Bedrock To Announce "National Retailer" Wednesday [[April 2)

[313WX]

I still day that a City Target could fit inside the Z building or the New Center One building. We just need a good transit system to bring shoppers to downtown Midtown

I see what you did there...

[stasu1213]

I see what you did there...

typing on these android phones are a bit challenging. "I still say" is what I had meant

[Hypestyles]

this outlet must have Captain America & the Avengers and the first X-Men and Spider-Man arcade games.

[Gistok]

Yeah, you're right, downtown bars don't need suburbanites.

I mean, Detroiters probably comprise 5% of the Comerica Park/JLA/Ford Field crowds. With numbers like that, who needs anyone else?

I do believe that you are under the misconception that SpartanDawg was talking about ALL suburbanites?

As a suburbanite who likes visiting downtown... and who roots for the struggles they have to go thru, without any condescension, and who doesn't put up a fuss about foregoing to ever visit Belle Isle again because of a mere $11 fee for a Belle Isle pass.... I didn't get that vibe...

[Detroit Stylin]

Now you all KNOW that Bham is a little salty because it is going Downtown and not in Birmingham....

[SpartanDawg]

Is SpartanDawg and Spartan the same person?

no sir.. although sounds like we picked the same university to attend :-)

[stasu1213]

Dan Gilbert, to his credit, had brought the Somerset Collection City Loft downtown. He also had brought MooseJaw downtown as well. We don't know why he had not to this date brought more clothing retail downtown. Does he have opposition in city government who is making it hard for him to bring more clothing retail downtown? Is it his intent to not bring more clothing or big box department stores downtown? Is he waiting for more people to live downtown to support the stores? He had said that he want downtown to be different from the suburbs or it would not be a unique place. I am concern about that for the suburbs may still have all of the clothing stores where we have to drive out to while downtown/midtown will just have the establishments where one would play and be entertained at.

[Bham1982]

Now you all KNOW that Bham is a little salty because it is going Downtown and not in Birmingham....

Oh, yeah, you can bet the bluehairs, snobs and pseudo-Eurotrash would just LOVE them a Dave and Busters on Maple Rd., LOL. The same folks who shut down South Bar and Blue Martini and have been fighting the multiplexes would never even allow a lease to be signed, not in a million years.

[downtownguy]

Generally, I could care less about chain restaurants. The fact that this place doesn't fit most opine'rs on this thread's definition of "national" just makes it more attractive to me. As for the new mix of younger workers and residents downtown, it sounds like a perfect fit. I suspect it will do good business regardless of whether there's a game in town on a given night.


Places like this and the 40 beers on tap restaurant [[the name escapes me at this moment) that plans to move into the former Agave space are unique draws to the city's core. I'll take that over a Dave & Busters or Applebee's anyday.

Retail is overblown anyway. Sure, it would be nice to have more, but as the internet grew and retailers left the city, I directed much of my retail shopping online.

This is one step forward and no steps backwards. When it comes to positive things in Detroit, Bham usually has only one gear, and it's not forward.

[downtownguy]

Yikes...bunch of whining going on in here. Look forward to this development and I'll be sure to check it out. Pretty bummed that the Y really kills off a constant entertainment scene on the north and south end of Broadway.

I don't think the Y hurts anything. There's constant day and night pedestrian traffic on the street thanks to them. If anything, the parking structure and offices across the street do more to kill off the entertainment "scene." But even that doesn't matter, IMHO. People can walk one block in either direction to stay in the scene, and it adds to the diversity on the block.

[erikd]

Dan Gilbert, to his credit, had brought the Somerset Collection City Loft downtown. He also had brought MooseJaw downtown as well. We don't know why he had not to this date brought more clothing retail downtown. Does he have opposition in city government who is making it hard for him to bring more clothing retail downtown? Is it his intent to not bring more clothing or big box department stores downtown? Is he waiting for more people to live downtown to support the stores? He had said that he want downtown to be different from the suburbs or it would not be a unique place. I am concern about that for the suburbs may still have all of the clothing stores where we have to drive out to while downtown/midtown will just have the establishments where one would play and be entertained at.

Bespoke 1701 [[men's dress clothes) is also setting up a permanent store in a Gilbert building, after doing a popup over the holidays.

Gilbert made it clear that the retail component was going to be one of the last components of the large redevelopment plan. He was projecting that it would happen 2-3 years out about a year and a half ago.

The entire length of Woodward from downtown to New Center will be completely torn up and rebuilt over the next year and a half, and it is crazy to think that anybody is going to be rushing to open new retail along the lower Woodward corridor until the construction is complete. This is just common sense. You don't open new stores in a major construction zone unless you want to promptly go out of business.

Once the Woodward rebuild is done and the streetcar is running, these spaces will fill up without a problem. Trying to jump the gun and rush to open them during construction is nonsensical and counter-productive.

[Bham1982]

Once the Woodward rebuild is done and the streetcar is running, these spaces will fill up without a problem. Trying to jump the gun and rush to open them during construction is nonsensical and counter-productive.

Aha, so the new goalposts for when retail is coming is "after the trolley opens". So we're now backing it up to 2020 or so? And disregarding the fact that other cities don't seem to have this weird rule of "retail can't exist as long as there's streetcar construction".

[stasu1213]

Aha, so the new goalposts for when retail is coming is "after the trolley opens". So we're now backing it up to 2020 or so? And disregarding the fact that other cities don't seem to have this weird rule of "retail can't exist as long as there's streetcar construction".

