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Illitch family finally going ALL in on detroit!!!
1. United artist theater building [[FINALLY)
2. Hotel Fort Wayne [[building next to masonic temple)
3. Hotel eddystone [[we knew this one was happening)
4. Alhambra apartments
5. and 6. are two new ground up on henry street near clifford
Press conference may 26 in the am with chris illitch and duggan
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article..._medium=social
Looks like Chris might be more interested in developing Detroit than pops was. For as much as I rag on the family this is great news and quite unexpected. I hope it is the beginning of what they plan to do because they still have plenty of property to develop.
Waiting to hear what will become of the former United Artists Theatre portion of the building. It's in this ruinous state greatly in part due to Ilitch negligence. They never put a badly needed new roof on the building when they purchased it... and left it open for scavengers to pick clean most of the ornate plaster figures.
http://detroit-ish.com/photos/united-artists-theater/
I agree that this is good news, Southen, but I think you are too harsh on Mike I. Until the last few years, a series of projects such as we are seeing now were not feasible. There wasn't the demand. Now there is. Had the UA been developed in 2005 or 2010, it would have been a money loser and discouraged further projects.
I am certain these plans have been forming for years. Mike Ilitch set in motion plans that can now be executed. I still think- gratefully- of him every time I'm downtown.
I have been accused of being a defender of the Illitch family for years and that is partially true. I respect what they have accomplished and still argue that if Mr Illitch hadn't taken the initiative and the risk that came with it Detroit wouldn't be at the point, development wise that it is today. I have not always agreed with everything that has happened but I have always maintained there was a bigger picture on the horizon and here it is. And more of the District neighborhood will be developed in due time.
The Fox Theatre was the catalyst literally [[and figuratively) the biggest show in town and it was the kind of building that evoked fond memories like Hudson's and others. Its 5042 seats were filled regularly for 40 plus years and anyone of any substance in the entertainment industry played the Fox and hundreds of thousands of Detroiters filled those seats. The restoration of the auditorium was first class and the office building redeveloped for the headquarters of the family-owned company that provided a people presence in the neighborhood that had been absent for quite a while.
The other night while riding the QLine, I talked with a fellow [[from Royal Oak) who had walked to and from the Masonic Temple and decided to continue walking northbound on Woodward picking up the streetcar at Mack for the northbound ride to the Grand Boulevard where his car was parked. Unheard of journey, streetcar or not in years past that will now become commonplace. Many of the several thousand new apartment dwellers in the District and Brush Park will use the QLine to go north and south as will students from WSU as they transit to and from the main and business campus and new student housing.
That is the picture of the Woodward corridor between downtown and the Grand Boulevard and points north for the future that we've all been waiting for.
My, my, my... I will sleep well tonight.
That said, I have been pretty optimistic [[kind of Sunshine Steve) but these plans TOTALLY eclipse what I would have expected for say the next 5+ years.
If I would have predicted 1/2 of them yesterday, someone might have asked what I was drinking...
What I feel really clairvoyant about is Temple. I had been predicting, I think with DetroitBob, what would happen on Temple from Woodward up to say 640 Temple, if not beyond. I believe I started threads about the Alhambra, Hotel Fort Wayne, etc.
The other story line I think is that the Masonic is very fortunate as the neighborhood is getting a lot, lot better.
The caveat in life is always, pray that the local and national economy remains fairly strong. A big recession could dampen a lot of what folks are seeing happen or planned...
I think before I spike the ball and go to bed, I think this thread means we can bury a few other threads. R.I.P.
Was it last week or two but we have a good debate about counting the money spent on paving parking lots as part of their [[Ilitich) spending obligations for the LCA project. Now those bucks seem like chump change.
It now seems that the Ilitch organization is committed to developing or redeveloping as quickly as operationally possible. In the other thread [[Red Wing site) a poster indicated workers are working 10 - 12 hours a day, two shifts, seven days a week. I assume these projects will gain steam in say 2018 after the arena and LC headquarters are complete.
Agree 1,000%.Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeyinBrooklyn
And it makes more sense if one considers LCA, LC headquarters, parking garages, etc. Phase I.
