Monroe Blocks Development Starts... National Theatre Facade Moving

[stinkytofu]

Not to be a negative Nancy, but I think they may have done the demo recently just so they have m ore space for the draft... and there really are not near term plans for the site.

[JonWylie]

Not to be a negative Nancy, but I think they may have done the demo recently just so they have m ore space for the draft... and there really are not near term plans for the site.

The start date has been September 2024 for a while.

Final of 2 Detroit buildings coming down to make way for Bedrock project [[freep.com)

[stasu1213]

The start date has been September 2024 for a while.

Final of 2 Detroit buildings coming down to make way for Bedrock project [[freep.com)

There's no guarantee that development will start in September. I don't put the blame on Bedrock for all of the setbacks. Gilbert's vision is probably too great for a city that is still stuck in the 20th century

[401don]

A lot of development Gilbert does is financed with profits from Rocket. Today we see in the Freep that Rocket is down over 10,000 employees from the peak two years ago. Think about all they've had to endure. Covid and the subsequent loss of downtown office workers, high interest rates killing the mortgage business and making all development - apartments, renos, the Hudson Site far more expensive and how all those lost employees affect downtown retail. It's a wonder he hasn't thrown in the towel on more projects.

[JonWylie]

There's no guarantee that development will start in September. I don't put the blame on Bedrock for all of the setbacks. Gilbert's vision is probably too great for a city that is still stuck in the 20th century

I mean, I guess we won't know until September 1st. As of now, it's on schedule.

[stasu1213]

A lot of development Gilbert does is financed with profits from Rocket. Today we see in the Freep that Rocket is down over 10,000 employees from the peak two years ago. Think about all they've had to endure. Covid and the subsequent loss of downtown office workers, high interest rates killing the mortgage business and making all development - apartments, renos, the Hudson Site far more expensive and how all those lost employees affect downtown retail. It's a wonder he hasn't thrown in the towel on more projects.

I applauded Dan Gilbert for almost singlehandedly reviving downtown Detroit. Maybe he was doing too much at one time. The Hudson Block was needed. Should he had waited to build the tower? Too bad there weren't other billionaires besides the other four main suspects who were serious about revitalizing downtown. Kefellinos just purchased buildings and had done botched cheesy renovations to them. Matty Mouroin just sat on properties bringing the property value in the surrounding areas down

[gratiotfaced]

I know it's easy to say with hindsight, but Gilbert should have built more housing downtown before COVID. Now he's got a bunch of empty office floors and retail tenants struggling with reduced foot traffic.

He did build that one apartment building in Capitol Park, but having another dozen of those spread around downtown would have been a good safety net.

[Gistok]

Well Gilbert bought the 40 story Cadillac Tower in 2021, and unlike the Book Tower, it won't need a major restoration. Converting all 40 floors to residential will really help downtown living. I hope that is included in the 2024 start dates for the Cadillac Square side of the Monroe blocks.

[stasu1213]

Well Gilbert bought the 40 story Cadillac Tower in 2021, and unlike the Book Tower, it won't need a major restoration. Converting all 40 floors to residential will really help downtown living. I hope that is included in the 2024 start dates for the Cadillac Square side of the Monroe blocks.

Gilbert also own The Albert on Griswold which is an apartment building. The one building that would be great for condos or apartments in the Penobscot Building. Bedrock probably wish they could buy thar building from the dlumlord that is currently the owner of it.

[Gistok]

Gilbert also own The Albert on Griswold which is an apartment building. The one building that would be great for condos or apartments in the Penobscot Building. Bedrock probably wish they could buy thar building from the dlumlord that is currently the owner of it.

The neglectful owner of the Penobscot Building, a Greek-Canadian, passed away last year... and he has a few adult children. I'm not sure if it the mans assets are in the Canadian version of Probate Court, or what the deal is. Hopefully they will sell it.

As for the Penobscot Building... I wouldn't mind the 2 annex's get converted to residential, but I would not like to see that happen to the tower. That stretch of Griswold is Detroit's Financial District, and I would like to see it stay that way, for the most part.

[gratiotfaced]

The start date has been September 2024 for a while.

Final of 2 Detroit buildings coming down to make way for Bedrock project [[freep.com)

Ugh. The timeline on this project sucks. Six years behind schedule, finally slated to start after the NFL Draft, now pushed back even further to September. Why? And the final phase won't begin until 2028 at the earliest? Yikes. It's frustrating how slow development moves in this city.

