DETROIT | Development & Construction: Motown Lowdown

[The North One]

^ great news, was hoping to hear something about that. It's a really fantastic location this building will fill.

[lambe160]

I was pretty surprised about the ten stories but I am happy to hear it

[DetroitSky]

Originally Posted by lambe160

I was pretty surprised about the ten stories but I am happy to hear it

The original 12 story proposal included 10 floors of hotel/amenity space and 2 floors of office space with 120 hotel rooms. This new version appears to have cut out the office space and upped the amount of hotel rooms to 153. Not really a loss in my opinion, especially when you consider the SoMA office tower is, to the best of our knowledge, still planned next door. I believe both the hotel and the SoMA development are one in the same as well so it probably makes more sense in the long run to consolidate all the office space in one building.

I believe this is the first time we've officially heard the Bonstelle will be a part of this development too. I can't wait to see the restoration of the original facade, though its had its current facade much longer than it ever had the original.



Detroit, FCA put out call for “one of largest municipal art installations” in city’s history

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and the city of Detroit are partnering on a project being described as “one of the largest municipal art installations in Detroit’s history.”

As part of the expansion of FCA’s plants on the east side, the automaker is constructing a wall running along Beniteau Street. In total, seven sections of the wall will become a canvas for a 15-foot-high mural spanning 1,500 feet. The northern part of the wall will be across from Southeastern High School and the southern part near Kercheval Avenue facing a stormwater park with a walking path, pollinator gardens, and pavilion.

The city of Detroit—through its Office of Arts, Culture and Entrepreneurship and City Walls Detroit murals program—is partnering with FCA to put out a global call for artists and muralists. On Friday, February 14, information on the application and selection process will be on the City Walls site.

UM forecast: Detroit to see faster income, job gains than state

Detroit — A forecast unveiled Monday for the city shows gains in household income and a labor force that will outpace the state of Michigan in the coming years.

An economic outlook released for Detroit by the University of Michigan anticipates the city's workforce will add about 6,700 jobs through 2024 as well as a rise in resident income by 4% to 4.7% per year from 2020 to 2024, outpacing statewide income growth.

The forecast reports a 1.7% growth rate in employment for 2019, exceeding the state's overall rate of growth of 1% in household employment in that time.

According to the forecast, Detroit's unemployment rate will fall to 7.9% by 2023 and 2024. That's down from 8.6% last year and 18.7% in July 2013, when the city filed for municipal bankruptcy.

Southfield’s Altimetrik Corp. Opens Offices in Detroit, Other Locations

Altimetric Corp., a company in Southfield that helps clients with business and technology transformation, has announced the opening of five new offices — Detroit, Tokyo, Vancouver, St. Louis, and Bangalore. It also is expanding some of its existing offices.

In 2019, Altimetrik reported its revenue grew 25 percent year-over-year, and today it has 2,500 employees, up from 1,800 workers.

The new Detroit space is the company’s first Collider office designed to nurture a hyper-local technology community that connects local executives, talent, prospective employees, and entrepreneurs. Collider serves as an innovation center for startups and a platform for investing in the technology skills of local talent. Altimetrik plans to open additional Collider offices in select markets.

[SperamusMeliora]

New Motown Museum animation reveals how massive $50M expansion will really be

An architectural flyover animation released today is a journey around the finished complex — a bright, bird’s-eye view of a project that will remake the West Grand Boulevard neighborhood where homegrown artists such as Diana Ross and Stevie Wonder became stars.

A handful of renderings have been released since the museum announced its expansion plans in late 2016 and broke ground last fall. But the video gives the first full, sweeping view of the charted 50,000-square-foot project — and shows how the landmark Hitsville, U.S.A., house will fit into the bigger installation.

Animation Video


Development plan in Detroit's Islandview neighborhood hits snag

A developer with plans to rehabilitate a multi-unit building in the Islandview neighborhood hit a delay Tuesday after residents said rents would be so unaffordable that they’d rather the property remain empty.

The Detroit City Council voted Tuesday to postpone until next week the vote for a brownfield plan for the 2119 Field Street Redevelopment Project, a proposed eight-unit townhome complex at Field and Kercheval.

King Solomon Baptist Church seeks to canonize its roots, broaden its scope

To ensure its history is preserved, King Solomon Baptist Church received a $500,000 Michigan State Historic Preservation Office and African American Civil Rights grant from the National Park Service in September 2019, which will be used to rehabilitate the roof of its shuttered 70,000-square-foot church building. [The] building was abandoned around 2008 due to a broken furnace. From there, it was a rapid descent into blight as vandals began stripping whatever valuable fixtures remained.

