-based beer dynasty landed in Cass Corridor on Monday with 32 taps pouring popular brews like the All-Day IPA and Breakfast Stout.

Source: https://detroit.eater.com/2017/12/5/...om-open-photos

Side note - we’ve been able to get Founders in Portland for a few months now, and even the local grocery stores are carrying at least one style.

[Docta_Love]

The city of Detroit hopes a developer will turn the long-vacant Lee Plaza building at 2240 W. Grand Blvd. into approximately 200 residences in a mixed-income redevelopment.

Vacant Lee Plaza, Woodland Apartments targeted for redevelopment

By KIRK PINHO
Crain's Detroit business
December 11, 2017





-Two 1920s buildings total nearly 250,000 square feet
-Approximately 250 residences planned
-RFP responses due March 1


Apartments buildings into mixed-income housing with approximately 250 units.

Responses to a pair of requests for proposals due March 1 call for turning the 15-story Lee Plaza at 2240 W. Grand Blvd. and Woodland Apartments at 31 Woodland St. at Woodward Avenue into housing with more than 20 percent of the units available to people making less than $38,000 per year.

The city paid the Detroit Housing Commission $1.7 million for the two properties plus 127 single-family homes that will be added to the Detroit Land Bank Authority's auction website, according to a news release.

Lee Plaza, built in 1928, is across Lawton Street from Northwestern High School. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981, according to the RFP. Two years ago, it was the subject of a planned $200 million redevelopment that ultimately collapsed.

Vacant parcels adjacent to Lee Plaza are also part of the RFP, which says the city expects the process of securing financing and redeveloping the 235,000-square-foot building to take between two and five years. The property is nearly 1.7 acres and the city is asking $350,000 for it.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...-redevelopment

Marygrove College considers short-term rentals of soon-to-be-vacant dorm

By SHERRI WELCH
Crain's Detroit Business
December 12, 2017



Marygrove College is in discussions about short-term rentals of space in its soon-to-be-vacant residence hall building.
The private school in Detroit announced in August that it would close its undergraduate program after the fall semester and offer graduate studies only starting winter semester 2018.

Undergraduate students are in their last week of classes, and the college's final undergraduate commencement ceremony is set for Saturday.

After this weekend, the Florent Gillet Hall will be vacant.

The college is talking with interested parties about renting space in the residence hall for short periods of time, Renee Ahee, director of communications and marketing said.

Long-term use of the residence hall for a use such as assisted living isn't under consideration, she said.

The dorms could be used by groups of medical students doing rotations in Detroit or the surrounding area. And there's an undisclosed college that offers its students a service learning opportunity in Detroit during spring break, Ahee said. "This would be a great place for them to stay," she said.

In conjunction with its shift to all graduate-level offerings, Marygrove is also vacating its Madame Cadillac Hall and consolidating its staff and classes to the Liberal Arts Building on campus.

Rentals of meeting and wedding space on the first floor of that building will continue, Ahee said.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...n-to-be-vacant

[deja vu]

Originally Posted by Docta_Love

The city of Detroit hopes a developer will turn the long-vacant Lee Plaza building at 2240 W. Grand Blvd. into approximately 200 residences in a mixed-income redevelopment.

I sure hope so too. That structure is one of my favorite outliers beyond the core.

[LMich]

Marygrove College is in discussions about short-term rentals of space in its soon-to-be-vacant residence hall building.

I don't understand. Why not just turn it into market-rate apartments marketed toward the existing graduate students? It'd require minimal reconstruction, and it's in the part of the city where you'd have a market for such housing.

I don't get why they are making this so difficult, or don't seem to have any idea what to do with it.

[The North One]

I don't understand why Marygrove is making any of these decisions, none of it makes sense.

[DetroitSky]

Here's the link to the live stream of the Hudson's site groundbreaking. Set for tomorrow, December 14 at 9AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pQrdUQQSrM

[subterranean]

Tax breaks for Gilbert's projects? Sure, but little guys need them, too
Dec 8, 2017 at 4:00 PM by John Gallagher

Defending tax breaks for billionaires is never an easy lift, particularly for a liberal-minded columnist. But with businessman Dan Gilbert and civic leaders breaking ground Thursday on the Hudson's site project, which will include Detroit's tallest new skyscraper, it's worth the effort to see why the tax incentives that will flow Gilbert's way are worth it.

Source: https://www.freep.com/story/money/bu...cts/926682001/

[animatedmartian]

New development coming to New Center. The historic WJBK-TV building will be renovated with two new floors and an 8-story apartment building behind it. Groundbreaking expected in late 2018.



https://detroit.curbed.com/2017/12/1...ter-apartments

[DetroitSky]

7 floor mixed-use Olympia/District Detroit project began construction today:



http://www.dailydetroit.com/2017/12/...ily+Detroit%29

I noticed demo work on a small one floor structure at this site not too long ago. Someone on Detroityes posted about what it is. 35 apartment units and 12000 square feet of commercial space called Gratiot Central Commons:



http://www.dcpasite.com/our-programs...ntral-commons/