Dan Gilbert could open an Apple Store in the Z building or the First National Building during construction and it will be supported by customers. It is amazing how many get excited over another sports bar, opening in downtown Detroit, and it is exciting news, but don't think that other type of retail, such as apparel would not be successful during construction. It appears that this city is not serious about get retail. The Avenue of Fashion doesn't have anything to draw the residents who live in Sherwood Forest, Palmer Woods, and Green Acres, to it's strip. Those residents have the money and often shop at the Gateway Shopping Center. Hatch had done a terrible job in selecting the winners to open retail on the strip and many had opted out due to the high demands from the city or the winner could not afford to set up shop on Livernois due to their own budget. I still believe that big box stores such as Walmart, Kmart, and Target could the strip malls that lined Jefferson. Another missed opportunity. Yeah, I am excited about another entertainment venture opening in downtown Detroit during construction but would be more excited when I hear stores that sell basic goods opens in downtown or midtown Detroit to without it being some type of expensive specialty shop.

[bailey]

....

Once the Woodward rebuild is done and the streetcar is running, these spaces will fill up without a problem. Trying to jump the gun and rush to open them during construction is nonsensical and counter-productive.

got to agree with Bham on this one... that is some serious goal post moving. Its not as if some street construction would impede access. You're parking somewhere else off woodward anyway. Is it all going to then have to wait until the Little Caesars Fun Zone is done too?

What I find to be troubling is that there isn't even an announcement of a "coming soon!"/LOI from anyone significant in the 2-3 years he's been talking about "national retailers".

and just to say this for the eleventybillionth time, that does not mean that there hasn't been significant downtown improvement. I'm just so over the constant "over promise & under deliver" aspect of all this. I just want them to stop doing it. Don't blast out press releases about how you've lured a national retailer only to then announce you're opening a bar.

[erikd]

Aha, so the new goalposts for when retail is coming is "after the trolley opens". So we're now backing it up to 2020 or so? And disregarding the fact that other cities don't seem to have this weird rule of "retail can't exist as long as there's streetcar construction".

There are no new goalposts, nor is this really about the streetcar, per se. It's about the complete reconstruction of Woodward. Even if the streetcar wasn't happening, a major reconstruction of Woodward would have the same effect.

Talk to any business owner who has gone through a major street construction project and they will tell you how disruptive it was.

For example, the business owners along the section of I-96 that just closed this weekend are expecting drastic sales declines due to the construction.

“It will affect us 100%,” said Milad Hallis, 71, owner of Beirut Bakery, which sits on westbound Schoolcraft Road, the freeway’s service drive in Redford Township. Even a single construction season can be agonizing to anyone who depends on a freeway and its service drive for access.
Eyeing road crews Wednesday afternoon as they placed orange barrels to close half of the two-lane service drive outside the windows of his Lebanese bakery and deli, Hallis’ eyes narrowed.
“With just the one lane open, I think the cars will get in but they won’t be able to get out,” he said. On Wednesday, the shop was crowded with customers, some saying they feared they might not be back until after the nine-month project ends late this year.

http://www.freep.com/article/2014040...ate-96-closure

With the closure of I-96 set to begin Friday, Haidous is one of some 140,000 drivers who'll have to settle for detours every day for at least the next six months.
Even worse for Haidous, the business he owns is a gas station off I-96, which is set to shut down between Newburgh and Telegraph roads until October.
"It's going to kill us," Haidous said.

While drivers, however inconvenienced, can adjust to the closure, many businesses along the highway can do little more than wait for a merciful autumn.
"Most of my customers, they're coming from the freeway," said Haidous, who anticipates losing about 70 percent of his revenue throughout the summer.

http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/in...wn_friday.html

[erikd]

got to agree with Bham on this one... that is some serious goal post moving. Its not as if some street construction would impede access. You're parking somewhere else off woodward anyway. Is it all going to then have to wait until the Little Caesars Fun Zone is done too?

What I find to be troubling is that there isn't even an announcement of a "coming soon!"/LOI from anyone significant in the 2-3 years he's been talking about "national retailers".

and just to say this for the eleventybillionth time, that does not mean that there hasn't been significant downtown improvement. I'm just so over the constant "over promise & under deliver" aspect of all this. I just want them to stop doing it. Don't blast out press releases about how you've lured a national retailer only to then announce you're opening a bar.

I have been saying the same thing ever since the retail plan was first talked about a few years ago: The lower Woodward retail stores will not open before the street construction is complete.

I am very optimistic about bringing retail back to lower Woodward, and I think that it will exceed expectations and turn out to be quite successful. However, as much as I think that this will be successful and profitable, I would say that it is a terrible idea to open any of these stores before the construction is complete. This has nothing to do with the Detroit retail market, or the streetcar, because I would say the same thing about opening a new business along the I-96 corridor before the freeway construction is complete.

[stasu1213]

It is a good idea to put Punchbowl in the Z Garage. It will increase the pedestrian traffic from Randolph and Monroe to Broadway and Adam. I was hoping that Broadway will be a mixture of retail and entertainment. A sports apparel store such as a Nike Store, Champs, or an NBA store should open in the Z to compliment the YMCA. I see a fence is around the Carey building. It appears that new windows are being installed. Any word on that building?

[detroitbob]

Gilbert and Bedrock stated about two years ago that the retail burst would coincide with the start up of the streetcars...so by that point more apartments should be up and occupied in the Capital Park strip [[over and above the Albert) the Hudson block project should be announced along with other improvements to buildings on Woodward from State/Gratiot to Grand Circus.