"Ugly New Buildings On Cass"

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

I agree with sirrealone. I think its decent enough. I like the two colors of brick. I don't know of much student housing that is stupendous in design. Anybody who thinks this is "third world" needs to take a trip to the third world.

[Joseph C. Krause]

Formally planted street tress are definitely appropriate on Cass and would improve the entire street, but they in no way make up for bad buildings. The buildings have to be good to be good.

I'm not sure, but it appears to be a modular and wood-frame structure faced in shallow brick cladding.

The urban form is almost right -- definitely nothing as bad as the offenses of the 60-80s. So even if the proportions are wrong and the thing looks cheap, it appears that the doors and windows will be where they should be. That car port on the front is a silly mistake, though.

The "will always find something to complain about" thing is rubbish. This is a mediocre building and just because it's better than the worst possible thing does not mean it should be embraced. We need good buildings to have a good city. We need to demand a quality environment.

[Planner3357]

Sure look a lot nicer than the student housing I had at Western.

[JMarx]

I don't think it looks bad at all, especially for student housing...

It is a little plain -- too bad the building didn't have balconies to give the architecture more depth. I do think it's urban-looking though. [[my opinion only: those Brush Park condos on Woodward across I-75 from Comerica Park are much more suburban looking)

[Detroitnerd]

It's too plain, it looks cheap, but most of all I'm concerned about curb cuts on Cass.

[Gistok]

Well at least it does complement Old Main.... which is more than can be said for the abomination that they built onto the back of Old Main.... check out this very old Flybydon image....

[Hypestyles]

...what about the apartment building on second that has been abandoned for some time and at one point had a bunch of flowers & plants decorating the facade?

[Detroitnerd]

...what about the apartment building on second that has been abandoned for some time and at one point had a bunch of flowers & plants decorating the facade?

Not abandoned. It's owned by Scott Lowell and he's fixing it up. It was the old Forest Arms apartment building and it had a fire a few years ago.

[iheartthed]

When I looked at French's picture, I thought brownstone. It doesn't really have the character, but it does look a bit like row houses. That is a city look, not suburban, in my mind. Maybe suburban where they imitate historic city looks, like in RO and Southfield.

Yeah, it looks like a rowhouse to me too. I wouldn't call it "suburban" either. I've seen better, but I've also seen a LOT worse.

[Jason]

It's just flat out a horrible building.

It's located on a really nice corner and it disgraces the buildings it's next to. It's absolute lowest common denominator bargain bin architecture.

The floor plans themselves don't look too bad, but with the building's cheap wood frame construction, it's going to be noisy, especially being student housing. And for the rent they're charging you can live in much better buildings. The location is all that's going for this.

I hope that WSU keeps on building more dorms because they've been doing a much much much better job than the off campus developers. This is a horrible building and that proposed tower on Ferry Street was really bad too. Hats off to good architects and the good clients who make a point of hiring them.

[JohnnyFreddy]

I see a nice building that is built of brick, has lots of windows, is without berms or barriers to the surrounding area, and looks nicer than any student housing I ever had access to. Just goes to show that no matter what, people will always find something to complain about, am I right?

I guess I'm really addressing THAT building with THAT style at THAT location.
The placement of that complex right there, in such close proximity to an area
literally screaming for street activity and continued retail/public activity to partner
with the existing businesses, and popular corner for foot traffic.
A housing complex should have been situated in a more tranquil position amongst
Wayne States sprawling properties. I was not suggesting a skyscraper,
by any means...just a larger, taller building, and certainly not a mentioned, underground parking structure, but definitely an on site integrated one for sure.
I personally, have never been an advocate of sidewalk resident entranceways.
The ones on Woodward, north of Grand Blvd., are atrocious, as are the condo/
apt./townhouses on Woodward, just north of I-75, in downtown, across from the
site where Motown used to be. I think housing THAT close to the street is stark, and ugly. Set it back, and place benches, or cafe' style areas, or better yet,
retail spots, such as coffee house, or book store, small grocery, etc.
Again, Detroit is spacious enough, we don't need to emulate that cramped style
of living, such as NYC, or Europe. That is part of our charm here in this city.
Room, and lots of it. Let us try to retain SOME of our city's heritage, by keeping
our areas livable, and an enjoyable place to come home to after a hard day, in
a hard world. And I'm sorry, but a lot of brick, and a lot of windows, does not
a nice building make. Shouldn't some sort of code or degree of decor be in effect
in such a dense area, such as that corner on Wayne State. Should just ANY
owner, with just ANY plan, be allowed to build WHATEVER they feel like building
there? At some point, Detroit needs to consider what a rebuilt Detroit should look
like. Should we allow just any structure, just because they're willing to build?
And if they get an ok to build, shouldn't there be a code ensuring they have
enough funding to actually build what design was approved, not some lower
cost version. I'm sticking to my guns here people. That complex, in that area....
is UGLY...and wrong. In my opinion, of course.

