Himmelhoch Eviction: "It's not the bad times that killed us, it's the good times."

[dtowncitylover]

Are there rumors as to what is going to happen to the Himmelhoch's building? I know rents are rising, but what is knocking on Himmelhoch's doors to move in?

[belleislerunner]

Cafe D'Mongos is one of my favorite places downtown. I'm glad he owns it.

Also glad to see market demand filling up in Himmelhoch. Seems like he's trying to feed the media a sob story. Not falling for it. Pay market prices or get out.

If his businesses are so popular, no doubt the crowds will follow him to his cheaper rent location. If not, that means it's all smoke & mirrors to sensationalize the simple minded.

Same thing happened a few weeks ago with the closing/restructuring of Mo Better Blues. Too many people playing the victim card. Pay market rent or go home.

Next.

[iheartthed]

But your calculation has nothing to do with how commercial rent is quoted. It's 22 PSF Annual Rent, which is why Griffin's comment is ridiculous. Also, the advert you're referring to is one put out by Mongo himself.

This link says that commercial office space is quoted annually but commercial retail is quoted monthly:

Normally, the rate quoted reflects the amount of rent you pay per square foot. Generally square foot prices are quoted on a monthly basis, however, there are markets such as San Francisco that are quoted on an annual basis. By example, a $36.00 per square foot annual rate is equal to $3.00 per square foot when expressed as a monthly rate. While this is simple math, it can come as a bit of a shock when you hear a rate quoted for one space as $3.00 per square foot and another as $36.00. Urban office leasing is generally quoted as an annual rate, while industrial and retail are typically stated as monthly rates.

http://www.cityfeet.com/Tools/LeasingGuide/RentalRates.aspx?PartnerPath=/&

I'm not a commercial real estate broker so I'm pretty ambivalent about it, but using that logic my calculation makes the most sense.

[bailey]

With the adjacent now upscale Whitney/Aloft opening its doors and filling with well-heeled residents and joining the similarly filled Broderick Tower across the street, moves on surrounding properties should not be surprising as the wave of downtown gentrification builds.

As Larry Mongo put it, "It's not the bad times that killed us, it's the good times."

Maybe Detroit IS the next Brooklyn.

oh come on. This is a building that is supposed to be in a premier area of Detroit... the "bad times" are the only reason these folks COULD operate in that building. This isn't an over heated unjustified out of control rent spiral...ala Brooklyn, this is a return to Detroit being a normal, functioning, first world city.

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

There are still bad times in plenty of areas of Detroit - in other words, opportunities all over the place

[ghettopalmetto]

This link says that commercial office space is quoted annually but commercial retail is quoted monthly:

I'm not a commercial real estate broker so I'm pretty ambivalent about it, but using that logic my calculation makes the most sense.

The numbers don't make sense. I imagine that office rents in downtown are going for somewhere around $22/sf per annum. How could retail possibly command $22/sf per month, or 12 times the rate of office space?

[animatedmartian]

The numbers don't make sense. I imagine that office rents in downtown are going for somewhere around $22/sf per annum. How could retail possibly command $22/sf per month, or 12 times the rate of office space?

They're being used to two totally different uses and often operate on totally different time frames. Major companies will lease space for multiple years while a retail business operates month to month. I think it would be easy to imagine how much harder it is to relocate a sizable company than it is a small retail establishment.

[BankruptcyGuy]

This link says that commercial office space is quoted annually but commercial retail is quoted monthly:



I'm not a commercial real estate broker so I'm pretty ambivalent about it, but using that logic my calculation makes the most sense.

In my 20+ years of commercial real estate experience, the only time I've ever seen real estate prices quoted on a monthly PSF rate is in the case of downtown multifamily [[the $2/sf rate you've heard about).

Another example of "you can't believe everything you read on the internet."

