Eddystone Hotel to see $8.1M redevelopment

[Allan]

This is old news, since sporadic demolition work has been going on since February. Still, it's nice to see stories like this.

Eddystone Hotel to see $8.1M redevelopment into lofts, shops

By Robert Ankeny

July 15, 2005 5:03 PM

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=6425

[RustTown]

You mean clean-out work, right?

[Allan]

Yeah. While they were at it, they demolished the vacant one story building to the west of Eddystone. I believe that is where the Eddystone residents will park.

[tapezord]

i would hope so, LM. "Demolition" is a word i have seen in relation to historic structures all too often of late.

[Allan]

So you're telling me that from now on I need to say "debris removal" instead? Haha.

[Wordsmith]

Will it be surface parking or a structure of some sort? And are there any plans for all of that barren land around the Eddystone and Harbor Light buildings?

WS

[Allan]

I'm assuming that it will be a lot, but if it's a garage that would be great.

I know housing is planned for the vacant land, but I haven't heard specifics as to how many units, completion date, etc.

[Wordsmith]

I'd like to see some brownstones myself, rows and rows of brownstones... Trees... Children... Though that doesn't leave much of an option for cars... Light rail... But you and I are on the same page with that one... So while I'm at it, Borders...

WS

[rbdetsport]

It sadens me how baren it is around that building. What about the building across the street? Is that building being redeveloped? I like that the prices are not too high. How many store fronts are there going to be?

[Allan]

The Harbor Light Center across the street is being redeveloped by the same people into approximately 100 units. They will do the building once they are finished with the Eddystone.

I don't know how many storefronts there will be, but the building isn't all that big, so I'd say 2, maybe 3. It all depends on what goes in there. They may very well find a store who will take up the entire ground floor.

[statedude3]

I'm not too familiar with the area directly around the Eddystone, but a friend mentioned that it might be an opportunity to build the city's first "new neighborhood". He mentioned many empty lots nearby. Based on the satellite image I'm looking at, there is tons of vacant land nearby, and a neighborhood may be an opportunity to sprawl downtown development into the surrounding communities, which has been the concern with focusing so much attention on one region of the city. Any ideas?

[wolverine]

Essentially, a lot of it would be a new neighborhood. There's really only a few occupied buildings there, a few abandoned buildings, and a ton of empty lots. This is the chance for the D to put in some quality housing and small businesses. Hopefully something more urban looking vinyl sided townhomes which seem to be popping up around the city in the past few years. I challenge some developer to construct some brick rowhouses and apartments that actually look authentic. Yeah, it's a bit more pricey, but why are they building them presently in every other city but Detroit?

[Allan]

The last remaining house on Sproat Street burned a week ago. Other than what remains of that house, everything between the Eddystone & Woodward is vacant land. It would be nice to get some quality homes there. Something similar to the Ellington should go on Woodward, with a mix of rowhouses & low-midrise structures throughout the rest of the area. My biggest concern about the redevelopment of the vacant land is that it may resemble something like a suburban subdivision if all the buildings look the same. The variety of housing options in midtown is a big part of what makes it a great place to live.

[twoDJR]

Essentially, a lot of it would be a new neighborhood.  There's really only a few occupied buildings there, a few abandoned buildings, and a ton of empty lots.  This is the chance for the D to put in some quality housing and small businesses.  Hopefully something more urban looking vinyl sided townhomes which seem to be popping up around the city in the past few years.  I challenge some developer to construct some brick rowhouses and apartments that actually look authentic.  Yeah, it's a bit more pricey, but why are they building them presently in every other city but Detroit?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You know, someone made this point on the detroit.com forums that the advent of urban living in the SE Michigan area has generally fallen behind the curve of other major cities (IE the huge demand for loft living now is pent-up urban frustration, so to speak, from people stuck in the suburbs).... I think you need to see a lot more development in that area as far as retail and the redevelopment of Eddystone/Harborlight before authentic rowhouses go in. It's sad, though, that places like Crosswinds seem to be prospering. That land directly N of Fisher/Woodward could be used for much better purposes..

[Allan]

I think everyone agrees that the land occupied by the Crosswinds townhouses can & should be used for better things. One has to remember, however, that back when the development was first approved, the midtown resurgence that we see today was virtually non-existant, other than a few pioneers restoring century old homes. Everyone thought Crosswinds was crazy for building there, because nobody would buy the townhouses. They were wrong, and Crosswinds has helped to prove that a market for more residential units exists in the neighborhood. Since they've proved that a market exists, hopefully we'll see them build more quality, urban developments in the area.

[Detroit_Luveur]

Like I've said in the past, Crosswinds has done more for this city than anyone could have ever asked.

[detroitfan]

You know, someone made this point on the detroit.com forums that the advent of urban living in the SE Michigan area has generally fallen behind the curve of other major cities (IE the huge demand for loft living now is pent-up urban frustration, so to speak, from people stuck in the suburbs).... I think you need to see a lot more development in that area as far as retail and the redevelopment of Eddystone/Harborlight before authentic rowhouses go in. It's sad, though, that places like Crosswinds seem to be prospering. That land directly N of Fisher/Woodward could be used for much better purposes..

