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Detroit developments in 2006

detroitfan

By detroitfan
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detroitfan Whistle-Stop

detroitfan

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What projects are you most looking foward to this year or like to see? I'd have to say the east riverfront with the city set to select developers and prep for the Riverwalk extension underway it'll be really interesting to watch the changes. The Book-Cadillac is a close second seeing the start restoration will give downtown a huge psychological boost

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Allan Metropolis

Allan

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With any luck we'll see the Broderick (125 lofts), Lafayette Building (125 condos), & Book-Cadillac (400 hotel rooms + 70 apartments) get off the ground.

Then there's all the smaller projects like the Vinton Building (10 lofts) that will start up.

1403 Woodward should be complete near the end of the year, and we'll see some more loft projects get started in the city-owned buildings along Woodward.

We could see an annoucment for the Hudson Block. I wouldn't be surprised to see movement on some Ilitch properties...the Detroit Building comes to mind. ;) I'll even venture to say that a new hockey arena will be announced for the area behind the Fox Theater.

I've heard that the Book Tower will be converted into luxury condos, and the Book Building into a 450 room hotel, but it would seem to me that such a project would saturate the market.

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RustTown City

RustTown

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I really want to hear about Wayne County's downtown consolidation and University of Detroit Mercy's plan for their downtown campus. They had originally concieved for a two-connected-tower complex, 25 stories in height with offices, classrooms, and other facilities in Bricktown. Wayne County is still looking for a suitable spot in central Detroit, I hear.

I had heard that the Book Building was actually going to become apartments, and gallery space on the bottom three floors, keeping the tower for all of the office use. Hasn't the owner completed all of the office consolidation into the tower leaving the Building empty?

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rbdetsport Burg

rbdetsport

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I am excited about all of these projects. These are mine.....

*Final Design for Hudson Block

*Retail Tenants for One Kennedy Square

*Lafayette Building

*Book Cadillac

*Broderick Tower

*A new concept for the whole Convention Center thing

*New Woodward Loft projects and retail tenants

*East Riverfront Plans

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gecko10225 Unincorporated Area

gecko10225

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Vinton Building interior demo will start this month, but most of the "real" work that people will notice won't begin until after Super Bowl. All interior improvements to the public spaces and all new electrical & mechanical systems will be in place by the end of the year. If owners of individual units work diligently, some of the units will also be built-out and occupied by Christmas 2006 :yahoo: .

...that's the goal, at least.

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wolverine Town

wolverine

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I'm excited about the demolition of the UA Building, the Detroit Commerce Building, and most of the Park Avenue District!

Haha, very funny. :P

Actually, I seriously want to know, is the Detroit Commerce Building really being considered for demo? I know it's probably been discussed here already.

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RustTown City

RustTown

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Unless they are planning an upward, automated garage the People's Outfitting/Commerce will almost certainly come down judging by how large the garage for the B.C. will have to be. The article didn't specifically say that the building was coming down for the garage, though. And maybe since Ferchill is a urban-minded redeveloper they may find a way to connect the garage to the B.C. by a skybridge going through the Commerce, but that seems to be hoping against hope. This is especially considering that no hotel is going to have their guest walk past an abandoned building to get to their car, I hate to say.

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RustTown City

RustTown

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I don't know why I'm so disappointed, but the bringing down of the Commerce seems so unnecessary from an urban-minded perspective.

In my dream world, the Detroit Commerce would be renovated as a boutique extension of the Book Cadillac or an apartment/condo building, and an automated garage could go in at the now empty site at Griswold and Michigan to serve both buildings.

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wolverine Town

wolverine

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Sorry for the weird image, but you think they could just build the structure here and put a tunnel through the building and connect the other side. Having such a corridor would allow businesses to go up inside. They wouldn't even have to necessarily renovate it right away. It would definitely be cheaper than tearing it down.

70005325_2f4ebf6423_b.jpg

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RustTown City

RustTown

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Yeah, I remember people suggesting just that at the detroit.com forum. Maybe we should email/contact Ferchill with this idea. I'm sure they've probably already thought of it, but if enough interest is shown in saving the building, maybe they may change their minds. That is, unless this would cost way above what they are willing to spend.

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Allan Metropolis

Allan

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The problem with keeping People's is that the site as it exists is very small. If they plan on going with a conventional garage, it would have to be about 25 stories high. So much space is taken up by the ramps to drive up and down that it just isn't cost-effective to do it that way. They could do an automated structure, but even then the structure will still be between 10 & 15 stories.

This will be a very large structure. The Lafayette will have 125 units, and the Book-Cadillac will have 70, with the 455-room hotel. I'm not sure what the final count for the number of parking spaces will be, but it'll probably be around 500 spaces, and it wouldn't surprise me if it was more. Ahh, the joys of living in a city without mass transit....

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Allan Metropolis

Allan

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I'm not sure - maybe Michi knows? He did work there a couple summers ago....

The lot east of People's is roughly 2.5 times the size of the lot that the Mechants Row Garage sits on. Per my research, the maximum height of automated garages seems to be around 150 feet tall. It might be possible to fit 500 cars on that lot using an automated garage, but it would be very costly, and the odd triangular bit at the east end of the lot doesn't help things any. Also, even if putting 500 cars on that lot, that does not account for the additional parking spaces needed to service a renovated People's Building. I suppose they could carve additional spots out of the People's Building basement and ground level at great cost, but the building has a small footprint and you wouldn't be able to fit enough spots in there.

I'm pretty sure the cost is what killed the idea of putting an automated parking structure next to the People's Building. Automated garages are more expensive than their traditional counterparts, which is why they are typically seen only in areas where land value is very high. They cost more than a conventional garage - and added bugetary problems is not something that the Book-Cadillac project needs. I could really see how just changing the garage from a conventional one to an automated one could bankrupt the B-C project. Take the recently-approved Guardian garage for example. Not taking into account the cost of the ground floor retail, it will cost roughly $37,000 per parking place!

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Allan Metropolis

Allan

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If the garage at MR can hold 264 vehicles, than the lot next to People's should be able to hold 500 vehicles without much trouble using an automated system. As for that triangular area...it could be used for a retail building like the one on Broadway in the Opera House Garage.

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gecko10225 Unincorporated Area

gecko10225

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BTW, who is the redesign architect, the general constractor, and the development team name?

Archives DS is the architect, however, there is little "design" work to be done. It's basically a clean up of the facades and restoration of public spaces including 1st floor lobby, stairs, and corridors. Individuals technically purchase a "white box" and then it's up to them as to whom they wish to hire to design their individual units. You can do basically whatever you want from there aside from disturbing an original corridor.

G.C. is Garrison and development team is Vinton Building, LLC; pretty creative name, eh?

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billinlafayette Crossroads

billinlafayette

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What projects are you most looking foward to this year or like to see? I'd have to say the east riverfront with the city set to select developers and prep for the Riverwalk extension underway it'll be really interesting to watch the changes. The Book-Cadillac is a close second seeing the start restoration will give downtown a huge psychological boost

Does anyone know what is going on with Comos????

In my downtown neighbourhood many of us have been waiting for a long time and the work seems to be very slow on it,,,

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