What is going on at Red Wings arena site?

[rex]

The Grateful Dead for one. Im excited. Any old heads would find John Mayer to be a pretty good fit and they are playing well. Show is in late november

[emu steve]

Now that the arena is up and running look for everything else to progress at a glacial pace. It is the Ilitch way.

I was told by someone in a hard hat last weekend, that there were problems with materials [[steel) where the arena lofts are to be.

[southen]

Honestly I don't buy that for a second. The plans for this have been around for how long? It also looks like they completely scrapped the townhouses or whatever they said would be built on the side of the garage facing Clifford. They have seeded and landscaped that area leaving two giant blank facades for those unfortunate enough to live near anywhere Ilitch develops.

[emu steve]

Honestly I don't buy that for a second. The plans for this have been around for how long? It also looks like they completely scrapped the townhouses or whatever they said would be built on the side of the garage facing Clifford. They have seeded and landscaped that area leaving two giant blank facades for those unfortunate enough to live near anywhere Ilitch develops.

I was told that what you see was for ground level retail.

Will there be residential above it. IDK.

Sometimes the best folks to talk with are those actually working on a project. They should know what it is they are doing...

That said, it does look like it will only be a one story building there. It is hard to say as there is a lot on unfinished building in that area.

BTW, I agree with one of your posts from months ago that behind the Ilitch School of Business just screams like a future parking garage.

On Temple, behind the WSU building between Woodward and Clifford seems, to me, ideal for residents of Eddystone, Alhambra, Hotel American, and WSU business students plus patrons of the LCA.

I don't see either more residential or office space there.

Anything to get cars parked so they can exit every which way. Cars could head west on Temple or north on Cass.

P.S. About an hour after the Lions' game ended, I decided that I really wanted to go south on Cass and head west on Michigan Ave. That, of course, was easier said than done. Total mess. I ended up driving down 3rd to Warren to Trumbull and W.B. 94. W.B. 94 was congested too.

[southen]

That one story podium was already announced to be a multistory structure for residential. There are renderings of it here [[second to last photo): https://detroit.curbed.com/2017/5/26...oit-renovation

With construction like that, and you can see it happening in city modern right this moment, you build a substantial base like the one that is present then you make the rest of the building with timber. They are likely not going to be erecting a lot of steel for this building.

So while getting the inside scoop from a worker NOT currently working on that project might seem like good information, he is more than likely misinformed or was fed wrong info from superiors. I would bet that there won't be any additional major steel added to this structure, thus the delay is just typical Ilitch practice, not some mysterious issue with procuring steel.

I agree about the garage behind the business school. My fear is that the lot across from that and behind the Eddystone will remain a lot of some kind even though it would be better to redevelop the area.

[emu steve]

I hear you. Thanks for you comments.

It is never popular to come to this forum and advocate for a parking garage, but given the terrible parking problems I saw last weekend, anyway to get say 750 - 1,000 space constructed in a garage which is behind the main buildings such as the LCA, the school of business bldg., etc. is a good thing.

I saw from Ticketmaster, they sent it to me, a list of all parking garages and surface lots in the LCA area [[this was because I bought a tix to the hockey game played last Saturday). I'd see 50 spaces, 100 spaces, etc. One was I think only 20 spaces.

It just seems a 750 car garage is better than say 8 - 10 surface lots.

[southen]

I would much rather have a few large garages then all of the dinky little lots that the Ilitch's own dotting the landscape. They need to consider traffic patterns when placing a giant garage though. The construction may be impacting traffic, but from what I have seen it just becomes a clusterfuck around the arena any time something is happening.

Funnel people in and out of a few garages and that may make things better than having parking scattered everywhere.

[DetroitNightLights]

Parking should be spread out in smaller garages and lots that immediately disperse traffic and give options for multiple routes. The Joe Louis Garage was a nightmare on game days, causing people to be stuck in garage traffic for hours.

[emu steve]

Parking should be spread out in smaller garages and lots that immediately disperse traffic and give options for multiple routes. The Joe Louis Garage was a nightmare on game days, causing people to be stuck in garage traffic for hours.

Excellent point.

To some degree Detroit has that. There are what 3 garages south of the Fisher, 2 by Comerica and the one behind the Fox. There are two by LCA.

I was sorry to learn that the land at Montcalm/Fisher/Clifford is not all owned by Olympia Development. It would have been a great site for another garage, well located for both LCA and CoPa. And it would help keep a lot of traffic south of the Fisher.

Indeed, traffic needs to be funneled north and south on Woodward, Cass; East and west on the Fisher, west on Temple, etc.

It would be nice if QLine could shuttle say 1 - 2K people in 30 - 45 minutes to/from the stadium/arena, but I'd guess real capacity is maybe less than 500 people.

Someday QLine is going to need to be able to double capacity for big events at the stadia/arena. I'm convinced people will park near WSU if they can get a reliable shuttle to those venues.

