City Club Apartments. Taking place of Stalter Hotel

[Huggybear]

What's the type of construction? That can limit height as well.

HB

[animatedmartian]

What's the type of construction? That can limit height as well.

HB

High quality. This project is set to cost $40 million dollars. By comparison, Village Green only bought the Millender Apartments for $15 million.

Obviously, building more floors would cost more money and, as Detroiters might be refreshed to know, Statler City is three-quarters paid for by private lending with the rest from private equity.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...artment-market

[Hermod]

High quality. This project is set to cost $40 million dollars. By comparison, Village Green only bought the Millender Apartments for $15 million.

Obviously, building more floors would cost more money and, as Detroiters might be refreshed to know, Statler City is three-quarters paid for by private lending with the rest from private equity.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...artment-market

Amazing, construction/rehab in Detroit with no gummint subsidies and pepole freetting about the architectural details.

I, myself, am particularly enraged that there are no provisions for a high-end cufflink shoppe on the ground floor.

[Gistok]

Amazing, construction/rehab in Detroit with no gummint subsidies and pepole freetting about the architectural details.

I, myself, am particularly enraged that there are no provisions for a high-end cufflink shoppe on the ground floor.

When did you wake up to the fact that this forum is all about fretting about architectural details??

[bailey]

Amazing, construction/rehab in Detroit with no gummint subsidies and pepole freetting about the architectural details.

I, myself, am particularly enraged that there are no provisions for a high-end cufflink shoppe on the ground floor.

I think people can legitimately be concerned about what get's built on a very high profile piece of the downtown puzzle.

It did have government subsidy... though, it was held by the DEGC and sold for $1.00 to the developer.

[downtownguy]

Like animatedmartian noted, it is not at all unusual to live adjacent to public transit. And I must note that the PM is much, much quieter than a NYC subway train, and it does not operate 24/7. Yes, the lower units will undoubtedly rent for less than the higher units, which pretty much makes it like any other urban apartment building. I have a hunch that the PM's proximity to the development is not a surprise to the developers. I bet they took it into account in their planning, both of design and financing. Having lived 5 years between the Gowanus expressway and a firehouse in an industrial neighborhood in Brooklyn, the PM would need to derail to bother me.

So, on the one hand, we should accept this because we ain't NYC and there is plenty of other land in the city so demand doesn't warrant density. On the other hand, we should build right next to choo choo tracks, because, hey, the rent will be adjusted for those units.

Before looking at those hi-res renderings, I assumed they had incorporated balconies into the units, but I can't see balconies in the hi-res versions either. Again, I reflect on my experience at Trolley Plaza when it was first built. Balconies were a big draw and so was parking within the building. There is adequate demand for parking not only for the residents but also for office workers and events in the area. The first 5 or 6 floors should be a garage [[as it is at Trolley Plaza) and build apartments with balconies [[and fantastic views) above it. Anybody who has seen some of the views from the Broderick Tower would understand the appeal of those views on prospective tenants.

[Hermod]

I think people can legitimately be concerned about what get's built on a very high profile piece of the downtown puzzle.

It did have government subsidy... though, it was held by the DEGC and sold for $1.00 to the developer.

So, DEGC says the developer must build the Taj Mahal to DetroitYes specifications and the builder says no way. DEGC still has their land which is producing zero taxes to support the city..

[SpartanDawg]

http://www.metrotimes.com/Blogs/arch...-be-demolished

"A Wayne County Circuit Court judge today ordered the owner of the former AAA building at 139 Bagley Ave. to demolish it by the end of next week.

Judge Robert Colombo said the 5,800-square-foot, five-story building located adjacent to the former Statler Hotel has deteriorated to the point "a high wind can easily knock the east wall down ... and injure or kill members of the public."

The city filed a lawsuit against the building's owner, Triple-A Venture, seeking demolition of the property — a decision that would facilitate a proposed $40 million dollar development on the site of the Statler, which was demolished in 2005"


hmm... looks like things could be moving forward on this proposal


also this is nice seeing this judge take action against these slum lord land and property owners.. look at this quote:
"Colombo didn't buy it, even after Pieroni said he would possibly sign a consent agreement to redevelop the property, as proposed by a city attorney while he was on the stand last week — depending on the circumstances. Colombo said Pieroni has had eight years to begin renovations, with more than $1 million in settlement fees after damage to the building took place during the Statler's demolition. His recent work on the building, Colombo said, is "too late and totally insufficient." "

[animatedmartian]

Thank the lord. I'm just happy it's getting torn down.

Though I'm confused. I thought the Stalter Apartments were already approved? Or was this holding up the whole process?

[Danny]

YAY Duggan

[SpartanDawg]

Thank the lord. I'm just happy it's getting torn down.

Though I'm confused. I thought the Stalter Apartments were already approved? Or was this holding up the whole process?

from what i gathered from the article Village Green [[statler developers) wanted to purchase that property a while ago, the guy was trying to make them pay a lot for it.. they said forget it we'll build around it and not deal with it, but they wanted it demolished..

Now they will have it demolished by the end of next week.. but definitely seems like the owner of this property is extremely bitter towards village green and the city of detroit, so i don't see him cooperating with them at all and selling at a reasonable price tag..

