MGM Grand Detroit Casino Rendering

[wolverine]

I still envision as MCS being turned into a Casino. It would be a perfect reuse of the building. I would imagine the casino could have been built at the back where the trainsheds used to be. Most renderings for other proposals of the station had additions on the back.

[Zissou]

Could the city ever decide to give out one more casino license if and only if redoing MCS was involved?

[hudkina]

They should have thought this through more. They should have stipulated that MGM have to rebuild COBO, Motor City have to refurbish MCS, and Greektown Build an Urban Village connecting Greektown to the Stadium District and Campus Martius.

[wolverine]

^ Man that would be the greatest thing ever. I'd for the first time have full satisfaction of Detroit.

[RustTown]

And the thing is, most cities demand more of their big business. Detroit seems to have an inferiority complex never asking for more, but accepting nearly the first thing that comes, and letting Big Business, alone, dictate the terms of development. Are they really that insecure to think that requesting more would scare developers off? I really do want to city the city demand more of developers and business, because it really never hurts to at least ask and through all of your ideas out on the table. What we have, now, is an MGM that pretty much owns the far western side of downtown developing it like it like they develop the Las Vegas Valley, which is completely out of context with Detroit's fairly urban environment.

I agree, if they want to develop another "RenCen" city-within-a-city type development, they should have been heavily nudged in the direction of Cobo, where there is already a sprawling campus.

Even if I was to have been crazy over the design, this plan has so many flaws in it, and doesn't take Detroit's interest into enough account. I just hope that Greektown can be a relatively shinning example of how to develop a casino within the context of an urban neighborhood. MGM might as well be at the Southfield Town Center considering how it acts within the context of its environment (i.e. direct freeway access, superblock, "drive-in-drive out"...) I'm cranky. lol

[Zissou]

You have every reason/right to be cranky. The more I think about what they are putting there the more agitated im becoming.

Legally, could Detroit bid out two more at this point? And would that oversaturate the Casino market having 6 in essentially the same area?

[Ramcharger]

Additional casino licenses would require action by the Republican controlled state legislature, not a likely prospect. Besides, what makes you think Detroit would fair any better soliciting bids for more casinos? Most of you are probably too young to remember all the beautiful renderings and fanciful promises that were made during the initial bidding process. The casinos have played city officials for fools! As I said earlier, the entire process has been a hugely disappointing debacle.

[Zissou]

It would be a little different if Detroit said MCS or nothing or Cobo or nothing.

[RustTown]

The likelihood, as Ram said, of this current government allowing anymore casino licenses is slim-to-nothing. Personally, I'm not sure if Detroit really needs anymore casinos, especially considering it can't seem to handle and wrangle in the ones it currently has.

Until city government gets the balls to start demanding more of the business community in terms of developing within the context of an urban downtown area, I don't want, nor do I trust, the city to do the right thing when it comes to demanding the best. They seem to be content with sloppy seconds and have-baked proposals, and that is just what they've recieved. I think this is actually one of Detroit's biggest obstacle facing it: not believing that they deserve the best. Where is the self-esteem?

[detroitfan]

I don't see what big deal about MGM eating all those useless parking lots making the footprint smaller in that location wouldn't change how it relates to rest of downtown.

[detroitfan]

I don't see what the big deal about MGM eating all those useless parking lots making the footprint smaller in that location wouldn't change how it relates to rest of downtown.

[detroitfan]

I don't see what the big deal about MGM eating all those useless parking lots making the footprint smaller in that location wouldn't change how it relates to the rest of downtown.

[RustTown]

Triple post.

The problem (from my point of view) is with superblocks, and how this land could have eventually been developed in separate parcel packing more in like a downtown is supposed to be. Again, the casino is very suburban in function simply taking up a freeway exit, and sprawling like it would if it were in Southfield. It doesn't fit into Detroit's urban fabric, and is a mistake the city made with the RenCen. It's about learning from mistakes, and the city still hasn't, and refuses to demand more of its corporate citizens. MGM Mirage has the money and knowledge to do better, and they didn't because the city didn't demand that they do so.

[andrew.w]

True,

I like the design as far as how it looks in the rendering, but it's horrible for taking up 8+ blocks (or however many blocks there were there before) with a building that will be only two or so floors tall over most of the area it covers. The design could have been more vertical, more compact, covered only half of its planned footprint and then leave room for more urban development to surround it.

As for being suburban the only thing lacking are the miles of surface parking.

[tapezord]

from today... sorry about the picture quality (and dots), the ol powershot is now in its last days of opperation

[Jasoncw]

A picture!

I think overall the casino is ok. With better planning and design it could be way better, but it still could have turned out alot worse.

It does look alot like MCS, and MCS would make a fantastic casino.

I think the city should take a bit more of a "this or nothing" approach. A very good developement plan should be made for key parts of the city and the city should say "if it fits then awesome!, if not, then make it fit or leave." The city can't say that for something as big as restoring the train station, though. I don't think doing this would make the projects more expensive, they would just require a different design.

But I'm not complaining about the casino.

[wolverine]

from today... sorry about the picture quality (and dots), the ol powershot is now in its last days of opperation

Maybe you could leave it there and we could turn it into a webcam Haha, roight

[toog05]

Looks good, but

There was some excitement stirring around the new $750 million MGM Grand Detroit Casino under construction near Third and Michigan in Detroit. The MGM has never released a rendering of what the new facility will look like, but in a report to gaming industry analysts about the corporation, a color rendering of a spectacular casino/hotel complex in Detroit was included. Turns out the rendering wasn't the real thing.

Detroit MGM public relations rep Bob Berg said that rendering was four years old and the new casino won't look anything like that.

Asked why they included an obsolete rendering in the presentations, he : "I guess that's all they had." A new design should be ready for release in April.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic.../603190381/1001

[Allan]

I figured that that was not the final rendering. I toured the offices of SmithGroup recently, and saw plans for the new casino briefly. What I saw didn't look anything like the rendering that was linked to earlier in this thread.

Btw, welcome to the forum!

[Zissou]

Cool. I really hope it becomes more urban in nature, well at least as much as you could make a facility like that become.

[RustTown]

Exciting news, initially, but as always, I'm cautiously optimistic. Could it be a down-grade? I hope with the years they've had to design the structures that they resemble something more like what MGM would do in other cities.

[toog05]

Looks like we have a new rendering for the MGM Grand Casino in Detroit!

[Zissou]

Interesting. I still want Macau though.

[Michi]

Arg! At least there is a little fountain out front. It's so bland looking.

[andrew.w]

The design seems "chunky" (i.e. the features are ill fit for the size and shape of the building). I think that the last design had more a more "elegant" and fitting design. And where's the buildings top...it looks a bit unfished.