Lee Plaza 2017

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February-11-17, 07:35 PM
ABetterDetroit

Lee Plaza 2017

It sure is 200,000+ sq. ft. going to rot and hurting its adjacent neighborhood badly.

An historically accurate restoration of the masterpiece it once was would no doubt be cost prohibitive, but it would seem that realistic re-purposing is being ignored. The location is far from great but it doesn't seem completely unworkable. It is just a mile down a major thoroughfare from one of the largest hospital complexes in the state, [[huge employer) an easy bike ride to New Center and the Q Line and even downtown for that matter.

Residential apartments that are roomier, less expensive than midtown or downtown, of course, could work, taking into account the large windows and unobstructed views that would come into play even a few floors up. Restore the necessary for human habitation with less expensive fixtures in the apartments and take a pass on restoring the large spaces within to past glory this time around, clean them up and close them off for a later date unless the developer thinks otherwise. It has directly adjacent property for onsite parking without using a deck. Many people still need to have easily accessible daily use vehicles.

Marketing a project of this size is well beyond the abilities of the Detroit Housing Commission. Why they still have title makes little sense now. There should be some kind of agreement at the state, county and city level on what could be done with it going forward. NEZ is a no-brainer, some low income housing from the state monies is necessary for a percentage of sq. ft. Throw in a $1 sale price and deed transfer AFTER the building meets codes and is ready for occupancy etc...

Any thoughts?
February-12-17, 12:02 AM
Jason

My feeling is that the building should probably be demolished.

I think if the cost of renovation [[maybe the per unit cost) is much higher than demolishing it and replacing it with a good quality building, then it should be demolished and something else should be built [[and also with future changes in the housing market and the further deterioration of the building taken into consideration).

I think you're right that the apartments would command lower rent than in midtown or downtown, but while that would be attractive for getting tenants, it would be bad for the project's financial feasibility. The expensive midtown/downtown projects are just starting to get to the point where they're good investments without heavy subsidies. And as it is, almost all of the new/remodeled interiors are pretty cheap. Some people might say the location is a complete deal breaker but I don't think it is. The high school's grounds are maintained, and if they bought the adjacent empty lots for landscaped and gated parking, there'd be a bit of an area that didn't look too bad, even if it was a bit of a compound.

It depends on what condition the building is in, and I think it's pretty bad. imo it's a landmark because it's a taller luxury apartment building surrounded by houses. I don't think it's either an excellent example or innovative, architecturally, and I'm not aware of any important history behind the building beyond what most buildings have. And regardless, with the interiors completely trashed and the exterior in such rough shape any architectural value it might have had is shot anyway.

I'd prefer it renovated of course, but from my understanding of it it's not likely to be feasible.
February-12-17, 08:39 AM
davewindsor

Quote:

Originally Posted by ABetterDetroit

It sure is 200,000+ sq. ft. going to rot and hurting its adjacent neighborhood badly.

An historically accurate restoration of the masterpiece it once was would no doubt be cost prohibitive, but it would seem that realistic re-purposing is being ignored. The location is far from great but it doesn't seem completely unworkable. It is just a mile down a major thoroughfare from one of the largest hospital complexes in the state, [[huge employer) an easy bike ride to New Center and the Q Line and even downtown for that matter.

Residential apartments that are roomier, less expensive than midtown or downtown, of course, could work, taking into account the large windows and unobstructed views that would come into play even a few floors up. Restore the necessary for human habitation with less expensive fixtures in the apartments and take a pass on restoring the large spaces within to past glory this time around, clean them up and close them off for a later date unless the developer thinks otherwise. It has directly adjacent property for onsite parking without using a deck. Many people still need to have easily accessible daily use vehicles.

Marketing a project of this size is well beyond the abilities of the Detroit Housing Commission. Why they still have title makes little sense now. There should be some kind of agreement at the state, county and city level on what could be done with it going forward. NEZ is a no-brainer, some low income housing from the state monies is necessary for a percentage of sq. ft. Throw in a $1 sale price and deed transfer AFTER the building meets codes and is ready for occupancy etc...

Any thoughts?

Why are you starting a new thread when there are already existing threads discussing this topic ad infinitum? There is already a 4 page thread discussing the failure of Lee Plaza development for a year that was last posted to a few months ago that discusses all these points. There is a search forum at the bottom middle of the screen page.

Existing thread on Lee Plaza===> http://www.detroityes.com/mb/showthr...eveloped/page4