[BankruptcyGuy]

They're being used to two totally different uses and often operate on totally different time frames. Major companies will lease space for multiple years while a retail business operates month to month. I think it would be easy to imagine how much harder it is to relocate a sizable company than it is a small retail establishment.

No, most retail leases are for 5-10 year terms, just like office space. Industrial tenants shifted to mostly 3 year leases when the market was awful, but now that space is tight, they're back to 5-10 year terms.

[Danny]

Are there rumors as to what is going to happen to the Himmelhoch's building? I know rents are rising, but what is knocking on Himmelhoch's doors to move in?

​It's all thanks to Dan Gilbert! He owns half of [[Downtown) I mean Gilberttown Detroit.

[Gistok]

^^^ That's odd [[re. the restaurant photos). You don't set plates and empty gravy boats etc. out like that prior to the sit down for the meal. Looks like a 'dust' catching setting, more than in use, or eye catching!

That setting has been there for nearly 2 decades [[or more?). I remember many years ago looking into that window and the thing that caught your eye first was that there were candlesticks at each table, with tapir candles that had long since melted... they were still in their candleholder, but the tips were slumped over touching the table top.

Apparently that display is a sealed off room, with no ventilation... and the afternoon sun created enough heat to cause those candles to melt over time....

[Bobl]

"It was the best of times and it was the worst of times."
There is a tale of two cities in the Motor City, up and down Woodward. The neighborhoods? We will see.

[Zacha341]

The whole scene seems pretty macabre. Just the opposite of intention I'm sure.

That setting has been there for nearly 2 decades [[or more?)....

Apparently that display is a sealed off room, with no ventilation... and the afternoon sun created enough heat to cause those candles to melt over time....

[Zacha341]

Read the comments section of the News article! It got pretty wild in the finger pointing and what all...

​It's all thanks to Dan Gilbert! He owns half of [[Downtown) I mean Gilberttown Detroit.

[Honky Tonk]

Cafe D'Mongos is one of my favorite places downtown. I'm glad he owns it.

Also glad to see market demand filling up in Himmelhoch. Seems like he's trying to feed the media a sob story. Not falling for it. Pay market prices or get out.

If his businesses are so popular, no doubt the crowds will follow him to his cheaper rent location. If not, that means it's all smoke & mirrors to sensationalize the simple minded.

Same thing happened a few weeks ago with the closing/restructuring of Mo Better Blues. Too many people playing the victim card. Pay market rent or go home.

Next.

I hope the coyotes get you.

[downtownguy]

There has been a charade of a restaurant on the Washington side noted a few times previously on this forum. It has never been opened and has been like a movie set frozen in time. Here are some pictures from 2002.

My table cloth please...

Actually, it was opened for a minute in the mid or late 80s. I remember that much, as I ate there a few times when I had an office next door in the David Whitney Building. But after that, my memory fades. I was active with the Grand Circus Park Development Association back then, and we were all thrilled to have something so quaint and classy in our forgotten part of downtown.

Diane had her salon open on the Woodward side at the time, and Larry may well have controlled the lease on the Washington Blvd. side cafe--but as I recall, he didn't run it. The cafe is across the hall from another long time tenant, James Schelberg, a podiatrist. I'm not sure, but the good doctor may have had something to do with the business end of the restaurant. If it wasn't Schelberg, I think it was some other nearby business person.

After it closed, I have faint memories that the tables were cleared for a time. Then, all the fancy china came back without any announcement of a re-opening, and it's been that way ever since.

Incidentally, Dr, Schelberg is probably getting close to retirement age. I think he may be the only other tenant on the ground floor. I wonder if Fourmidable is also trying to get him out.

[ScienceFair]

Actually, it was opened for a minute in the mid or late 80s.

Thank you for the history lesson. I always wondered what the deal was with that place. I just assumed it was a couple of fake store fronts to make the old people living upstairs think that it was still a viable neighborhood. I've never been in there myself, I had no idea there were actual businesses operating in there. Fascinating.