[southen]

Olympia could easily buy the land at Montcalm/Fisher/Clifford, but they only like to purchase things if they can get it at a depressed price through a shell corporation. They really only like to splurge on aging athletes unfortunately.

[Zads07]

Here's a photo of parking in the area in reference to the above discussion.

[emu steve]

Olympia could easily buy the land at Montcalm/Fisher/Clifford, but they only like to purchase things if they can get it at a depressed price through a shell corporation. They really only like to splurge on aging athletes unfortunately.

Yes, looking at the map it would be 127 W. Fisher. I parked there last summer and once this summer. The part under discussion would be where the letters 'sher' are. That whole parking area '127 W. Fisher' is owned by two separate entities. [[hence no parking garage).

I have no idea. I actually talked with the guy [[said he was the owner) of the land that Olympia does not control there.

Didn't ask him any questions. He volunteered that he and Olympia swapped parcels so that Olympia parcels would be contiguous.

[[okay, one question): I think I said something like last year I parked here and it was owned by Olympia. He volunteered that they swapped some land.

[stinkytofu]

So who all has been in there?

Thought the Yelp reviews are interesting. People love the concourse and said it's a really nice facility, but basically everyone who has sat in the upper bowl has been very critical [[small seats, no leg room, and very steep). I'm hoping to check it out in next month or so - you can StubHub Pistons preseason tickets for like 10 bucks.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/little-caesars-arena-detroit

[Zads07]

I can only attest to the concourse and the gondola. First-class all the way. I've heard some mixed reviews about the upper bowl under the gondola with obstructed view of the scoreboard.

[emu steve]

I can only attest to the concourse and the gondola. First-class all the way. I've heard some mixed reviews about the upper bowl under the gondola with obstructed view of the scoreboard.

I wonder why they build arena today with upper bowl [[balcony seating).

I sat in the nose bleeds this past May for a NBA playoff game. Next time I'll sit home and watch on TV. Not my cup of tea.

Ditto for baseball. Who wants to sit say 400+ feet from home plate?

[Zads07]

I wonder why they build arena today with upper bowl [[balcony seating).

I sat in the nose bleeds this past May for a NBA playoff game. Next time I'll sit home and watch on TV. Not my cup of tea.

Ditto for baseball. Who wants to sit say 400+ feet from home plate?

Because it's the cheap seats [[supposedly) and those were the seats that the average fan could get into without spending an arm and a leg for a ticket. Besides, the atmosphere in the upper bowl is significantly better than the lower bowl at least in my experience.

[EGrant]

The gondola is something that sounds good in the press and makes for an attractive package for suite sales, but it really doesn't work in practice. It blocks the view of the scoreboard for a lot of the higher seats, but also creates a weird barrier for the lower seats. You just have this giant structure looming over you, almost like you are in a different room than the game. The rest of the arena is amazing, however.

[401don]

The gondola is something that sounds good in the press and makes for an attractive package for suite sales, but it really doesn't work in practice. It blocks the view of the scoreboard for a lot of the higher seats, but also creates a weird barrier for the lower seats. You just have this giant structure looming over you, almost like you are in a different room than the game. The rest of the arena is amazing, however.

Exactly what I thought when I first read about it. Although I don't think the Ilitches intended it, the gondola is a gimmick. The overhang at Tiger Stadium was cool if you were sitting in it but not if you were down below. You certainly wouldn't build a new ballpark with one.

[SetecX]

I compiled a wrap up video composed of all the drone video I shot during construction. An aerial time lapse from beginning to end. https://youtu.be/zMcyVaL51JU

[emu steve]

I compiled a wrap up video composed of all the drone video I shot during construction. An aerial time lapse from beginning to end. https://youtu.be/zMcyVaL51JU

Excellent. The night shots are particularly awesome. Both the arena and Detroit skyline.

[DetroitSoldier]

For those that have been to the arena for a game, how does the organ help or hurt the atmosphere? I know traditional hockey fans will love it. But one of the reasons it's use was scaled back in some other arenas was do to it hurting the energy levels in the arena. I'm an old school hockey guy so I love the idea of it, but only at certain times that does not slow the flow of energy in the building.

[emu steve]

The Beer Barrel Polka was high energy for the first game at LCA.

It is great for intermissions between periods.

[EGrant]

The organ was absolutely awesome, and I'm not an old hockey traditionalist. The video of the organist playing goes on the massive scoreboard with fans dancing in the background. The crowd loved it. Again, I'm not a big hockey guy, so this was probably my favorite part of the game haha.

Plus, I've heard they fired the old DJ, so the rest of the music is modern and upbeat. Bad news for fans of "My Own Worst Enemy" and "Cotton Eyed Joe" but for the rest of us living in this century, it is a massive improvement in the atmosphere.

[emu steve]

I actually have video of the organist doing the Beer Barrel Polka and young kids dancing near him.

Stoked it up on my PC and did the polka at home.

[emu steve]

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...gers-red-wings

This is the supposedly on again/off again talks for a facility near the new WSU school of business bldg.