David Whitney Building to become Hotel and Apartments

[Richard]

Are there any buildings downtown that have an office and residential mix?

I am not sure I was in a MCS thinking mode : )

But there are a couple that would make good candidates .

[cramerro]

I don't know what the 1st floor is for, I would guess its for people working in Grand Park Centre...but I don't really know.

Grand Park Centre [[formerly Michigan Mutual Building) has its own inside parking accessed from Elizabeth Street. The parking building is located across the alley and connected to the GCP building across several floors above the alley, similar to how the theater next door was connected to the entrance/lobby on GCP before they tore it down, so they shouldn't need to use up any of the 900 spaces down there.

Seems like a tunnel to connect the Whitney would be ideal, and essentially close off the whole underground garage to the public. I used to park down there during Tigers games - the first few seasons of CoPa it was $5 while parking in surface lots in the area was $20, great proximity even if it took a while of idling in the fumes to get out afterward.

[bartock]

Are there any buildings downtown that have an office and residential mix?

Would River Place count? It isn't really downtown, and it is more like a campus. Maybe I answered my own question.

[Autoracks]

im not sure i would lease an apartment at a building that doubles as a hotel. Dont want to live with a bedbug infestation

This is positive tho. Jobs have been moving downtown, If there is acceptable housing i would expect people will give downtown living a second thought. If that happens grocery and retail should follow suit. Downtown Detroit already has a lot going for it. Its just missing a few big pieces. Schools is a stumbling point but maybe that could get worked out too. People with good jobs tend to value education. Eventually the downtown area needs to become an area where people would consider raising a family. A good first step is making it an acceptable place for successful young adults to live near work i suppose. South Cass is still standing in the way of a downtown revival. Its still somewhat of an urban camping ground for people with mental health and addiction problems. They may sleep, eat, and get high on the other side of the expressway but in order to get money to pay for whatever it is they cant get from the soup kitchens and shelters they have to travel into the downtown area to get it. These folks are going to continue to exist and they have to go somewhere. As good as a healthy bustling downtown would be I would be truly excited and happy to see a vibrant downtown thru midtown then south to corktown and east thru the market.

[gthomas]

I agree with south cass still looking like WWIII! Everywhere space north of I-75 to Mlk/Mack to Motorcity Casino...its ashame!. Need some TLC!!! Cass tech right smack in the middle...how do kids learn in that environment while trying to study or pay attention to the teacher.

im not sure i would lease an apartment at a building that doubles as a hotel. Dont want to live with a bedbug infestation

This is positive tho. Jobs have been moving downtown, If there is acceptable housing i would expect people will give downtown living a second thought. If that happens grocery and retail should follow suit. Downtown Detroit already has a lot going for it. Its just missing a few big pieces. Schools is a stumbling point but maybe that could get worked out too. People with good jobs tend to value education. Eventually the downtown area needs to become an area where people would consider raising a family. A good first step is making it an acceptable place for successful young adults to live near work i suppose. South Cass is still standing in the way of a downtown revival. Its still somewhat of an urban camping ground for people with mental health and addiction problems. They may sleep, eat, and get high on the other side of the expressway but in order to get money to pay for whatever it is they cant get from the soup kitchens and shelters they have to travel into the downtown area to get it. These folks are going to continue to exist and they have to go somewhere. As good as a healthy bustling downtown would be I would be truly excited and happy to see a vibrant downtown thru midtown then south to corktown and east thru the market.

[BrushStart]

I agree with south cass still looking like WWIII! Everywhere space north of I-75 to Mlk/Mack to Motorcity Casino...its ashame!. Need some TLC!!! Cass tech right smack in the middle...how do kids learn in that environment while trying to study or pay attention to the teacher.

80% of that is Mike Ilitch. He owns a huge chunk of that property: weedy lots + abandoned hotels + barbed wire fences + boarded-up buildings. When will an effort be made to do something with that area? I call BS on derelict and absentee property owners, be they foreign or domestic.

[j to the jeremy]

Say what you will about him ruining neighborhoods, which is true, but any of his buildings are at least bricked in up to the 2nd floor. I still think a new Red Wings arena will go up over there...

[BrushStart]

Say what you will about him ruining neighborhoods, which is true, but any of his buildings are at least bricked in up to the 2nd floor. I still think a new Red Wings arena will go up over there...

True, I don't hate Mike Ilitch. On balance, he has done a lot for Detroit, and Detroit has done a lot for him. I simply think that for a man of his age and wealth, he should give back a little more freely, which might include making some of the property he owns visually tolerable. That area north of the freeway puts a horrific taste in my mouth every time I go by it, and it sends an awful message to visitors. That area really does look third-world, and to be frank, it is probably holding back anyone else from developing property around it. I'm sure there's a keen business strategy behind it, i.e. keeping property values low so he can acquire more lots w/o paying through the nose, but c'mon, at least put up some attractive fencing and clear the garbage. Chain-link w/ barbed wire? Really?