Housing becomes a hallmark of Phase II.
It would have made no sense to do the housing first and LCA second.
Always thought that LCA and QLine were the antecedents to residential growth.
It is sad that Mr. Ilitch had not lived a few more years to see the opening on LCA, completion of the school of business and the new LC headquarters building.
"Two new development projects are expected to be on Henry Street near Clifford totaling about 220 units. " Crains
I have NO idea where these will go.
Last time I looked at the Google map, Harry's was located there.
BTW, is this REALLY a big surprise???? Read from the Crains article:
"In January 2016, Crain's first reported on a request for proposals that went out to the development community for 19 residential sites with about 1.44 million square feet of building space, plus an acre of Brush Park land. There were about 675 units identified in about 958,000 square feet specifically identified, including the four buildings expected to be announced for redevelopment tomorrow.The announcement is expected at 11 a.m. Friday.
Among those expected to speak are Christopher Ilitch, president and CEO of Ilitch Holdings Inc., and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan.
In a CNBC interview in the fall, Ilitch said there was a slate of about 750 apartments in six developments that were about to be announced. He said at that time that more than 20 developers responded to an RFP."
Seems all of this has been in the works for many months and now ready to move to the next phase...
With the Ilitches horrendous track record, let's see if this actually happens. They are more like the Lee Plaza people than Dan Gilbert.
I can see the headline now: "Ilitches plan to develop District residential [is delayed/unravels] against [rising interest rates/glut of downtown housing,/whatever]."
I hope I'm wrong, but you know the old phrase about "fool me once?" Well, the Ilitches have fooled Detroiters dozens of times over the years.
I think at some point it will come out that this has not only been Mr. I's goal for the past few years but he was playing the long game, even to his own reputation's detriment, for decades. I understand people bashing him and with cause for some of the actions/inaction on his part, but in hindsight I think that he was waiting for the economic environment to support his plans. Does that admonish him from some questionable decision making? Absolutely not. But I think reflecting on what this man did for the city after all is said and done, he will be championed along with Gilbert as the two catalysts that really got this city back on its feet. That's not to take away from others integral to the success of Detroit, such as Penske, the Kresge foundation, etc., that have been supporting efforts here for years, but if all of this comes to fruition, people will look at tangible evidence of change, and Illitch will have given us that.
I've been highly critical of Ilitch, but I think you make a great point.Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeyinBrooklyn
I agree. I think he was a smart business man. Smart business people aren't always appreciated by those who'd love to 'spend' many millions of the business man's money, probably foolishly.Quote:
Originally Posted by mikeg19
I remember in business school how the good professor used to, correctly, think we were all wet behind the ear young dreamers who'd make pie-in-the-sky decisions to the detriment of the enterprise.
I think Mike I. did play the long game, trying for many years to get a new arena for his hockey team.
Yet, I don't think he made any rash or foolhardy decisions. He simply waited until conditions proved right even if it meant that the arena would come very, very late in his life.
P.S. One of the good things in our economic system is borrowed money. Why? Banks lend and they don't have pie-in-the-sky attitudes. They serve as a check against youthful exuberance or financial foolishness.
Wait, unfortunately I think the new apartments to be announced near Henry and Clifford are the ones already under construction; the one story [[so far) building that wraps the parking garage and fronts the plaza, and the residential attached to the new parking garage on the south side of Henry next to Harry's.
So what's the timeline for wildcat corner apts with bleachers on top? I would've thought those would come online with the completion of the qline
Quote:
i agree that this is good news, southen, but i think you are too harsh on mike i. Until the last few years, a series of projects such as we are seeing now were not feasible. There wasn't the demand. Now there is. Had the ua been developed in 2005 or 2010, it would have been a money loser and discouraged further projects.
Couldn't disagree with you guys/gals more.Quote:
Originally Posted by 48307
I would agree with you if he had mothballed historic buildings and held until the market turned itself around, in which case he would have been playing the long game and waiting on the market.
He didn't. He demolished. That argument doesn't hold water.
