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  • 2019/02/23
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Mapping Downtown Detroit Construction

2018/09/05 By Jared Hoffman 2 Comments

Overview of construction projects in Downtown Detroit, shown in red.

Overview of construction projects in Downtown Detroit, shown in red.

The city of Detroit is enjoying a construction boom right now, especially in Midtown and Brush Park. But Downtown Detroit is undergoing its own transformation, including new hotels, apartments, and office buildings. Let’s check out the biggest construction projects below.

Monroe Blocks

A 35-story office building and 482 new residential units spread across multiple buildings will be constructed in the mostly vacant blocks adjacent to Campus Martius. Groundbreaking is expected to begin at the end of this year and is supposed to be completed in 2022. After demolishing the two buildings at 1000 Farmer Street and 815 Bates Street, the National Theatre will be the only remaining structure on the construction site. While there has been much discussion over whether or not the theatre’s facade will be maintained and integrated into the Monroe Blocks project, no official comment has yet been made by Bedrock LLC.

Detroit City Club Apartments

The 288-unit apartment building will feature units between 400 and 1,700 square feet, a theater, a restaurant, outdoor terraces, a pet shop, and a market. Sitting on the site of the former Statler Hotel, City Club Apartments is set to open in November.

Little Caesars World Headquarters

The nine-story building on Woodward Avenue between The Fillmore and the Fox theaters is in the later stages of construction, and it will hold 700 Little Caesars employees once it opens. The pizza chain is installing 102 14-foot pizza-slice-shaped windows, each weighing 1,000 pounds, on the front of the building.

Rendering of Hudson's Site development. Courtesy of Bedrock Detroit.

Rendering of Hudson’s Site development. Courtesy of Bedrock Detroit.

Hudson’s Site

A million square feet of retail, office, residential, and public space will fit in what will be the tallest building in Michigan. The 800-foot tower will contain 330-450 residential units and a skydeck with the best view of the city and surrounding areas. A market and office space will anchor the smaller building, and over 700 parking spaces will be underground.

Fail Jail

Crain’s Detroit reports that demolition on the unfinished jail will continue throughout the summer and into the fall and will require both above- and belowground work. Although there are no official reports on what will be constructed on the 15-acre site, it’s safe to assume based on Gilbert’s past projects that a mixed-use development containing residential units, restaurants, and retail space will be present.

Joe Louis Arena and Parking Structure

The City of Detroit must demolish the arena, and crews will begin at the beginning of next year. The 9-acre site sits crammed between the Cobo Center, the Detroit River, the Lodge Freeway, and the Lodge exit ramps. Nevertheless, the location is still valuable riverfront property in a city that is developing fast. Possible redevelopment ideas include “a 24-story residential tower, an expansion of Cobo Center and parking with about 2,000-4,000 spaces.” The city is also trying to create a more open framework for the area, and they’ve thrown out the idea of demolishing the Exit 1A ramp from the Lodge Freeway, the Cobo parking ramp on Congress Street, and the parking garage pedestrian tubes that connect to Cobo. The city also hopes to reinstate the street grid and build more pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly infrastructure.

Chemical Bank Headquarters

Chemical Bank announced it’s moving its headquarters to Downtown Detroit. Michigan’s largest bank will build a 20-story tower at 2047 Woodward Avenue, just across the street from The Fillmore theatre, and will create 500 jobs in the city. The building will contain retail space and parking as well as offices for the bank. Chemical Bank was founded in Midland, Michigan in 1917. The bank will retain all of its staff in its Midland location, and they will expand the current downtown office at 333 Fort Street until they complete the new headquarters. The new building is expected to be 400,000 square feet in size and may even include luxury condominiums. Not much is known at the moment, but check back for more updates as they roll in.

Shinola Hotel

The Shinola Hotel spans eight floors, 130 rooms, and 16,000 square feet of food, beverage, and retail space. The building at 1400 Woodward and the Singer Building are being renovated, and new buildings on Woodward Avenue and Farmer Street are currently under construction. The boutique hotel is slated to open later this year.

Filed Under: Infectious Ideas Tagged With: 2018, apartments, bar, Bedrock, Brush Park, Chemical Bank, condominiums, condos, Construction, DETROIT, Detroit City Club, DETROIT EVENTS, Detroit Good News, detroit news, Development, Downtown, events, Fail Jail, Funding, house, Hudson's Site, Ideas, Investment, Jobs, Joe Louis, Little Caesars, Michigan, Midtown, Monroe Blocks, redevelopment, residential, restaurant, restaurants, retail, Shinola Hotel

Fail Jail Demolished for Gilbert Mixed-use Development

2018/07/20 By Jared Hoffman 1 Comment

Dust rising above the fail jail site’s demolition efforts in the northern part of Greektown. Courtesy of Crain’s Detroit Business.

Demolition of the half-constructed Wayne County “fail jail” started earlier this month after Dan Gilbert’s long journey to obtain the land at Gratiot Avenue and I-375. Originally part of the failed bid to bring a Major League Soccer team to Detroit, the fail jail site was slated to become a $1 billion development including an MLS arena.

When the MLS bid fell through, Gilbert made a deal with the county in which his Rock Ventures would receive the 15-acre jail site downtown in return for assistance building a new Wayne County criminal justice facility around I-75 and East Warren Avenue. Rock Ventures will obtain the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice, Division I and II jails, and the Juvenile Detention Facility downtown when the new criminal justice facility is completed. Current reports estimate the project will be completed in 2022.

Original development plan including Major League Soccer stadium, which has since been scraped. Courtesy of Dana Afana for MLive.

Back in March when the deal was made, Gilbert said in a statement, “This agreement is an outstanding example of Detroit 2.0, where the public and private sectors partner together in a smart, cooperative and optimistic manner to find and implement the best outcome possible. The solution here not only fixes significant mistakes of the past, but at the same time delivers to the County a completely new, ground-up criminal justice center, in addition to resulting in a large, mixed-use development on the former proposed jail site.”

Crain’s Detroit reports that demolition will continue throughout the summer and into the fall and will require both above- and belowground work. Although there are no official reports on what will be constructed, it’s safe to assume based on Gilbert’s past projects that a mixed-use development containing residential units, restaurants, and retail space will be present. With the inclusion of the other criminal justice facilities, Gilbert’s real estate arm Bedrock will have tons of prime Greektown land to build on between I-375, Gratiot, Beaubien St, and Macomb St.

 

Filed Under: featured, Inspiring News Tagged With: 2018, Bedrock, community\, Construction, Dan Gilbert, demolition, DETROIT, DETROIT EVENTS, Detroit Good News, detroit news, Development, Downtown, Fail Jail, Funding, Greektown, Investment, major league soccer, Michigan, mixed-use, Rock Ventures

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