Work on NBC building in New Center

[Pcm]

Rode by my favorite New Center building and noticed workers inside the gated lot. Door was open, windows were open. There has also been a light on at night on the top floor for a while.

Any idea what's up?

You can see a mechanical contractor's vehicle and an elevator contractor's vehicle in the photos.

[Lowell]

Great building. Nice photos. Elevator contractor bodes well.

[rb336]

I'll call Lowell's assessment of the building and significance of the elevator truck and raise him the glass block truck in photo 4. Glass block would not be cost-effective if they are merely stabilizing the building, whereas mechanical, electrical and elevator might be handy for that purpose.

[rb336]

check out Farbman's flyer on the building. They had it listed for 3 1/4 million:

http://www.farbman.com/Properties/Baltimore899-NBC.pdf

the wood floors look pristine

[1953]

"Building completely sprinkled."

lol.

[DetroitPlanner]

I hear they are going to remake Friends and film it out of it!!!

Kidding! NBC in this case means National Biscut Company or NaBisCo.

[Hamtragedy]

planner you beat me to it.

[Hypestyles]

...lofts? retail?

[j to the jeremy]

Great building. Nice photos. Elevator contractor bodes well.

yes, it does. I was worried it was MDOT tearing stuff down near the I-94 project. This building needs to be saved and it's a beautiful structure in a good location.

[iheartthed]

I hear they are going to remake Friends and film it out of it!!!

Kidding! NBC in this case means National Biscut Company or NaBisCo.

I was wondering what that stood for. I pass by an old "NBC" building in Manhattan a lot [[not Rockefeller Center, lol), and I know that isn't affiliated with the National Broadcasting Company. I'm guessing that it is also a former NaBisCo warehouse.

ETA: I also recently saw an old factory building in Brooklyn with "Packard" on it. I've been wondering if that was some type of Packard Motors factory.

[EastsideAl]

If it's the one I'm thinking about [[on Atlantic Ave.) the old Packard building in Brooklyn was built as a big showroom/service facility, of the type automakers used to operate back before the depression. I used to live not too far away.

Another beautiful old Packard showroom is also still standing in far upper Manhattan, and a big Packard service center on 11th Ave. They are a couple of the very few Albert Kahn designed buildings in NYC [[the Brooklyn building is not by Kahn), along with the beautiful old Ford Building on Broadway that is now the HQ of P-Diddy's Sean John operation.

[iheartthed]

If it's the one I'm thinking about [[on Atlantic Ave.) the old Packard building in Brooklyn was built as a big showroom/service facility, of the type automakers used to operate back before the depression. I used to live not too far away.

Yup, that's exactly it.

[rb336]

I think they are turning it into yet another self-storage warehouse, as if there aren't enough of those already on Atlantic

[Krawlspace]

These photos were taken in March of 2006. The building is fairly cookie cutter on most of the floors. All the equipment has long been removed. The only remnants from National Biscuit I found were designations on the truly impressive power control area, and the large overhead scoop to move grain. The roof actually has a large courtyard allowing for natural light to come in on the top floor from the inside walls. I always felt this building was a good renovation candidate as it has never appeared to have lost power or been open to the elements. The basement was bone dry, and the roof water management system was intact and working well on our visit. Enjoy!

[paddlebobb]

Great photos. Thanks Krawlspace.

[artds]

Always loved driving by this building when I was a student at WSU LS. I can't imagine what a feasible, contemporary use for the building would be given its design, location and size, but it's nice to see activity there nonetheless.

[jtf1972]

I doubt it sold, as the banner advertising the sale is still on the building.

[KJ5]

That's gotta be the most well maintained vacant building in Detroit!

[DetroitPlanner]

That's gotta be the most well maintained vacant building in Detroit!

So was the Lee Plaza until it appeared on this site!

[Wheels]

I think this is just outside the area announced, but could this be part of the Henry Ford expansion?

[j to the jeremy]

So was the Lee Plaza until it appeared on this site!

zing!

[Rocko]

Just to clarify, this is the building on Baltimore right next to the Lodge, which backs up to the railroad tracks, right? Great to hear about the ongoing work!!

[StuartS]

Glad to see that some people are still interested and curious about the old Nabisco Building and the community that it resides in!

My name is Stuart and I am happy to report to everyone what is behind all the activity at 899 Baltimore St. This building is going to be the subject of an intense revitalization effort that will ultimately result in a new U-Haul location.

There's a lot that is still not known/decided about this project, and there's A LOT of work to do - but here's some basic info about the project so far:

- CEO Joe Shoen has been looking to add a new location IN [[not around) Detroit for a while now. He scouted this location several times personally before the sale because he wanted a building like this one.

- This is a big project to him because U-Haul's business has always been and is essentially all about reutilization. Since the 1970s, where and when possible, U-Haul always would revitalize an existing structure rather than demolish/build new. This project fits with this perfectly.

- We plan on opening up a full-service U-Haul facility - trucks, trailers, storage - and more! We hope to get up and running with basic truck and trailer services before the start of winter. We're also trying to think of some cool ideas for a grand opening...

We're still very much in the planning phase, but we want to share what's happening with this project with informative and regular updates. We'd also like to involve - and get involved with - the community in this process. So we setup a website -- uhaul.com/movingdetroit -- with all the info and updates so far. We have some really cool plans for status updates and a lot of other cool content as well.

We're also trying to establish the use of a Twitter hashtag [[#movingdetroit) so ANYONE can send or receive an update about what's going on with this project. Any day now, we should have a feed for this hashtag on the website, so if you're on Twitter, use it any time you want to comment or share a photo about this building.

Anyway, check in on the website when you have a minute. You can leave a comment on almost every page - let us know what you think and help us get this thing done right!

Thanks!
-Stuart

[theresa]

I used to work in New Center and loved this building, which was vacant. I always wondered what the NBC meant, so thanks for that. I have photos of this building and the weed-choked parking lot from 2008 & 2009. I agree that it is a lovely building and I hope something great moves in. New Center has a lot going for it and having this building occupied will only help.

[canuck]

That is great news Stuart, I'm really impressed by what you described as U-Haul's company policy on reuse of older structures. In this age, the on-time commitments means that companies are looking for higher ceiling buildings for stocking. Maybe U-Haul can circumvent a lot of these latter-day needs because their business doesnt follow the same guidelines. The building is beautiful and as others have noted, it is nice to see it was well preserved and protected in vacancy.