[animatedmartian]

I'd be bitter too if I couldn't get an extra $5 million dollars to put into my retirement fund. Then again, I wouldn't feel too bitter if I knew it was a hazard and could actually do something with it. He should have gone the Maroun route and just add windows every couple of months.

I really hope to see Duggan go after more high profile negligent landlords, although hopefully without any resulting loss in buildings that can be saved.

[mikeg19]

I'm glad to see the site [[potentially) being developed, but the building being proposed there just doesn't add up to me. That site is ripe for a large scale building, at least ten stories. Again, I'm not trying to finance the thing, and building up is always going to increase costs, but it's hard to imagine a 2-3 story building there.

Then again, better then a gravel lot, right?

[southen]

the site screams for something more. stack the residential and do a parking garage or something. people downtown want to live high up anyway, they can charge more.

[SpartanDawg]

the site screams for something more. stack the residential and do a parking garage or something. people downtown want to live high up anyway, they can charge more.

yeah i agree if they're going to take the whole footprint of the lot with the building they obviously need parking... put let's say first floor retail [[obviously), the next 3/4 stories be the parking garage.. then if they want to do 7 stories of apartments as proposed at least it would be about a 10-12 story building.. plus it makes the apartments way more desirable as people would be somewhat removed from the people mover whizzing by

[animatedmartian]

I'm glad to see the site [[potentially) being developed, but the building being proposed there just doesn't add up to me. That site is ripe for a large scale building, at least ten stories. Again, I'm not trying to finance the thing, and building up is always going to increase costs, but it's hard to imagine a 2-3 story building there.

Then again, better then a gravel lot, right?

It's 6 stories. Same height as Claridge House Apartments across the street.

[ABetterDetroit]

200-250 brand new apartments in one project seems like a very good thing no matter how many floors. There is no shortage of vacant land in downtown if anyone needs to go higher.

[southen]

200-250 brand new apartments in one project seems like a very good thing no matter how many floors. There is no shortage of vacant land in downtown if anyone needs to go higher.

that argument holds true to sites and areas that arent designed for taller structures. it is out of scale with the rest of washington boulevard and will look awkward given that it is 6 stories across the entirety of the block. just because it brings that many units doesnt make it the right development for the block. you are right though, there is no shortage of vacant land, village green could building this in a million different places where the scale would be more appropriate.

[nain rouge]

It is what it is. We'd like taller buildings, but given the reality of Detroit, you have to take it.

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

that argument holds true to sites and areas that arent designed for taller structures. it is out of scale with the rest of washington boulevard and will look awkward given that it is 6 stories across the entirety of the block. just because it brings that many units doesnt make it the right development for the block. you are right though, there is no shortage of vacant land, village green could building this in a million different places where the scale would be more appropriate.

I too would prefer a taller building, especially on the Grand Circus frontage [[and I think premium prices for higher floors might make it viable), but I really don't see that its "out of scale with the rest of Washington Boulevard." As animatedmartian pointed out, Claridge House directly across the street is 6 stories [[7, I think including the penthouse.) Himelhoch's, also across the street, is 7 stories. Washington Blvd is a mix of high-rise and mid-rise. And some 2 and 3 story buildings as well. Given the mix of building heights on Washington Blvd, this development is actually not out of scale, because there is no remotely uniform scale.

[ABetterDetroit]

In no way am I a architectural expert or even have a base of knowledge on the subject but I remembered reading this in a few different articles.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...-boom/4005289/

There is a big footprint at the statler site and going high would be pretty pricey. Even in NYC when they go high skinny buildings are popular lately.

[southen]

I too would prefer a taller building, especially on the Grand Circus frontage [[and I think premium prices for higher floors might make it viable), but I really don't see that its "out of scale with the rest of Washington Boulevard." As animatedmartian pointed out, Claridge House directly across the street is 6 stories [[7, I think including the penthouse.) Himelhoch's, also across the street, is 7 stories. Washington Blvd is a mix of high-rise and mid-rise. And some 2 and 3 story buildings as well. Given the mix of building heights on Washington Blvd, this development is actually not out of scale, because there is no remotely uniform scale.

neither of those buildings take up an entire block and neither front grand circus. if this was proposed for the Hudson block would you feel the same way?

[animatedmartian]

Taller is more expensive and it only make sense to build taller when the amount of land you can building on is limited and the ROI is at the right level.

Statler Hotel was especially built when Detroit had massive growth and the cost of building something of that size would have easily been made back in a short amount of time. I honestly don't think they cared about the scale of the building in relation to it's surroundings as much as the scale of the building in relation to the finances of it.

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

neither of those buildings take up an entire block and neither front grand circus. if this was proposed for the Hudson block would you feel the same way?

No, I would not feel the same way if it was on the Hudson block. But that block is somewhat larger and being on Woodward, Detroit's "main street", I would say it clearly can support a larger type of development. However, that stretch of Woodward itself is hardly comprised of skyscrapers either. And as I said, I do think that at a minimum they should raise the GCP frontage, with some pricier apartments there.

[1953]

Look, we finally have the land, and the economy is improving; its time to build the Aviation Building, once and for all.

http://detroithistorical.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/2012020151.jpg?w=189&h=300

1953