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Crosswinds propersing is sad? This has do be one to ignorant comments ever. We would've lost many more historic building if it weren't for Crosswinds. They're the catalyst for great renovations like The Carlton, Carola, Moorie Estates and others. You also probably aren't aware than Crosswinds was require by city renovate historic buildings in project area the most famous probably the John R Brownstones. The design of the project is questionable, but the impact it had on Brush Park isn't.

[wolverine]

Storm clears.

I took a few photos of the two buildings today. The homeless seem rather excited about the renovations. More chances of getting spare change for them I guess!

I was with one of my friends today who lives in the city of Detroit. It was funny he mentioned the exact same thing I did here on the forum about those empty lots. He was wondering when Detroit was going to build a real authentic neighborhood. He pointed over to the new townhomes on Woodward and said they were nice, but not real. I think Crosswinds has the potential to do some really good infill that has excellent designs, but really, they are a company that creates suburban style developments. Yes, they've done urban concepts, but only because they had to, or they were forced by the city to renovate a bunch historic buildings to make up for some other project that didn't quite fit in. It's pretty bold, and a great thing what Crosswinds is doing for Detroit. But they could go further besides winning praise for just creating infill that brought people back to the city. Why not shoot for recognition of creating a real urban community that has authentic designs. As I said before, developers are doing it everywhere but here.

[detroitfan]

They're starting to do it here just look at the Ellington. I think developers in the region are just now getting comfortable designing for the city instead the of suburbs. Now that it's been proven Detroit is viable real estate market developers won't so conservative in their designs. Even Crosswinds has gotten into the act with Garden Lofts to built in Brush Park.

http://www.crosswindsus.com/michigan/detro...arden-lofts.pdf

[wolverine]

The key phrase is "starting to." Go to Chicago and New York and you'll see plenty of A+ projects as far as urban design concepts go. It's good to see all of this development happening now, but it kind of sucks to see some of Crosswind's designs as almost experimental. Eventually, their designs will become even better, but all I can say is travel to another city and Detroit is being put to shame..

EDIT: I just looked at the pdf in your link, and it kind of supports my argument. What they are building looks cool, but it's not the kind of urban building we want for creating an interesting neighborhood. Those lofts are basically, a giant block building with a repetitive facade. The building looks like it could take up almost half a block. What will be the rest? Parking? Another identical building? It's a concept that yet falls back to suburbanism. To be a neighborhood, you need to break everything down into buildings of various sizes and styles. Again, the link of above supports that. Yeah, I know the example I posted above isn't exactly Detroit's kind of urban style and looks a bit more East Coast, but the idea is similar as far as a diversity of urban designs.

[Detroit_Luveur]

The key phrase is "starting to."  Go to Chicago and New York and you'll see plenty of A+ projects as far as urban design concepts go.  It's good to see all of this development happening now, but it kind of sucks to see some of Crosswind's designs as almost experimental.  Eventually, their designs will become even better, but all I can say is travel to another city and Detroit is being put to shame.. 

EDIT: I just looked at the pdf in your link, and it kind of supports my argument.  What they are building looks cool, but it's not the kind of urban building we want for creating an interesting neighborhood.  Those lofts are basically, a giant block building with a repetitive facade.  The building looks like it could take up almost half a block.  What will be the rest? Parking?  Another identical building?  It's a concept that yet falls back to suburbanism.  To be a neighborhood, you need to break everything down into buildings of various sizes and styles.  Again, the link of above supports that.  Yeah, I know the example I posted above isn't exactly Detroit's kind of urban style and looks a bit more East Coast, but the idea is similar as far as a diversity of urban designs.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't know how many times it can be said, Detroit cannot be compared to Chicago and New York and Boston, etc. First off, Detroit was never built the way these cities were. Secondly, these cities did not have to go through the downfall that Detroit has witnessed. All-in-all, there two different spectrums.

I think we should be content with the fact that these companies are actually building in the city again; and, that this constructing and revitalization is and will continue to put the pulse back into these long forgotten neighborhoods.

Design should be last on one's list of priorities for a city like Detroit. Not that I'm saying we should not have some standards; but, they cannot be held as high as New York's or Chicago's.

[RustTown]

Why not? Why doesn't deserve the best just like everywhere else? It's that kind of attitude that plagues a vast segment of Detroit's population. Why should Detroit not ask for the best for it's city, and settle for left-overs?

[Detroit_Luveur]

Why not?

[wolverine]

Hey, all it takes is a person with a good idea to make something great. What we are asking out of crosswinds and any other developers isn't a lot. Simply a modification in design that looks better. Yeah, it may cost more, but in the long run, it is more rewarding. The designs I presented CAN work in Detroit. It's architecture, that's all. I'm asking only for better architecture, which any city bigger or small should be able to do. Heck, the suburbs have some better "new urbanism" neighborhoods popping up lately. This shouldn't be hard for Detroit at all.

[Detroit_Luveur]

I guess I'm just less concerned with the design as I am the fact that it's going to be built. All cities, even Boston, NYC, Chicago, etc, have their share of hideous buildings, NYU owns quite a few of them.

Here's the area where the lofts are going:

(Picture Courtesy of MCC from http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.p...2&page=1&pp=20)