[Autoracks]

yea. harbor light center and hotel eddystone stick up and out like some sore thumbs and it may send an awful message to visitors but it also sends the right message "dont wander this way" & "head back downtown"

[gthomas]

Somethng needs to be done! Im sick of it..Detroit has a major problem of connectivity in this district. How a thriving midtown north of MLK/ Mack is steady developing and south of Mack its a drug addict hangout spot? Its very dark in that area, broken street lights and 7 liquor stores, abandon buildings, liter filled lots, jus north of the Fox theater and MGM Casino??.. I feel sorry for those Cass Tech students who has to leave from school and see that...sad. Thats also dangerous in many ways..Cass Park is a mess...Masonic Temple not so pretty either..

yea. harbor light center and hotel eddystone stick up and out like some sore thumbs and it may send an awful message to visitors but it also sends the right message "dont wander this way" & "head back downtown"

[canuck]

Great news!

[gthomas]

The Whitney building can be like this W hotel in Manhattan...


http://wirednewyork.com/images/hotel...york_hotel.jpg

[rjlj]

I sure hope not. They totally ruined that building by knocking out portions of walls to install individual airconditioning units. I am all for progress and people coming downtown but the NYC W does not look that great compared to the Westin Book Cadillac or other W hotels.

The Whitney building can be like this W hotel in Manhattan...


http://wirednewyork.com/images/hotel...york_hotel.jpg

[gthomas]

I sure hope not. They totally ruined that building by knocking out portions of walls to install individual airconditioning units. I am all for progress and people coming downtown but the NYC W does not look that great compared to the Westin Book Cadillac or other W hotels.

Oh I never knew, well I tried...You got the picture though.

[Rocko]

From this morning's Detroit News, "The Home Newspaper":

June 27. 2011 1:00AM
Boutique hotel eyed for downtown's Whitney Building

Owners have $80M plan to turn property into trendy lodging

Louis Aguilar/ The Detroit News

The new owners of an empty downtown Woodward Avenue building are putting their faith in Detroit's eclecticism with plans to open the city's first boutique hotel — a genre of small, trendy lodgings that often become local hangouts, too.

Detroit is late in joining the movement of boutique hotels, which sprang up in the early 1980s in London, New York and San Francisco, and can be found in most major cities, as well as popular resorts. Adding the David Whitney Building in Grand Circus Park to the luxury lodging trend will help the city, an industry expert said.

"A boutique would elevate the panache of the city," said Ron Wilson, chief executive officer of Hotel Investment Services, a hotel management and consulting firm in Troy. "It's a sign there is high-quality inventory already in downtown and a belief by investors that it can handle more."

The owners of the David Whitney Building want to take advantage of its architecture, which includes a sweeping four-story lobby with a glass atrium, and mostly intact white terra cotta columns and a marble floor.

The idea is for the hotel to be distinct and not have a corporate feel to it, said David Di Rita, one of the new owners of the David Whitney. It would aim for a young, cosmopolitan clientele, he said.

"Downtown Detroit is a destination now. There is much data to show that," Di Rita said as he stood in the lobby last week. "And clearly this room was meant to be a great urban destination."

De Rita is a principal with The Roxbury Group, a Detroit development firm that bought the Whitney for $3.3 million in March. The other partner in the Whitney venture is the Farmington Hills-based hotel investmentfirm Trans Inns Management Inc., which operates 21 hotels in 13 states.

The Whitney partners are trying to raise $80 million to bring a mix of 130 hotel rooms and 180 residential units to the 19-story building. They are in talks with several national hotel chains that run boutique brands, said Di Rita, but he declined to name the chains. Examples of those brands include the W, Aloft and Palomar hotels.

Boutique hotels — also called lifestyle or design hotels — are small properties marketed on their locations and eclectic style.

The term itself is a little murky, particularly since major hotel brands have joined the niche, Wilson said. Most boutique hotels tend to attract mainly Gen Xers — people in their 30s and 40s — and Millennials — those in their 20s, he said.

If things go as planned, construction in the David Whitney Building would start next year, and the residences and hotel would open in 2013, said James Van Dyke, vice president of development in The Roxbury Group and the Whitney partnership.

Such a plan shows a solid belief in Detroit's downtown hotel scene, which lagged for decades behind the suburbs and is just recovering from the recession.

"I'm a little surprised that a plan is happening this early, but, yes, the numbers are there right now to add high-quality inventory downtown," Wilson said.

Three years ago, downtown Detroit experienced a 56 percent increase to 5,115 hotel rooms with the addition of hotels in the three permanent casinos and the renovated Westin Book Cadillac and the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Detroit Downtown/Fort Shelby.

Then came the 2008 financial meltdown.

The number of occupied hotel rooms in Detroit dropped to levels never before recorded by hotel analysts. By December 2008, the occupancy rate for the Motor City fell to a low of 34.1 percent, according to STR, a Hendersonville, Tenn.-based hotel research information company.

Not all hotels survived. The Detroit Riverside Hotel, across the street from the Cobo convention center, shut and remains in bankruptcy.

But now there is a healthy bounce back. Metro Detroit's hotels had their busiest May in more than a decade with an occupancy rate of 61.4 percent, according to STR. The last time May's occupancy rate was higher was in the dot.com boom days of 2000, when it hit 68 percent, according to STR.

