Jump to content

Proposed Medical Mile hotel scrapped for more office space


GRDadof3

Recommended Posts

According to Chris Knape, the hotel proposed for the top three floors of Tower 15 (?) of the Michigan Street medical development has been scrapped, and the space will be used for additional office space. I think that's a great idea. The more concentrated life science space on the hill, the better IMO.

And check out this paragraph:

The company also hopes the decision will promote cross-pollination of business from the medical center to other areas of downtown, RDV President Jerry Tubergen said.

"We have been monitoring the ongoing, growing needs of the Medical Mile for more traditional medical office space," he said in a statement to The Press.

"We also see how the downtown as a whole is working to become more walkable to and from the Medical Mile and other anchors, and we are staying close to the discussions on how some form of downtown mass transit will play a role to allow visitors who stay in the city core, hotel area of downtown to have easy access to the Medical Mile."

http://blog.mlive.com/grpress/2008/06/medi...lan_shelve.html

I also think that greatly increases the chances that at least two of the other hotels will happen. Kudos to RDV!

Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Replies 9
  • Created
  • Last Reply

I was wrong on this one; I had thought this was from a viability point a sealed deal; however, it makes perfect sense to opt for office space vs a hotel. Its a win-win for this project and the other hotel projects on the docket.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was wrong on this one; I had thought this was from a viability point a sealed deal; however, it makes perfect sense to opt for office space vs a hotel. Its a win-win for this project and the other hotel projects on the docket.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Exactly. Plus, I was thinking, if a new medical start-up company or two wants to be close to the action at VAI and MSU, there aren't really a lot of places to go in the immediate vicinity. And RDV would be thinking "Why did we put a hotel in the mix, taking 3 entire floors, when there are plenty of nearby hotels downtown that can serve Medical Mile via shuttle bus/streetcar/etc?" The whole thing is becoming land-locked, unless they locate East on Michigan Street (which will happen eventually if things go well enough).
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The fact that RDV and Turbergen even breathed "mass transit" as part of their rationale is a huge indicator that this is going to get done sooner than later...awesome.

Plus I don't think they're talking shuttles or busses...that's not "mass transit".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

:thumbsup: Some puzzle pieces are starting to fall together in my mind. The whole streetcar system won't stand a chance without the big players in the market getting involved. Maybe we will see a streetcar loop that goes North up Monroe and comes back via Division, with a stop at the base of MSU (with elevator access to all key buildings within Medical Mile).
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The gradient of Michigan St. Hill (6%) is capable for light-rail transit (depending on vehicle performance.) The Portland MAX light-rail grabs a gradient steeper than the Hill. Even Boston and Pittsburgh have grades in the 8-10%. There are other lines in Europe that make grades up in the 10% range -- talk about the little train that could!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The gradient of Michigan St. Hill (6%) is capable for light-rail transit (depending on vehicle performance.) The Portland MAX light-rail grabs a gradient steeper than the Hill. Even Boston and Pittsburgh have grades in the 8-10%. There are other lines in Europe that make grades up in the 10% range -- talk about the little train that could!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.