Wurlitzer Bldg Sale Pending

**DetroitScooter** · August-17-11, 08:44 AM

Yup, the overhang is gone, and by gone I mean cut off with fire. It really changes the streetscape in front of the Wurlitzer. I'll take a look later and see if they are or have removed the dangling fire escape on the back.

Now you see it

Now you don't

**Mind field** · August-17-11, 08:08 PM

Originally Posted by Pcm

http://www.freep.com/article/2011081...itzer-Building

"...a first class property..."

Yeah, I would interpret that to mean a fully functional and completely renovated building.

**tarkus** · September-12-11, 09:13 AM

More work going on. A very large crane is blocking John R. The fire escape is being removed.

**DetroitPlanner** · September-12-11, 10:19 AM

Originally Posted by tarkus

More work going on. A very large crane is blocking John R. The fire escape is being removed.

Probably just scrappers!

Once the fire escape is removed the building heads in the other direction from being habitable.

**HazenPingree** · September-12-11, 11:39 AM

The fire escape was a liability, not an asset. If anything, having it removed makes the building slightly more marketable. That would only have been an expense for any prospective developer. It had no functional value - it was just dangling there.

**DetroitScooter** · September-12-11, 12:46 PM

And apparently one swing of the crane lifting the mangled remains of the fire escape hit the neighboring Metropolitan building. So said one of the Broderick construction workers, apparently. I can't really determine if the damage is new, but there is some damage over one of the boarded up windows that I hadn't noticed before.

The alley is looking much better as the fire escape is coming down though, so that's good news

**cramerro** · September-12-11, 01:29 PM

The 'ball' of the crane was very close to the section of bricks + mortar that are bowing out at the top of the W... I was thinking as I watched them navigate the crane that one brush with that thing could send that whole section into the alley.

**rjlj** · September-12-11, 02:52 PM

Originally Posted by HazenPingree

The fire escape was a liability, not an asset. If anything, having it removed makes the building slightly more marketable. That would only have been an expense for any prospective developer. It had no functional value - it was just dangling there.

Incorrect.
Removing the fire escape will not attract potential developers but will only detract them. Removing the fire escape only makes it more expensive for any developer to re-develop the building.

Assuming that the Wurlitzer has a single internal stairwell, the requirement is that there shall be at least two independent exits, remote from each other, from every floor of the building. They are now removing one of those two. You now have to build a brand new internal stair well[[very expensive, plus takes up an already small floor plate), or build an external[[also very expensive) if there was real estate for it. If using historic tax credits, you would not pass SHPO by putting up any old external fire escape. The Lafayette Building will get re-developed before the Wurlitzer does.

**Designerguy24** · September-12-11, 04:36 PM

According to Historic Detroit's facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Histor...63561400377290
They removed the dangling fire escape from the rear of the Wurlitzer today. The crew told us that the owner plans to renovate the building, believe it or not. Next up: The same workers will replace the roof and shore up the rear facade to prevent it from collapsing. Stay tuned for more. With work going on at the Broderick, Madison Building and the Wurlitzer today, it was hard not to feel excited about our city on the straits. Detroit rises!

Steve bennet · September-12-11, 04:49 PM

Originally Posted by Designerguy24

. With work going on at the Broderick, Madison Building and the Wurlitzer today, it was hard not to feel excited about our city on the straits. Detroit rises!

A renovation and the removal of a dangling fire escape that was allowed to sit there for a decade gets you that excited?

It's better than nothing, but I wouldn't bust out the "Detroit rises" quote quite yet. Overall the city is still declining at a pretty dramatic rate.

DetroitPole · September-12-11, 06:09 PM

Originally Posted by Designerguy24

According to Historic Detroit's facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Histor...63561400377290
They removed the dangling fire escape from the rear of the Wurlitzer today. The crew told us that the owner plans to renovate the building, believe it or not. Next up: The same workers will replace the roof and shore up the rear facade to prevent it from collapsing. Stay tuned for more. With work going on at the Broderick, Madison Building and the Wurlitzer today, it was hard not to feel excited about our city on the straits. Detroit rises!

We're saved. Praise G-d.

I saw the owner today. He looked like a major league asshole. I wish somebody would have thrown one of the bricks that fell off his abandoned building into his slumlord face.

**animatedmartian** · September-12-11, 07:14 PM

Video of the fire escape coming down...well most of it.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video....72242252800253

**kathy2trips** · September-13-11, 01:01 AM

That's a really good incentive to preserve our architecture. Great idea!