I would imagine those are on hold for a while. When that was first proposed with the arena announcement, the Tigers were a much hotter commodity than today. The team's onfield play is the likely cause of the diminishing interest, and the team is probably about to start a "rebuilding phase" with the player roster. In a nut shell, lower ticket demand will ensue, and since CoPa won't be sold out very often, the demand isn't there for WildCat bleachers or for baseball focused Apts.Quote:
Originally Posted by hybridy
Should the team become an exciting competitor again for the playoffs, interest will bounce back, at which point the Wildcat bleachers and Apts. could make sense again. But right now, the market demand is not there to bring that project to the forefront.
Bingo. How nice it is that you can be a slumlord for decades then dupe people into thinking it was all part of a plan when you finally do something.Quote:
Originally Posted by Eber Brock Ward
Ilitch with his wealth and property could have been Dan Gilbert before Dan Gilbert. Instead he let someone else show faith in downtown and jumped on his coattails when he changed the market.
One explanation.Quote:
Originally Posted by Atticus
My explanation is that the Ilitch org had higher priorities.
There are 'wants' and 'needs' in life, so I learned from my ex-mother-in-law.
The needs were LCA, parking garages, housing which attach to those garages, and the LC headquarters and the Ilitch School of Business which has a contractual time frame built into the contract.
Those were the highest priority: Tier I.
Tier II could be mostly housing, plus maybe the hotel at Woodward/Henry, around LCA including the Eddystone and maybe by Comerica Park.
Tier III is mostly a mystery to me. I see SOME of that being what mostly will be announced today, but won't be really completed until say 2019 or 20 depending on the building.
Tier IV might be development/redevelopment west of Cass where the Ilitches have been acquiring property. I see that early 2020s.
We have been talking 'long game' well, from 2015, I'd suppose the Ilitch organization has say a 10-year plan to get most of what they plan to do done. The rest will depend on other developers, etc.
According to my thinking, they are only 20% done TIMEWISE, even though they have spent what a billion dollars for LCA + LC headquarters [[isn't the arena now up to 850+ billion?).
Couldn't have said it better. I love the people here patting themselves on the back as if they were some sort of prophets. Lets not forget these are just announcements. How are those new apartments at the Detroit Life Building that Ilitch announced years ago, or the Olympia Development offices at the GAR Building?Quote:
Originally Posted by southen
I like Mikeg19's comment:Quote:
Originally Posted by gumby
"I understand people bashing him and with cause for some of the actions/inaction on his part, but in hindsight I think that he was waiting for the economic environment to support his plans."
Is Dan Gilbert the ONLY person in Detroit who could have saved it?
Couldn't some other rich man tried to save Detroit in the 90s? 80s? [[or actually did they try and essentially failed with their development by the river?).
So Dan Gilbert was the right person at the right time.
Others came at the wrong time.
No, but he was the only one who cared enough to try, and not exploit Detroit for his own benefit. Like Penske, Maroun, and Ilitch.Quote:
Originally Posted by emu steve
I still can't believe we're having this debate instead of celebrating the Hotel Fort Wayne, Alhambra Apts, etc. which have now been given a 2nd life and will lead to great things for Temple.
Saving the Hotel Fort Wayne is HUGE. It is crucial for the viability of the Masonic Temple.
Some buildings are important [[some less so) but some are very, very important for some strategic reason and the Hotel Fort Wayne is one such building. That corner would look lost if that building came down. What would replace it a parking lot??? :[[
I'd thought folks here would have gotten a bottle of champagne and celebrated.
I'm curious who will be doing the developing. Will it be Olympia Development or some other company at each building?
By the way, maybe the Ilitch argument holds a little bit of water with the long term project waiting for the economy, at least in my mind. Ilitch demolished buildings but he bought many others and did nothing. It sucks they sat vacant and could've been redeveloped sooner by other entities but at least now they're being renovated whether it's Ilitch or not.
Also, will Harry's Bar be no longer? You can see on Google Maps it's on the corner of Henry and Clifford and that's where one of the projects is announced.