Whole Foods Developer to Add 230 Units in New Center

[emu steve]

and try to maximize the tax rolls of property which are now vastly underutilized [[parking lots, vacant, etc.).

Governments run on the simplest equation: revenues - expenditures.

Thing which increase revenues, without undue negatives [[e.g., building an office building on vacant land increases tax revenue) OR reduces expenditures without undue negatives [[e.g., need less police because crime drops significantly) or both help local governments.

[royce]

Given this development and others in New Center, it's unfortunate that M-1 Rail did not consider turning down the boulevard and heading past Henry Ford Hospital and the Motown Museum. This would have added so much more to the functionality of the streetcar. The median is there for easy passenger loading and it would stop in front of some key destinations: Hotel St. Regis and apartments, Cadillac Place, the Fisher, Henry Ford Hospital, and the Motown Museum. Makes sense to me given the fact that it is very unlikely that M-1 Rail will ever travel to Eight Mile and beyond.

[mikeg19]

Given this development and others in New Center, it's unfortunate that M-1 Rail did not consider turning down the boulevard and heading past Henry Ford Hospital and the Motown Museum. This would have added so much more to the functionality of the streetcar. The median is there for easy passenger loading and it would stop in front of some key destinations: Hotel St. Regis and apartments, Cadillac Place, the Fisher, Henry Ford Hospital, and the Motown Museum. Makes sense to me given the fact that it is very unlikely that M-1 Rail will ever travel to Eight Mile and beyond.

All in good time Royce. I think that the initial section needs to prove itself out as a viable piece of the transportation grid before they consider spurring off onto other streets. If Downtown/Midtown/New Center continue to develop in the coming decade, I see no reason why M-1 would not continue to expand. Especially with the development of the State Fairgrounds site, I'd imagine that at some point we will see it going at least that far north. How long it takes, that's anyone's guess.

[illwill]

Given this development and others in New Center, it's unfortunate that M-1 Rail did not consider turning down the boulevard and heading past Henry Ford Hospital and the Motown Museum. This would have added so much more to the functionality of the streetcar. The median is there for easy passenger loading and it would stop in front of some key destinations: Hotel St. Regis and apartments, Cadillac Place, the Fisher, Henry Ford Hospital, and the Motown Museum. Makes sense to me given the fact that it is very unlikely that M-1 Rail will ever travel to Eight Mile and beyond.

I agree with the return of the street car for Detroit. It's more affordable and it adds a different sort of charm not typically seen in this part of the country and Detroit needs something to separate itself from other Northeast cities. Most Northern cities have subways and elevated trains. I've always thought Detroit as being more of an elegant city. We should get back to that. I also agree, I hope it runs all the way down Grand Boulevard and across the expressway.

[mwilbert]

The Fisher Building/St. Regis/Cadillac Place aren't far enough from Woodward to warrant another stop, even if the streetcar did go down Grand Blvd. Henry Ford is, but there isn't enough other stuff down West Grand Blvd to make it worth running it any farther. Seems to me like a shuttle bus would be more appropriate--and it could go into the hospital complex to the different buildings.

[royce]

mwibert, you're forgetting about one of the reasons to build light-rail. Investors see it as permanent and therefore they begin to build along its path. There may not be much west of the intersection of Woodard and Grand Boulevard right now, but if investors knew that light rail was going west on the Boulevard, then they'd be more incline to develop there.

Also, if the Henry Ford Hospital development just south of the hospital comes to fruition, then there are going to be hundreds of new residents wanting a way to get downtown for a ballgame, concert, etc. In addition, think about the tourists coming from downtown who want to go to the Motown Museum. They're not going to want to take M-1 to the Boulevard and then take a bus, a cab, a shuttle, or walk for that matter to get to the museum. They're gonna want to travel on one mode of transit, not two or three.

[innercitydoc]

mwilbert and I may not agree on the timing of retail on the Woodward strip but he is spot on here. The best we should hope for is a shuttle to the light rail station as there isn't enough on the Blvd to justify the extra cost. Besides, even in places like Chicago that have phenomenal mass transit, one must walk several blocks to get certain places. I had to walk over a mile from the nearest L station to McCormick place for example

[MizMotown]

There is already a crunch for parking in Midtown and parking is getting higher and higher. As an employee in the area I pay Dan Gilbert more to park in his structure than to work in the city. So basically I'm paying almost $1000.00 a year for Quicken Loan employees to park for free. The city should have bought the structure and used it for revenue. I guess I could get to work 2 hours early and park about 3 blocks away in the dark for free but it's probably not worth my life.