There appears to be some renovation happening at the long neglected waterfront building. Any one know what's going on?
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There appears to be some renovation happening at the long neglected waterfront building. Any one know what's going on?
Just to clarify, you're referring to the tallest building in the Whittier complex, correct?
Yes, that's correct.
I mean, with a description of "long-abandoned" he'd have to be talking about the tallest building in the complex, given that the other pat has been renovated and occupied since at least 2008.Quote:
Originally Posted by NSortzi
You and I both know that, but there are forum users who are unable to drive by the complex to see for themselves.
1) Designed by Charles N. Agree. The Whittier Hotel, 450 Burns built 1922-1923 East Jefferson Residential Historic District, Detroit, MI.
Opened: February 15, 1923
2) An article/rendering featuring the building from a 1923 edition of the Detroit Free Press.
3-9) An advertisement featuring the building from a 1923 edition of the Detroit Free Press.
10) Designed by Charles N. Agree. The Greater Whittier, 450 Burns built 1925-1926 East Jefferson Residential Historic District, Detroit, MI.
Builder: Longacre Engineering & Construction Company.
Opened: April 1926
11) An article/rendering featuring the building from a 1925 edition of the Detroit free Press.
12) An advertisement featuring the building from a 1925 edition of the Detroit Free Press.
To add to p69rrh51's extensive posting:
Attachment 36249
Attachment 36250
Attachment 36251
As noted in the newspaper articles, the Whittier was an apartment hotel. There was a large formal dining room on the ground floor of the taller tower with views onto the river. The individual units, for the most part, had very small kitchens at best - serving pantries, really. However, note the river fronting units of the taller tower. The rooms in the SW wing could be combined to create a very spacious apartment with a large kitchen and dining room. The wide, shallow closets likely contained Murphy Beds.
Something is going on at the old waterfront building of the Whittier, at least on the ground floor. The long corridor between the two buildings appears to have been restored to a pristine state and there appears to be lots of planning activity going on in the other ground floor spaces. Anyone know anything about this?
The base of the building was restored several years ago and parties are hosted in the ballroom area quite regularly. Both building have beautiful ballroom spaces.
The shorter towers ballroom was once the pool area. It has since been covered over iin marble. Weddings graduations and corporate events. My grandmother currently lives in the connected tower.
There has been discussions over the past two or three years about restoring the entire tower into condos, but nothing hasn't happen quite yet. There was even discussion of Gilbert aquiring the building. It won't be long before something happens there.
I used to swim in that pool as a kid in the late 50s early 60s. A bit bizarre swimming beneath chandeliers.Quote:
The shorter towers ballroom was once the pool area.
[[Slightly off topic, is the rough water on the hydroplane course still refered to as "The Whittier swells?)
James Mason mentions it in "North by Northwest".
One of the signs for the Whittier's Gold Cup Room has been preserved and is in Marshall's Bar further down Jefferson.
You mean it was stolen and is hanging in Marshall's bar. Lol!Quote:
Originally Posted by EastsideAl
I old love to see the Whittier restored fully. My grandparents lived there, as did my parents for one year [[1957).
Many of the internal fixtures of the hotel, restaurants, etc. were sold off or given away by the former owners [[the Baptists) during the time when it was first used as a seniors' residence, and then again more recently when Phoenix took over. As I understand it, the sign at Marshall's was given to a former employee of the restaurant who was also a regular at the bar.Quote:
Originally Posted by Honky Tonk
It seems to me that with all the new residential construction going on all over town, that ignoring the possibilities of this amazing riverfront edifice is a grave oversight on the part of developers. The one thing Detroit has in abundance is space. It would be nice if this property couldn't be renovated to create large 2000+ sqft. apartments a la pre-war New York. Some of these places still exist in the Detroit Towers, Palmer Park, and probably other places around town. Detroiters never really took to apartment living as much as NY or Chicago, but maybe the time has come.
Quote:
Originally Posted by expatriate
Yes, I would rather live in a building of that character and charm than most contemporary builds.
That is a nice looking building,they need to get rid of the ugly street walls or what ever they were.
$6,000,000 in 1923 is equal to $212,000,000 and change but even at that it would not contain the character or charm.
It shows how strong Detroit was at that time,very few cities were throwing up $200 million dollar apartment/Hotel buildings.
The Whittier has been unoccupied since, what, the 80s maybe? And it has a boatload of windows missing and the elements have taken their toll. It would take an MCS amount of dollars to restore it to it's former glory. There are 3 shorter buildings in front of it, that are lower income housing. Those buildings are occupied and functional. Erma Henderson Marina, next to it, is also not functional, but recently the parking lot has been secured. With the right investor, it would be a start to restoring that area to it's former glory, but it wouldn't be an easy or quick task. Here are some photos showing it's current state.
https://historicdetroit.org/gallerie...r-hotel-photos
So the owner is a developer of market rate housing,has a master plan from 2013 that encompasses a Detroit Village Walk master plan,the renderings do not look like affordable housing.
It appears as though the owner is a developer/investor already,which explains the low income units in the front.
Probably trying to figure out how to mix high income with lower income in order to get grants and deferred tax captures and credits.
Does not make financial sense to dump millions into it for affordable housing with no return,or dump millions into it and have people walk out the front door into lower income housing.
Kinda strange situation,either building would be feasible on their own but all combined makes it complicated.
Depending on the marina,that would be a project Bass Pro shops would take on or there are other deep pockets picking up marina/hotel properties all across the country.
Current owners do not seem interested in selling though.
Not accurate. The property is indeed occupied, and has been pretty consistently. Even though the tower is empty, the base is secured and monitored. That's why you see so few Urbex pics of this place compared to it's peers.Quote:
Originally Posted by Honky Tonk
Street View shows that the building has virtually all of it's windows, beside one large hole in the building that looks to have been made intentionally when they renovated in 2010.
Would not be that heavy a lift to renovate and re-open the tower compared to many of the larger projects that are/have taken place recently.