**WPitonya** · September-13-11, 08:24 AM

I actually do not think the fire escape being removed automatically means the building is exponentially more difficult to develop. Any developer would probably have had to replace the fire escape entirely or perform a huge amount of reinforcement anyway. I work at an engineering/architecture firm here in NYC and I deal with fire escape refurbishment all the time. I really don't think this is that big of a deal.

**rjlj** · September-13-11, 08:46 AM

Originally Posted by WPitonya

I actually do not think the fire escape being removed automatically means the building is exponentially more difficult to develop. Any developer would probably have had to replace the fire escape entirely or perform a huge amount of reinforcement anyway. I work at an engineering/architecture firm here in NYC and I deal with fire escape refurbishment all the time. I really don't think this is that big of a deal.

If you want to use historic tax credits to re-develop the building it is a huge deal that the historically accurate fire escape no longer exists. Unless the owners have the cash to re-develop the building on their own without the use of alternative financing it is not a big deal. In Detroit, not much happens without the use of historic tax credits. NYC has rents high enough where they are not needed.

Everything the owners have done to the Wurlitzer in the past 2 months are opposite in what you would want to do to preserve and prepare the building for renovation. Nothing will happen to this building unless someone with deep pockets picks up the building.

**WPitonya** · September-13-11, 08:57 AM

Good point rjlj. Would this work against them even if the fire escape was structurally unstable? I don't think that would be hard to replace with one that matches the original. It looked pretty standard.

**DetroitScooter** · September-13-11, 10:23 AM

The fire escape was severely damaged and unusable. It would have to have been totally replaced in order to be functional. Here's a shot from yesterday as they were getting ready to remove the last [[and most damaged) top section.

**Gistok** · September-13-11, 10:39 AM

Thanks for the pic DetroitScooter... talk about the "sword of Damicles hanging over your head"!!

**MikeM** · January-19-12, 10:13 AM

Heads up!

Winter winds whipping through Detroit on Wednesday brought down another section of the rear brick wall from the woebegone Wurlitzer Building downtown.

http://www.freep.com/article/2012011...ing-in-Detroit

**MDoyle** · January-19-12, 11:13 AM

Historic Detroit's Facebook page posted a photo yesterday showing the the rear wall missing from and entire story. Looks like the buildings days are numbered. Too bad, it would have made awesome loft/apartments. I'll bet that scumbag judge never sees any consequence. Detroit should have the most stiff blight laws. The ceity need money and enforcing laws and collecting on tickets is a good start.

**rjlj** · January-19-12, 11:37 AM

I would not write the building off yet. The building seems sound and bricks falling off does not mean a structural issue. I hope the city does not make the owner tear it down. So much for Detorit being ranked one of America's top 10 downtowns.

Originally Posted by MDoyle

Historic Detroit's Facebook page posted a photo yesterday showing the the rear wall missing from and entire story. Looks like the buildings days are numbered. Too bad, it would have made awesome loft/apartments. I'll bet that scumbag judge never sees any consequence. Detroit should have the most stiff blight laws. The ceity need money and enforcing laws and collecting on tickets is a good start.

**wolverine** · January-20-12, 07:10 AM

The guy should also pay double property taxs for using the alley as a fall zone.

**southofbloor** · January-30-12, 12:39 AM

Originally Posted by MDoyle

Historic Detroit's Facebook page posted a photo yesterday showing the the rear wall missing from and entire story. Looks like the buildings days are numbered. Too bad, it would have made awesome loft/apartments. I'll bet that scumbag judge never sees any consequence. Detroit should have the most stiff blight laws. The ceity need money and enforcing laws and collecting on tickets is a good start.

This kind of thing happens on derelict buildings a lot. We had a similar situation in Toronto [[not as tall) where an abandoned heritage building's front masonry wall was on the verge of collapsing into a main street. Key is to take the load off the damaged wall [[walls) by shoring up the floor or roof above with new interior temporary structure carried down to stable structure below, so that the wall can be fixed.

The Wurlitzer and Metropolitan are important elements of downtown and should be kept. Detroit's greatest strength is in the quality and uniqueness of its architecture and its beautiful downtown core. The more of its great buildings that get torn down the fewer positives that remain to grab people's attention and attract business to the city. There is a lot of untapped resource in Detroit's great architecture that should be leveraged into a new vision for the city.

**mikefmich** · January-30-12, 04:42 AM

Arguing about how much a fire escape replacement is going to cost, and intimate it would impede a restoration project is ridiculous. The cost of replacing that against the cost of an entire rehab is zilch in comparison. Nobody with the pockets to do that is gonna give a rats patootie about that trifling expense.