The region's occupancy rate averaged 55.8 percent through the first five months of the year, the best showing in four years.

But such a rate remains below the break-even point for many facilities, several industry analysts said.

Detroit is ranked 10th among cities for best growth in the rate of revenue generated per room, a key gauge for the industry.

Several downtown hotels say they are seeing occupancy rates in the 70 percent level in recent months.

A boutique hotel would up the stakes for downtown Detroit, Wilson said.
[[313) 222-2760

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110627/...#ixzz1QTKYAcgJ

[401don]

The Crain's article in the 1st post states 108 hotel rooms. This article states 130 rooms PLUS 180 residential units. I don't see how a 19 story building with a large atrium could have this many units. Isn't the Broderick only going to have 125?

[gumby]

The Crain's article in the 1st post states 108 hotel rooms. This article states 130 rooms PLUS 180 residential units. I don't see how a 19 story building with a large atrium could have this many units. Isn't the Broderick only going to have 125?

The footprint of the Whitney building is much larger than the Broderick.

[esp1986]

The footprint of the Whitney building is much larger than the Broderick.

Yeah, but it has half as many stories. I am skeptical of the numbers. There is no way they can fit 180 residential units on top of 100+ hotel rooms. Maybe 180 total units, but I'm still not sure. I would be ecstatic if it were 180 residential units though, because with all of the demand for it right now, there is no supply and the only thing underway is the Broderick.

[cramerro]

I agree esp, my thoughts exactly. The footprint is larger, but there's also a hole in the middle. There's no way you could have 180 just apts, even studios. The Broderick is taller, too. I'm sure it's just a typo, probably 100+80, or less.

[royce]

I'm glad to see the Whitney renovated, but I'm not crazy about the market that it wants to cater to. A hotel full of 20 and 30 somethings can be very rowdy. Why not focus on being a well-run hotel that caters to all? There was something else that bothered me. Somewhere, not sure if it was in the article, it was said that the owners want the lobby to take on a disco/nightclub feel. What would that involve? As beautiful as the lobby is, why would you want to change it? When I think of a disco/nightclub, I think of a darkly lit place with a disco ball.

[Hypestyles]

i'd like to hang out here once it's renovated.. hmm.. I wonder how expensive a one-bed apartment would be..

[BrushStart]

I'm glad to see the Whitney renovated, but I'm not crazy about the market that it wants to cater to. A hotel full of 20 and 30 somethings can be very rowdy. Why not focus on being a well-run hotel that caters to all? There was something else that bothered me. Somewhere, not sure if it was in the article, it was said that the owners want the lobby to take on a disco/nightclub feel. What would that involve? As beautiful as the lobby is, why would you want to change it? When I think of a disco/nightclub, I think of a darkly lit place with a disco ball.

Well, I like the concept of an eclectic boutique hotel that attracts younger people to stay in the CBD. I mean, isn't part of what we're trying to do is bring young people back to Detroit by offering amenities comparable to other cities? New York and Chicago have dozens of edgy boutique hotels that are likely found to be more appealing to the 20-40 yr-old crowd.

Also, there's no reason that the lobby has to be tacky. It can be very posh while still honoring the building's rich historical characteristics. I know I've mention it before, but the Liberty Hotel in Boston, which is one of the nicest boutique hotels in the city, has a lobby that doubles as an upscale nightclub. It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen, and it was not rowdy. Definitely edgy and sleek. The decor was modern integrated with the building's unique history as a jail. If you were young and had money, it was the place to be at night, with lots of beautiful people and expensive drinks. During the day, it just looked like the lobby of a very upscale hotel. I actually hope Roxbury looks to the Liberty for inspiration, as the interiors of the two buildings have a similar grandiose, ascending effect.Take a look: http://www.libertyhotel.com/

[kryptonite]

In the 80's and 90's I was in the Whitney Bldg fairly often. I actually like it as much as the Guardian Bldg or Fisher Bldg. It doesn't have the dimensions that the larger buildings have but the white marble and light coming in through the atrium, it's such a charmer of a buildling.

Luckily I read that some renovation of the exterior will be part of the project. Whoever updated the exterior in the 1960s did not do the building any favors.

[esp1986]

In the 80's and 90's I was in the Whitney Bldg fairly often. I actually like it as much as the Guardian Bldg or Fisher Bldg. It doesn't have the dimensions that the larger buildings have but the white marble and light coming in through the atrium, it's such a charmer of a buildling.

Luckily I read that some renovation of the exterior will be part of the project. Whoever updated the exterior in the 1960s did not do the building any favors.

They did in fact say that restoring the building's decorative cornice will be part of the renovation, but my curiosity is more surrounding the rest of the facade. In the 1959 renovation, they also removed decorative pieces above the 5th floor windows, as well as a couple stories worth of decoration near the top of the building, beneath the cornice. Looking at the building now, the brick that was added in these spots as part of the renovation is noticably lighter than the original. My wonder is whether or not all of this will be restored, or if just the cornice along with the building's decorative nameplate will be restored. Time will tell.

[Gistok]

The David Whitney Bldg. in its' pre-modernization days....