[DetroitSportsFan]

Found this project on the historic comission meeting agenda.
https://detroitmi.gov/sites/detroitm...nstruction.pdf

[DetroitSky]

Originally Posted by DetroitSportsFan

Found this project on the historic comission meeting agenda.
https://detroitmi.gov/sites/detroitm...nstruction.pdf

This project was first announced years ago and was actually mentioned on the last page. Glad to see its moving forward.

[animatedmartian]

Originally Posted by DetroitSky

This project was first announced years ago and was actually mentioned on the last page. Glad to see its moving forward.

IIRC, the project was heavily delayed due to a fire in the building that housed the liquor store.

[lambe160]

https://detroit.curbed.com/2020/2/12...ion-completion

This should look very cool when it is completed

[lambe160]

Be sure to watch the video on twitter^^^^^^

[The North One]

Originally Posted by DetroitSportsFan

Found this project on the historic comission meeting agenda.
https://detroitmi.gov/sites/detroitm...nstruction.pdf

Woah, that looks substantially larger than what was previously proposed. Glad to see it go forward. The fire really punched this one in the gut.

[animatedmartian]

Originally Posted by lambe160

Be sure to watch the video on twitter^^^^^^

• Video Link

[jmcilreavy]

Originally Posted by DetroitSportsFan

Found this project on the historic comission meeting agenda.
https://detroitmi.gov/sites/detroitm...nstruction.pdf

A new 9 story building on Broadway and preservation of existing facades, should be getting a lot more attention. I'm super excited about this after reading through the projects documents!

[jmcilreavy]

Brush+Watson project. Anticipated to break ground in 2020. Three new buildings, largest being 10 floors.

https://www.oombra.com/brush-watson

Same architects of 112 Edmund Place project.

[DetroitSky]

Originally Posted by jmcilreavy

Brush+Watson project. Anticipated to break ground in 2020. Three new buildings, largest being 10 floors.

https://www.oombra.com/brush-watson

Same architects of 112 Edmund Place project.

This is another project that was announced awhile back, but the 10 story tower is a new addition to the project. Interesting.

[EGrant]

Originally Posted by DetroitSportsFan

Found this project on the historic comission meeting agenda.
https://detroitmi.gov/sites/detroitm...nstruction.pdf

Wow that looks incredible. I've always thought that street has a ton of potential, if they can get some of the buildings on that side back online.

[DetroitSky]

Originally Posted by EGrant

Wow that looks incredible. I've always thought that street has a ton of potential, if they can get some of the buildings on that side back online.

Luckily most of the vacant stuff on Broadway and the southern stretch of Randolph are Bedrock-owned vacant buildings that are move in ready. I suspect Gilbert might have bigger plans for the former Pawn City, J.L. Stone and The Broadway buildings though.

Really the only building that needs significant work in that area is the Harvard Square Centre. It’s Gilbert owned too and I’m sure it’ll be restored and reopened at some point.

[DetroitSky]

Core City developer outlines grand plans for district

With his agreement with the city finalized, Kafka’s vision is set to expand further west and south. “We’re basically taking the concept of Core City Park and spreading it across the entire neighborhood,” Kafka says. “The plan is to lead with landscaping and public space.”

The Grand River–facing shipping containers at the edge of the park will be removed, opening it up to the rest of the neighborhood. Much of the land across Grand River, both already owned by Prince and to be purchased from the DLBA, will be converted into green space. Kafka says that he plans to build on just 12 percent of the parcels—the rest will be a combination of gardens and parks. About an acre will be what he describes as “park spacing,” or a highly landscaped parking lot.

Mostly housing, plus some office and commercial space, will be interspersed within this large park-like area. Designs are still in the very early stages, and prices for the units aren’t close to being set, but Kafka anticipates a 50/50 mix of rental and for-sale. He’ll be working with collaborators on previous designs—architects Edwin Chan and Ish Rafiuddin, landscape architect Julie Bargmann—for this expansion.

Core City Park with Magnet restaurant on the right and the Sawtooth Building on the left

Restoration work begins on Fisher Building’s exterior and entrances

Preservation work is set to continue at one of Detroit’s most iconic buildings.

Owners of the Fisher Building announced that it began work this week to prep “Detroit’s Largest Art Object” for restoration of its exterior and entrances. Scaffolding is currently being erected to allow the team to survey its 325,000-square-foot marble facade over the next four months and craft a full rehab plan. The Fisher is the largest marble-clad commercial building in the world.

It will also soon begin long-deferred work to repair entrances on both Grand Boulevard and Third Avenue. Saying the new entrances will “last generations,” The Platform will replace concrete floors, repair steel supports, and add waterproofing.

