Wurlitzer Bldg Sale Pending

**esp1986** · October-01-13, 02:03 PM

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...for-renovation

Looks like its about to change hands. Article says a renovation could follow...

**emu steve** · October-01-13, 02:34 PM

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...text|FRONTPAGE

Damn, Detroit is really on the move...

**dmike76** · October-01-13, 02:38 PM

Belle Isle!? Wurlitzer!? Am I dreaming? PINCH ME! Please please please actually renovate it.

"The 14-story building at 1509 Broadway, across the street from the Detroit Opera House, has been sold to an unidentified “Israeli developer with major plans,” said Michael Muller, a lawyer for the city of Detroit. The city has pursued the current owner over the building in Wayne County Circuit Court since 2011. That was the year a 40-pound chunk of terracotta fell from the Wurlitzer’s exterior and crashed through the roof of a neighboring building.

“We’re clearing the way for [[the sale),” Muller said, so the deal can go through without any outstanding issues from the court case. “It should close in 30 days,” Muller said"

**p1acebo** · October-01-13, 02:45 PM

I am really curious what these "major plans" en tale, but good news regardless.

**Wheels** · October-01-13, 02:51 PM

Lets hope the Metropolitan is right behind it!

**dmike76** · October-01-13, 02:59 PM

I can only hope that this new buyer isn't like apopostopolopolopolis. No I don't want to tear it down....Yeah I want to tear it down!

**stinkytofu** · October-01-13, 03:07 PM

Skipper's rule...but...WOW...this just brought me a huge smile. Would love to see this come back. That whole block from Broderick...to Madison...to Wurlitzer...think about how that has changed in 5-10 years time. Astonishing, really. Metropolitan may be the lone question mark.

**noggin** · October-01-13, 04:39 PM

Maybe they heard of the free cup of coffee.

**mikeg19** · October-02-13, 06:30 AM

Originally Posted by noggin

Maybe they heard of the free cup of coffee.

Haha. Saw this story yesterday and instantly brought a smile to my face. That area, with the Z lot, Hudson's site construction [[soon hopefully), and the Metropolitan hopefully soon to follow, is really going to connect that area to the Campus Martius area. Then you've got an incredibly lively corridor going from Comerica past the Opera House down to Woodward and the park.

**neavling** · October-03-14, 07:50 PM

DWSD came by to ensure that 1515 Broadway and a jewelry store are charged for the water that the city supplies with a rigged fire hydrant because it's too dangerous to work in the alley. Now the city is going to abandon the water line and build new lines in front of the building, leaving the coffee shop in danger of losing water this winter because of the freezing temperatures. The worker told the owner, "Welcome to Detroit."

**Jimaz** · October-03-14, 08:19 PM

Fire hydrant hookup keeps downtown café percolating

Crews need to dig to the water main to fix a leak. But two neighboring tall buildings, the Wurlitzer and Metropolitan, crumbling from decades of neglect, are too threatening.

The worry is that vibration from heavy equipment needed to make the repairs in the alley will jar loose bricks and other debris on the two buildings, bringing it down on workers.

Detroit gets $100K to replace makeshift water main

The city said Thursday that it recently secured $100,000 through a lawsuit to secure the crumbling, 13-story Wurlitzer Building enough for water crews to safely repair a broken main in an alley where bricks and other debris have been falling from the long boarded up high-rise....

**downtownguy** · October-04-14, 11:25 AM

Originally Posted by Jimaz

Fire hydrant hookup keeps downtown café percolating

Detroit gets $100K to replace makeshift water main

Jimaz, thanks for providing the links that explain what neavling posted.

I wonder how Small Plates, the Detroit Beer Company and the other folks in their buildings are getting water?

**Mind field** · October-04-14, 11:50 AM

I don't understand why this building is not renovated yet, or in process, unless there is behind the scenes legal financial matters being resolved. It's in a prime location downtown, not to mention the architecture of the building.

**DetroitPlanner** · October-04-14, 03:24 PM

Originally Posted by Mind field

I don't understand why this building is not renovated yet, or in process, unless there is behind the scenes legal financial matters being resolved. It's in a prime location downtown, not to mention the architecture of the building.

1. It is in bad shape with pieces falling off of it and into 1515 Broadway.
2. It has no parking nor is there any parking that can be secured around there for a reasonable price. One of the reasons that Gilbert is able to redevelop the number of buildings that he has is because he now controls most of the parking. When M-1 comes in, that will be the frosting on the cake in terms of mobility.
3. The rent that each floor would command would be pretty high.
4. There is no water on that part of the block!

My guess is that this is just being held onto for the value of the land.

**canuck** · October-04-14, 04:47 PM

Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

1. It is in bad shape with pieces falling off of it and into 1515 Broadway.
2. It has no parking nor is there any parking that can be secured around there for a reasonable price. One of the reasons that Gilbert is able to redevelop the number of buildings that he has is because he now controls most of the parking. When M-1 comes in, that will be the frosting on the cake in terms of mobility.
3. The rent that each floor would command would be pretty high.
4. There is no water on that part of the block!

My guess is that this is just being held onto for the value of the land.

Pretty sad to think that the value of the land is the only thing that would let this property be of any value in the densest part of metro Detroit. Mind you, every city has a number of tall, attractive buidings that are left to rot to the point where the heritage foundations will cry uncle after a coupla years. Cities and developers are hand in glove, they both stand to gain but only in short term profit terms, the memory of an urban setting with historical accents dwindles, and we all lose more than we can imagine.

**Hypestyles** · October-05-14, 11:58 AM

how much would it cost to demolish the Wurlitzer?

**gvidas** · October-05-14, 06:32 PM

WDWOT says Wurlitzer Bldg sits on a 3300 sqft lot, and last time I counted it was 14 stories + basement. So let's call it a 50,000 sqft building.

The Lafayette Building [[easiest data point I could find) was 234,000 sqft and the same height. Wikipedia says we paid $1.45M to demo it in 2009. ~= $6.20/sqft

So, by scale alone, the Wurlitzer would run $310k to demo.

On the other end of the stick, the Broderick cost ~$50M to redevelop, and is approximately 3.82 Wurlitzer buildings, by square footage. Disregarding economy of scale and everything else, ~= a mere $13M to turn the Wurlitzer into something other than a parking lot. If you take the mythical $2/sqft number, this magically redone Wurlitzer would pull in ~$1.1M/year in rent before expenses [[not counting the basement this time.)

These are, of course, nothing but W.A.G.s.