277 replies to this topic

[Lmichigan]

I think it was supposed to be student apartments as opposed to dormitories, but still students apartments, nonetheless.  I could be wrong, though.

[resourcefulidiot]

well if it was student housing, idk why they would put it on the back burner for fear of a bad investment.  It seems to me like if it was student housing there would probably be significant demand for it.  Maybe it was condos or maybe it was apartments in which case a large number probably would have been students

[Michi]

Lmichigan, on Dec 13 2006, 04:19 AM, said:

I'm glad I ask because you sure did write about it like it was pending, Eric.  

Well, it's not dead for good.  Wayne is just taking their merry old time.  The Chicago developer was way too enthusiastic about this particular project to just let it die.  I'll have to see if I can find the firm because I remember they had more renderings and drawings on their website.

[Michi]

Oh yah, Crotim is correct...Wayne is still gung-ho about developing the site.  Also, the corner of Woodward and Warren will be redeveloped in the years to come (Utrecht art store) nastiness.  But I think most people are aware of that.  What is envisioned is a hotel and conference center.

[Michi]

resourcefulidiot, on Dec 14 2006, 12:23 PM, said:

Michi, it's Marios, and it's on Second not Cass

the WoodwardWillis project just got a cool cities grant not too long ago so it cant be dead yet

Yes, Mario's.  It was at the tip of my tongue, thanks!

I remember the Cool Cities grant now.  I guess it is just taking "Detroit time" to progress.

The residential use was intended to be both for-purchase and for-rent.  I'm pretty sure this was another design issue that was to be overcome when the project was still alive.  Plus, now that I think of it, I'm pretty sure the gas station at Forest is suppose to be replaced with housing.  Get rid of the Church's (chicken) across Woodward, and that could be a pretty nice corner.

[detroitfan]

Nope, the gas station is still there according the master plan. Remember the size of the project was the reason reported why the deal fell through, Hubbell wanted a larger project than WSU was willing to take on.   It's nowhere near as bad as I'd thought it'd be, when it was said they wanted a smaller project. There's nothing really objectionable about their concept.

http://procard.wayne...Master_Plan.pdf



http://www.southend....hp?storyid=1570

Quote

Sears told The South End that WSU could not reach an agreement because the developer failed to show that their project could produce a strong enough income for the amount of debt required to finance it.
....
Crain’s Communications reported that Hubbell, Inc., sent 11 different proposals to WSU throughout negotiations, and WSU asked Hubbell to bring back a separate proposal one-third the size of the originals

Colin Hubbell, owner of The Hubbell Group, told Crain’s their proposal wanted to “maximize the density and intensity that the Woodward site deserved,” but “the university apparently thought that was too risky.”

[Michi]

I don't ever recall the developer being Hubbell.  It was some other guy from Chicago.  He had a similar (but different) design.  The whole property, including the gas station was occupied by his designs.  It was more or less 2 or 3 parking structures surrounded completely by residential structures.

D'Oh, It's bugging me now that I can't remember which firm this was.

[detroitfan]

According to the article Hubbell was part of the development team along with Marquette Property Investment of Chicago

[rbdetsport]

WSU joins city's rebirth

http://www.detnews.c...HOOLS/612200373

Well it is back in development.

[Michi]

Funny how things work out sometimes!

[Lmichigan]

I was surprised.  I actually like the look of the project, though, I can never get over how parking garages have to be as large as the other part of the development, but I'm not complaing.

Edited by Lmichigan, 20 December 2006 - 10:33 PM.

[Michi]

The old renderings with the developer from Chicago that I'm familiar with had parking garages wrapped in residential buildings, completely hidden from view.  Being this one will be on Forest, I'm really hoping it won't take away from the street and that it will have ground level retail.  Very few WSU garages have that.  The worst one is the Welcome Center Garage on Putnam across from the library and behind the Maccabees Building.  The one bit of retail on Cass is nice, but they needed to go all out for Michi.

[dtown]

Dude, that looks awesome! Id want to live there, thats for sure.

PS- Whats at the lot now?

Edited by dtown, 21 December 2006 - 02:57 PM.

[Lmichigan]

Nothing from what I can remember.

[jbr12]

Haha, I did the computer rendering on the website   I'm glad to finally be able to talk about this project on here openly instead of trying to hint things

dtown- Its a surface lot as of right now...

Re the parking garage... the rendering shows 5 stories... but its only going to be three from what I've heard.  around 800 spaces I believe

Edited by jbr12, 21 December 2006 - 05:24 PM.

[Lmichigan]

That's good to hear about the parking.  I always get a chuckle out of every parking garages being as large if not larger than the developments they serve.  lol

Question, what will be the facade material for the apartment building?  Knowing today's standards I'm guessing some GFRC or EIFS, or possibly precast and stained concrete.  Also, to the highest point, how high does it measure?

I'm liking the framing back in of Woodward.  First the Ellington, now South Village, and hopefully more to come.  The scale is great, too.

Edited by Lmichigan, 21 December 2006 - 07:49 PM.

[jbr12]

The entire building, at this time, is designed in stained precast.  The decision wasn't made yet if the precast was going to have brick reveals or not yet (these would only happen at the darker stain color).

I'm not exactly sure on the highest point, but I'll see if I can dig something up next week... I'm off for the holidays

[Lmichigan]

Who are the architects of the structure, BTW?

I'm relieved to here that this is going to be precast concrete.  If it can't be real brick or stone, precast can be made to look pretty close if done correctly.  There's nothing worse than EIFS and GFRC, IMO.  It's cheap...and it looks cheap, too.  It would be great, though, if they decide to add some brick to it, though, like the Ellington.

Edited by Lmichigan, 21 December 2006 - 09:27 PM.

[jbr12]

The owners have been following the Ellington close... close enough that our design team went to detroit and toured the Ellington...

I don't think the structure architects have been chosen yet... the RFP went out two weeks ago I believe.  In fact, here is the page that has the short list on it:

http://www.wayne.edu...Short_List.html

[Lmichigan]

Then who came up with the rendering for the News?