[401don]

Ugh. The timeline on this project sucks. Six years behind schedule, finally slated to start after the NFL Draft, now pushed back even further to September. Why? And the final phase won't begin until 2028 at the earliest? Yikes. It's frustrating how slow development moves in this city.

Be glad anything is being done. There's about a hundred different reasons not to right now.

[RAPLAS]

Across from the Monroe Blocks [[now Cadillac Square) where the NFL Draft main stage will be held, the old Broadway shop building razed today.

[xD_Brklyn]

The old Broadway building was once where Henry the Hatter was located, correct?

[Gistok]

Ugh. The timeline on this project sucks. Six years behind schedule, finally slated to start after the NFL Draft, now pushed back even further to September. Why? And the final phase won't begin until 2028 at the earliest? Yikes. It's frustrating how slow development moves in this city.

Were you around in 1977 when the Renaissance Center construction finished and became open for occupancy? 2.2 million sq. ft. of office space came online all at once when none was needed, and sucked the life force out of downtown Class A office space for over a decade.

Why would Gilbert bring more office space online, when he would probably be the one most negatively impacted?

[gratiotfaced]

We need more residential, not office space. No one is asking for more office space.

[Gistok]

We need more residential, not office space. No one is asking for more office space.

True... but about 60% of the high rises going to be built on the Monroe blocks was going to be offices. Now that Gilbert bought the 40 story Cadillac Tower in 2021, he can convert that to residential first, since the building already exists, and also it wasn't abandoned and doesn't require major restoration, such as the Book Tower.

[JonWylie]

Be glad anything is being done. There's about a hundred different reasons not to right now.

This site was rumored to be a utility type building to serve the Hudson and Monroe block. It was leaked by the architecture firm a few years back and has been taken down, but people grabbed screenshots.


DETROIT | Hudson Block & Tower | 685'-4" FT | 49 FL | U/C | Page 10 | SkyscraperCity Forum

[Lowell]

Great pictures RAPLAS. I like how the unfinished Hudson Site building will tower over the site giving a Detroit-rising feel to the scene.

Across from the Monroe Blocks [[now Cadillac Square) where the NFL Draft main stage will be held, the old Broadway shop building razed today.

[royce]

Across from the Monroe Blocks [[now Cadillac Square) where the NFL Draft main stage will be held, the old Broadway shop building razed today.

This is not where the NFL main stage will be held. The stage will be set up on the land where the National Theater was located.

[royce]

The old Broadway building was once where Henry the Hatter was located, correct?

J.L. Stone and the Broadway clothing stores stood on this site. Henry the Hatter was in the next block north of here.

[royce]

[QUOTE=JonWylie;640789]This site was rumored to be a utility type building to serve the Hudson and Monroe block. It was leaked by the architecture firm a few years back and has been taken down, but people grabbed screenshots.


An L-shaped residential building on this site [[J.L. Stone/Broadway stores site) would be nice. The building depicted would definitely stand out.

[stasu1213]

Detroit really doesn't need another highrise residential nor office building. Unlike other large cities Detroit has much more land and/or space to spread out.

[southen]

Detroit really doesn't need another highrise residential nor office building. Unlike other large cities Detroit has much more land and/or space to spread out.

You are ignoring the group of people that want to live in dense areas like downtown. Detroit absolutely needs more high rise residential because the person wanting to live in spaces like that is not the same person who wants to live in low density neighborhoods.

[stasu1213]

You are ignoring the group of people that want to live in dense areas like downtown. Detroit absolutely needs more high rise residential because the person wanting to live in spaces like that is not the same person who wants to live in low density neighborhoods.

Most of these younger people may want to live in high density areas until they get a little older and want to start families then they will want more privacy and move out of a very expensive downtown area. Also, office workers are remotely working currently instead of going into the office. That's why G.M. headquarters and other highrise office buildings are are still 40% occupied during work weeks. Many office workers report to work a couple of days a week, plug in their laptops or tablets at general port stations, and do their assignments and tasks then go home for the rest of the week. I like how Gensler set up their new office in Capitol Park. They use the street and second levels of their new location for office spaces. Many companies only uses one or two floors not whole 40 story buildings. The Hudson's Block is the perfect height for an office building