Restoration of Pontch

[resourcefulidiot]

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?A...7/BIZ/605270369

$12 Restoration of the Pontch hotel, to become a Sheraton

[RustTown]

This is great news, as I was starting to wonder if the new owners were ever going to do anything with it. They'd promised upgradges. From what I understand, the hotel has been shoddily run for quite a few years, now.

[resourcefulidiot]

thast $12 million, not $12 opps

[tapezord]

$12 Restoration of the Pontch hotel, to become a Sheraton

sounds like the annual maintaince budget for the downtown ramada

[RustTown]

thast $12 million, not $12 opps

You could edit your post to correct that.

Tapezord, I could just imagine the Leeland Ramada's owner: "Maintenance? What's that?"

[Allan]

The Ramada chain decided that the Leland Hotel wasn't worthy of the Ramada name. They put up a new crappy sign that says "The Leland" shortly before the Super Bowl. When Ramada thinks that your hotel is crap, that's not saying much, considering that Ramada is on the low end of the hotel chains. The only reason the building hasn't closed down is because several of the floors are rented out as apartments. Contrary to popular belief, there are no abandoned floors. I've done some poking around in there...I had pretty much free reign of the place. You would've thought that somebody would've cared, but apparently not.

The public areas of the Leland are very nice. The mezzanine is sort of restored...It looks like they started, but ran out of money. The stairwells are a mess. The rooms are dated, and they are not really cleaned all that well. hence the hotel's reputation.

[RustTown]

I suspect (really more of a wish and hope, though) that this hotel will benefit from the construction of the MGM Grand, maybe one of the good things to come out of that. By benefit, I mean hopefully get a new owner that has the funds and the creativity to make the property work either as a hotel or apartment building or both. It's really hard to make residential hotels work these days, but with the right vision it may work, now. Maybe, as the Park Avenue area comes up we may start to see downtown development really starting to cross West of Woodward in a meaningful way.

[wolverine]

Allan, I went into the Ramada once and did a little exploration but not much since I was with friends. I recall one of the floors having a bit of smoke damage. I was surprised the owners took no effort to at least paint over all of it.

[Allan]

It's because the owners have no money. They can't even pay their bills on time most of the time. If you want tenants in your building, it's kind of critical to pay the water and electricity bills....

[hudkina]

I have a feeling that the Leland will be shuttered in the not too distant future. The Detroit hotel market is becoming a bit more competitive, and unless someone with money comes along to fix the place up, I doubt it will survive.

[wolverine]

However, there's always a market for cheap hotels -- dirty or not. And the Leland has a bit of charachter to it for the people who appreciate that stuff as long as the sheets are washed and bugs aren't crawling all over the room....which I'd hope there are not.

[RustTown]

Very good point. The Leeland has a grip on the cheap hotel market in a central location, and I doubt they are going to let go of that any time soon. Even still, I really see this hotel getting at the very least a cheap renovation as the area around it becomes more valuable.

[rbdetsport]

Very good point. The Leeland has a grip on the cheap hotel market in a central location, and I doubt they are going to let go of that any time soon. Even still, I really see this hotel getting at the very least a cheap renovation as the area around it becomes more valuable.

I agree with you Lmichigan. Once the are around the hotel is developed and renovated, there will be more of a reason to stay there which gives more of a reason for renovation. Plus, the hotel market in Detroit is about to boom and cost a lot more once the 3 casinos, the BC, and the Fort Shelby (if it happens) are done.

Is the plan still to have a hotel on Woodward Block? If so, don't you think that that will make to many hotel rooms downtown? Unless of course we host a huge event like the olympics or something.

[hudkina]

Well if businesses continue to move downtown and tourist trickle back into the city tbe demand for hotel space will rise. The casinos hopefully will attract more conventions to the city.

[Ramcharger]

In order to attract tourists you must first have tourist attractions. Let

[RustTown]

Like what? I've always wanted to see a Great Lakes aquarium in downtown Detroit, somewhere. Maybe the proposed Motown Center to complement the one on Grand. I can't think of much more. Still, I'm not so sure its the lack of attractions as much as it is that the city is just simply not a huge national tourist kind of town. But then, most Midwestern cities aren't. It would seem they would be much better in marketing it as a regional destination.

[rbdetsport]

How bout a Cedar Point like theme park on the West Riverfront? That would be awesome.

[Ramcharger]

Well, I

[Zissou]

I may be in the minority but I really liked the Gondola idea. I think a location east of where they wanted it would be better but I like the concept and it was the sort of thing that would attract people to the area. Plus the people wanting to put it in would have used their own money to put it up, as well as take it down if it was a huge failure.

[resourcefulidiot]

the Gondola idea is great, but something that be mroe of a local tourist attraction, brining suburbanites and people from the surrounding counties to the city, which is still great. Another thing I think would do that is carriage rides...like horse carriage rides through downtown. Lots of cities have that and it is a great romantic way to get people to the city. Maybe renting horses on belle isle again? I think we can utilize belle isle as a tourist attraction alot better

[hudkina]

I don't see carriage rides happening in Downtown Detroit. Maybe Belle Isle...

[jsmyers]

You need to get out more. Carriage rides do exist downtown. When I was waiting for the bus Saturday night at GCP, one rolled by.

[rbdetsport]

I also like the gondola idea. Blame Walt Watkins for that decision. All they had to do was sign a contract.

[wolverine]

How about we attract tourists by becoming a functioning city. You know the kind with good stores that people will actually come to shop at, more affordable and luxury housing, lower crime rates and good schools. People will definitely want to come to Detroit, and they'll love it so much, they'll become permanent residents.

Sorry, but the last thing I want at this moment is a clusterf**k skyline of rollercoasters, gondolas, ferris wheels, and recreations that will make Detroit looks like a circus, while our downtown remains devoid of pedestrians. It won't work. I'm not saying we can have that all in the future, I just don't think we deserve it at this time. I'd rather see private and public investment toward enhancing the downtown with more shopping, hotels, apartments, and beautification that would build more momentum for development.

Take it from somone who has lived in Saginaw where city leaders thought building waterparks, zoos, and arenas would fix all of the city's problems. Granted, they are nice to have, but we are still losing population and our downtown still has boarded up buildings.

[RustTown]

But, it's not an either/or. Detroit can rebuild itself for its residence and for visitors, alike, and at the same time. And, with the west riverfront as a blank canvas, as well as vacant lots for days, I don't see why tourist attractions can't be integrated into the urban fabric. In fact, Detroit's probably one of the easier places that this could be done for the sole fact that so much of it is unused or under utilized.