[noise]

I'm not particularly offended by these buildings. I've never been much impressed with that entire block, or at least the storefronts you can see in that picture. Sure, Old Main is beautiful, but it's not like Wayne State has a real common architectural theme, nor is this even close to the worst looking buildings affiliated with the university.

[Russix]

Hey, anyone reading this know whats up with the Sherbrooke Apartments on 2nd? They put a fence around them a few or two ago.

[wolverine]

I agree with the other posters in this thread. This thing looks suburban. What a mistake.

but doing that kind of construction these days is expensive. In this economy, in this city, on that spot, with their funds, it's probably the best they could do.

That's just a damn shame. But you are correct. Detroit is the unfortunate exception here. Because even in this economy, in other cities, in any spot, where there's plenty of funding, most developers or schools are pulling off some pretty high end beautiful stuff.

[wolverine]

Well at least it does complement Old Main.... which is more than can be said for the abomination that they built onto the back of Old Main.... check out this very old Flybydon image....

It bastardizes it.

[GUSHI]

yOU ARE 100% CORRECT, any new construction is a good thing in Detroit. Is any one on DYES bulding any buildings?

I see a nice building that is built of brick, has lots of windows, is without berms or barriers to the surrounding area, and looks nicer than any student housing I ever had access to. Just goes to show that no matter what, people will always find something to complain about, am I right?

[mwilbert]

yOU ARE 100% CORRECT, any new construction is a good thing in Detroit.

I disagree. Detroit has far too many buildings now. This building is OK because it is in a location where it makes sense to build, but that isn't true of most of the city.

. Because even in this economy, in other cities, in any spot, where there's plenty of funding, most developers or schools are pulling off some pretty high end beautiful stuff.

This is not what I see in other cities. There are a few nice buildings, and a ton of stuff that looks no better than this, if not worse.

[old guy]

I thought it was a reasonable discussion about a building style. Some people like it, some don't. I found it interesting even though a number of people think it looks good and are wrong. It's a forum.

[Bham1982]

I am not seeing this "high-end, beautiful stuff" that supposedly dominates other cities. Yes, there may be somewhat higher quality, but I see lots of crap in most urban cities.

[English]

I'm not particularly offended by these buildings. I've never been much impressed with that entire block, or at least the storefronts you can see in that picture. Sure, Old Main is beautiful, but it's not like Wayne State has a real common architectural theme, nor is this even close to the worst looking buildings affiliated with the university.

Speaking as a WSU employee and alumni? I totally agree.

[English]

I am not seeing this "high-end, beautiful stuff" that supposedly dominates other cities. Yes, there may be somewhat higher quality, but I see lots of crap in most urban cities.

Very true. That's the beauty [[and the drawback) of a free market -- you get what you get.

[GUSHI]

new construction is progress, if theres nothing to rehab then built new.

[East Detroit]

Looks a lot better than the Christian Science Reading Room ever did.

[jerrytimes]

Seems like some people just like to complain. While I agree they seem to look a little boring, it's certainly an improvement compared to most of what's down there.

[texorama]

Pretty similar to the student apartments that are going up in Ann Arbor and a lot of other places. Won't win any prizes, but dense enough to bring some street life to the area and apparently getting rented.