Advantages/Disadvantage to Hockey Arena on Brewster Projects Site

[royce]

Given the fact that amassing the land needed to build a new hockey arena is problematic and given the fact that the Brewster Projects site is vacant and supposedly for sale, what would be the advantages and disadvantages to locating the new hockey arena on that site?

[animatedmartian]

Advantage[[s): No one really wants to keep the Brewster projects around. Ideal location next to freeways.

Disadvantage: There's a retirement home next door that'll probably be affected either by construction or stadium traffic/noise.

[313WX]

I'd rather we keep he Brewster Projects and covert them to condos/apartments. I would also like for the original street grid on the Brewster site to be revived.

The Hockey Arena can be built in several other locations besides this one [[Tiger Stadium site for one). I'm still hoping for the area behind the Fox Theatre personally. That's the only logical area. given how close it is to the other entertainment venues, without crossing any freeways or missing teeth [[everything's densely put together).

I'd rather see a mixed-use high rise on I-75/Woodward and I would like for the rest of the lower Cass Corridor to have high-rise residential buildings and row apartments like it did when Detroit was at its peak.

[Ray1936]

I wouldn't much mind where it is built, as long as no city, county, or state funds are used for it. Illitch can build his own playpen.

[Bham1982]

Where did you hear that Brewster is for sale? For sale by whom? It's owned by the feds.

I'm pretty sure the feds would never allow federal urban renewal land to be used for a hockey arena.

At the very least, the affordable housing would have to be replaced somewhere nearby, and there would be tons of necessary HUD-related approvals.

This is a federally funded property from the War on Poverty years, and you either have to replace the housing or repay the federal investment.

[animatedmartian]

Well, it is technically for sale for $3 million dollars...

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...ome-optimistic

The Feds just have to approve it. But basically every developer knows it'll take more than $3 million to do something with the site, whether it be renovation or redevelopment so it still sits to this day.

There was also a previous thread about this...

http://www.detroityes.com/mb/showthr...ome-optimistic

[DetroitPlanner]

I'd suggest taking a trip to toledo and check out how they did thier hockey arena.

[EZZ]

Whatever Illitch wants, Illitch gets. The Brewster site gets my vote...

[Richard]

Whatever Illitch wants, Illitch gets. The Brewster site gets my vote...

They are already acquiring land mass Disney style doubt very much it would be Brewster.

[lilpup]

If the freeway was decked over so that the space between Brewster and the other stadia [[and parking) was easily walkable it might be more inviting but right now the freeway is a major impediment, psychologically and physically.

Even then that might be farther than people are willing to walk so parking would have to be duplicated closer, which would be a waste.

[Occurrence]

I wonder if they are going to build a unique hockey stadium, like an old retro barn, or if it's just going to be a bland generic corporate arena like every other modern one in the league?

[EZZ]

The Tiger Stadium site sounds good too!

[detroitsgwenivere]

The Tiger Stadium site sounds good too!

Too bad most Corktowners don't agree.

My vote is with 313WX.

[Gistok]

Too bad most Corktowners don't agree.

My vote is with 313WX.

It sure would put a damper on continuing the process of Corktown "infill housing" on residential weed strewn lots that were once cash cows for absentee owners on Tiger game days, and little else!

[sycloneman]

Awesome rendering EZZ....would be awesome to have an outdoor rink!!!

[jolla]

I'd rather we keep he Brewster Projects and covert them to condos/apartments.

Why? Nostalgia?

[cramerro]

Where did you hear that Brewster is for sale? For sale by whom? It's owned by the feds.

I'm pretty sure the feds would never allow federal urban renewal land to be used for a hockey arena.

At the very least, the affordable housing would have to be replaced somewhere nearby, and there would be tons of necessary HUD-related approvals.

This is a federally funded property from the War on Poverty years, and you either have to replace the housing or repay the federal investment.

The Feds would love to unload that land, I'm sure. They wouldn't require replacing the affordable housing... have you driven by in the last 3 years? There is hardly a room habitable by squatters let along enough to be called 'housing'. With all the development they've done along the Lodge/Grand River to redevelop those projects, seems like Brewster is the last thing on thier minds. Shame, too since it is the most visible from the stadia right across the freeway. And even that last [[non-project) neat old building that got in the way of the service drive going through looks like a strong wind would reduce it to a pile of bricks.

And, it would be nice to restore the grid, but if the hockey arena is going to be a super block, why not build it on a super block and leave the grids in the other two giant vacant swaths of grid streets and build appropriate infill on those. Biggest negative for me is it's too far from downtown. You wouldn't get the foot traffic that the Fox theater site or even the north of 75 along woodward site would give you.

[Hypestyles]

would anyone in the immediate area be displaced by building a sports arena there.. would there be a community benefits agreement in place?

[Jason]

I'd rather have the arena on the speculated site on Woodward. If it's designed compactly then only one street needs to be closed, and if the building is designed carefully with attention to the ground level it could be a great urban arena.

The Brewster site is just a big easy to get piece of land but that's all that's going for it. It's more isolated from downtown than the Joe is, but the surroundings are way more bleak. And what is there is all residential who wouldn't really want an arena built down the street from their townhouse.


I don't know all of the behind the scenes functions that arenas have to accommodate, but if the concourse was on the 2nd floor like the Joe, parts of the ground floor facing the street could be retail. The ground floor would have that. Depending on how the concourse was layed out there could be some windows looking out from the concourse, or at least some clerestory windows. Then after that the last few floors are where the boxes are and the hallways could have windows looking out. So I think the arena wouldn't have to be a big windowless hunk.

[gnome]

My bet is that the Arena will get built on the backside of the United Artists building. Essentially repurpose the front half on Bagley and tear out everything that is visible from Adams.