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Broderick Tower to be Renovated?


Allan

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Haha, yeah. And we can't forget peeling lead paint & asbestos-covered pipes.

I forgot to mention that they were finally going to rip down the suspended ceiling in the bar today, exposing the original 16 foot tall ceilings. It should be a huge improvement.

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According to the Detroit News today....

3 Detroit buildings due for renovation

DETROIT -- JC Beal Construction Inc. said Tuesday it signed an agreement to renovate three buildings in downtown Detroit owned by Witherell Corp. into residences and other uses. The buildings are David Broderick Tower, Farwell Building and Leland House.

http://www.detnews.com/2005/business/0505/18/C02-185415.htm

I'm not going to hold my breath, but it sounds like good news.

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According to the Detroit News today....

3 Detroit buildings due for renovation

DETROIT -- JC Beal Construction Inc. said Tuesday it signed an agreement to renovate three buildings in downtown Detroit owned by Witherell Corp. into residences and other uses. The buildings are David Broderick Tower, Farwell Building and Leland House.

http://www.detnews.com/2005/business/0505/18/C02-185415.htm

I'm not going to hold my breath, but it sounds like good news.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It sounds promising.

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Wow something concrete from Higgins usually all we have is some generic news article with about him talking about his plan. I wonder Hines is involved with this? Looking back its only been five months since they got involved with the Broderick and now there's a contruction company hired for all three buildings.

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The way I understand it, Hines has a deadline to get these building renovations started. However, Mike Higgins has been holding up the Broderick renovation (and probably the others too) for the past two years over stupid crap. The deadline is nearing. And it's about time we see some activity on these buildings! The city approved the current plans for the Broderick in 2000.

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Yeah, I figured that it would be several years for the Farwell. But what did he say about the Broderick? Or are we going to tear it down to so that the parking lot that takes its place can act as a gateway to the lower Woodward corridor? :rolleyes:

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I have faith in the Broderick being renovated, if not this year, next year. Everything in downtown seems to be falling into place even with the setbacks for losing some history.

Plus, we all know how incredibly hard it would be to bring down the Broderick.

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Plus, we all know how incredibly hard it would be to bring down the Broderick.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Maybe it could fall down on top of Post Bar. That will solve all the problems. I never really understood why they saved part of the Madison. I mean, what was saved, a steel frame and some cement block interior walls?

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  • 1 month later...

I kind of felt like bringing back the discussion about the Broderick Tower. So it has been a month and a half now since the last post. Has anything new happened with it? Has city council said anything about the building since the plan to cover the whale mural was dropped?

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The historic commission dropped the mural because they decided that the money Mike would've received for the advertisment had to go into a separate account specifically for Broderick Tower. Mike has since set up a separate account for the building's renovation, so we'll see the issue come up again in the future.

JC Beal Construction has been doing some cleanup work in the tower. I've only seen them working there twice (they only seem to work on selected days during the week). I'm not downtown much during the week, but both times they had a 40 man crew upstairs working. I have not been upstairs in about a month, so I can't tell you exactly what they've done, but from what I've been told, they are cleaning up the graffiti, removing broken glass, and basically getting rid of all the junk that has been up there since the end of World War II.

Both of the entrances used by explorers and vandals to get into the building have been sealed with bricks, concrete, steel, and plywood. Entry into the building is further complicated by the fact that construction has since resumed at the former Post Bar. The priorities at the Broderick include getting the broken windows removed & boarded with plywood, putting on a new roof, and getting power to the penthouse so that they can get an elevator or two working (none of the elevators have worked for three years).

I have a feeling that the renovations will be done slowly over a two or three year period as opposed to totally gutting the whole building all at once. They are currently working on the lower floors (say floors 3-10) because of the lack of a functioning elevator.

Mike supposedly has a large loan from Comerica Bank to help with the renovations. I have no idea how large of a loan it is, but apparently it's enough to replace the windows, since I've heard that Mike is planning on having the windows replaced with that money.

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LOL, I guess all the forumers were downtown today. We should've had a forum meetup. I wonder how many forumers I've passed on the street without knowing it? I'm sure I was downtown way too early for most people though - I got downtown at 7:15am.

I was planning to stay in the city until 10:00pm or so, but I am really tired since I just got back from a two day trip and I haven't slept since Thursday. I just took some photos of the improvements and headed up to midtown. I ate lunch and then took a few photos while driving down the road. Eventually I wound up at my house.

The rent-a-cops downtown kept following me. Maybe I looked like a terrorist because I had a camera....

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IMG_3572.jpg

So when can I move in? Haha. Seriously though, I don't know that I'd want to have Mike Higgins as a landlord. He is quite a shady character, and just does whatever the heck he wants to whenever he wants to. He's the one person who has been holding up the renovation of the building forever.

The Tavern on the Park's lease ran out yesterday. Gabe was under the impression that he was going to sign for another year, but Mike decided to rent out the space to someone else. Gabe had to move to the Ramada Inn until they get the whole mess worked out, although he's already furious with Mike. Mike never pays the Broderick's gas & electric bills on time, so several times Detroit Edison has threatened to shut off the utilities. And then there's the water heater that's been broken since November and still hasn't been fixed....

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Maybe next week we should have a forum meet. That would be cool. I was down there from about 2-6. It was really nice seeing so many people enjoying downtown. The improvements have made it a much more enjoyable experience for those coming from out of town. I think Detroit is showing itself well.

Higgins might be a crappy landlord but I think I would put up with his crap just for the view from the Broderick. My guess with all the delays and the owners rep that this thing will be nearing completion probably in 4 or 5 years which would be perfect since that about when ill be getting out of college and looking for a place.

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Detroit is looking very good. The addition of grass in the medians helps a ton.

As for the forum meet, pretty much anytime works for me, so it's all up to everyone else.

You're probably right. I'd end up putting up with Mike's crap to get this view too.

IMG_1492.jpg

It is the best skyline view in Detroit. The only other building that even has a chance at competing with the Broderick's view is Book Tower, but that is offices. The Book Building is vacant & slated to be turned into lofts - I'd think you'd want the tower to be lofts & the building to be offices, but that's a topic for another thread.

I was fortunate enough to be able to go to the roof of the Broderick more times than I can even count. There is nothing quite like watching the city lights turn on from up there. It is peaceful in a way, even though you are in the heart of the city. There were some chairs up there that you could sit on and watch the skyline...at least until the asshats threw them onto Woodward, along with the antennas, a flagpole, and a satellite dish.

The funny thing about the Broderick is that the room with the best view in the entire building - the 34th floor, south-facing room with 18 foot ceilings & the big arched floor-to-ceiling windows - was originally a women's locker room for employees in the tower.

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The Broderick was explorable until about three weeks ago. Since I had permission to do so, I took probably 20 different people upstairs at various times. If I could I'd take another group up...Good times. I spent many hours exploring the upper floors. I'm probably one of the only people who has explored every single room on every single floor, with the exception of the sub basement (which was always flooded).

I took nearly 5000 photos inside. I'm still not done going through them all, but I did post a three part series a few months ago.

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Here's how the Book Tower views compare with the Broderick's

Img_2880.jpg

Img_2894.jpg

Img_2899.jpg

Img_2905.jpg

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