Lafayette Building's top two floors subsiding?

[McIPor]

Does the city have much better uses for the more than $1.4 million it would spend to mothball the Lafayette Building?

According to this weeks Free press, Mayor Bing is looking for $20 million to keep the city from going bankrupt. That would be a much better use of the $1.4 million in my book. Charleston great architecture was saved because of the poverty there after the civil war to the 1970's. Luckily, they couldn't afford to tear down or build new buildings, so now it's one of the only colonial cities in the country still intact.

Let Dennis Kafalonos buy the building. He could do a facade improvement, and occupy the first 2-3 floors. At least he keeps the heat and lights on in his buildings. More then we can say for city owned properties.

The value of The lafayette building is the terra cotta and limestone facade, stone lobbies and the cultural history. No new building that might be built someday will ever match the quality of that. I'd much rather look out the windows of the Book Cadillac at that then the cheesy Holiday Inn, bad ATT, McNamara Federal building or the side of the Griswold parking structure any day!. Not to mention once the lafayette building is gone, the view will be across Lafayette to another uglyass parking structure. Nice views for upscale living

[buildingsofdetroit]

Does the city have much better uses for the more than $1.4 million it would spend to mothball the Lafayette Building?

Let Dennis Kafalonos buy the building. He could do a facade improvement, and occupy the first 2-3 floors. At least he keeps the heat and lights on in his buildings. More then we can say for city owned properties.

While I am in favor of letting Keffalinos buy the Lafayette, it should be noted that's not true for EVERY building he owns. The YMCA by Clark Park, for example.

[McIPor]

While I am in favor of letting Keffalinos buy the Lafayette, it should be noted that's not true for EVERY building he owns. The YMCA by Clark Park, for example.

That maybe true, but he owns A LOT of buildings, I think about 12 downtown. Most have occupants, electricity and heat. Thats better than any number of city owned properties and he doen't seem to knock them down either. At least his buildings survive to see better days.

Soho didn't happen over night and there were more Kafalonos types that helped make it than Compuwares or corporate types. Remember, NY was nearly bankrupt in the 70's. Maybe Detroit is in its NY 70's period now.