Sad seeing a longtime business close, but this sounds like it'll end up being more positive than negative:

Eastern Market Seafood Company to close after 45 years

The building's new owner is developer Sanford Nelson's FIRM Real Estate, which plans to renovate the 5,000-square-foot-space to house another seafood business.

“I am happy they will update the building with renovations the floor and facade really need before bringing in a new owner to run a similar seafood company,” Janevski said in a statement Monday.

FIRM Real Estate says it plans to renovate the building and bring it up to current safety and building code standards. That could take about six months.

The second floor of the building, unused for 40 years, will likely be used for food production and event space, according to the developer.

New eatery to open in former Farmers Restaurant at Eastern Market

Farmer Frank’s is the new restaurant that will open in the space formerly occupied by Farmers Restaurant at Detroit's Eastern Market.

Local business owner Frank Gjoka plans to initially offer breakfast and lunch when the eatery opens sometime this spring, with dinner added at a later date.

The restaurant is at the corner of Market and Adelaide streets just across from Eastern Market sheds.

Gjoka runs Frank’s Deli & Grill on Russell street, grocery store Frank’s Meat & Produce, and Wigleys Wholesale Meats in the market district area.

Patient Gift of $1M Supports New Heart Catheterization Lab at Ascension St. John Hospital

Ascension St. John Hospital on the east side of Detroit is getting a new hybrid cardiac catheterization laboratory to enhance services for heart patients thanks to a $1 million gift by a grateful patient.

Thomas Mackey, 84, of Grosse Pointe Farms, made the donation to the hospital where he has received his healthcare for years, including hip replacements, knee surgery, and heart care. His choice for a catheterization lab, was made because he said cardiologist Dr. Marc Gosselin saved his life when he had a heart attack.

North End resident collective meets crowdfunding goal to turn house into affordable artist space

North End neighbors remember Dorothy Cohen as an artsy and vibrant elder who kept a watchful eye on the 900 block of King Street.

After going into foreclosure and years of falling into disrepair, the house at 999 King St. where Cohen lived will find new life as an affordable space for artists after a group of King Street residents, in partnership with the North End Neighborhood Patrol, successfully launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise $11,000 to buy the three-bedroom colonial. The campaign, which closes on Friday, Feb. 14, surpassed its goal on Monday, but the group is still raising money to make necessary repairs such as installing a water heater and furnace, fixing windows, removing old paint, and more.

According to property records, the house went into foreclosure in 2015, the year after Cohen passed away. Most recently, it had been an informal artist residency for Onyx Ashanti, who was kicked out after he left to speak in Germany. He had taken up residence there to “center his artistic practices in the home and by doing so protect it from scrapper, vandals, and other would-be squatters or arsonists,” according to crowdfunding campaign’s webpage. Now that the house has been secured, it can truly be an affordable space for artists, no squatting necessary.

Gorgeous Boston-Edison Church Gets a Cafe and Bar Revival

A gorgeous circa 1920s church in Detroit’s Boston-Edison is being revived as a coffee shop, bar, and community event space called the Congregation on Thursday, March 5.

The project was spearheaded by neighbors in the surrounding historic district including co-owner Betsy Murdoch. The partners sought to bring an historic church back to into use after years of disuse.

The 2,500-square-foot structure underwent more than three years of planning and the Congregation was a Motor City Match 2017 grant award winner, per a release. Construction began last summer and was overseen by architect David Iannuzzi of Iannuzzi Studio and JJ’s House. Many aspects of the church were salvaged, restored, or repurposed. The cafe features a counter constructed from church pews. The space also features a Casavant Freres pipe organ. The partners further filled the venue with antique furniture and added an outdoor deck on the property, overlooking Gordon Park.

[animatedmartian]

2-19-2020, A quick drive past completed stuff in Midtown.

[The North One]

Has anybody made a thread for the UofM campus in the general development section? Because I can't find it.

[DetroitSky]

U of D Jesuit closes on purchase of long-vacant Johnson Rec Center from Detroit

Detroit — U of D Jesuit High School and Academy on Thursday closed on its purchase of the Johnson Recreation Center from the city of Detroit, officials said.

Renovations of the long-vacant recreation center at 8550 Chippewa and Joe Louis Park are part of the school's $7.5 million project to improve its athletic and service programs.

The Detroit City Council approved the sale for $625,000 last spring. Following a due diligence process, the school's board voted last month to finalize the purchase of the property.

Work will begin this summer to renovate the 20,500 square-foot building, including an updated gym, locker rooms and community meeting rooms. The project will also include three soccer and lacrosse fields on 10.5 acres of open green space. Work on the fields is expected to be completed in spring 2021, according to officials. The center will be completed in summer 2021.