David Stott being neglected. Flooding and frozen pipes. this is infuriating

[SpartanDawg]

UPDATE: Stott Building Flooded and Frozen. Jump to Latest Discussion >>

List of Stott Threads here.

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"Six months ago, a group of Chinese investors purchased the David Stott Building and the former Detroit Free Press building.

Now, the broker who sold the buildings at auction to Shanghai-based DDI Group and one of the main tenants in the Stott building are concerned that the investors won’t spend what's needed to maintain and lease them out, let alone renovate them.

DDI Group purchased the 210,000-square-foot David Stott Building on Griswold Street for $9.4 million and the 302,000-square-foot Free Press building on West Lafayette for $4.2 million in September.

Ryan Snoek, a real estate consultant who coordinated the sale on behalf of the seller, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Luke Investments LLC, said malfunctioning elevators recently hampered a busy Saturday night in February at the Skybar, which takes up a part of the first floor and the entire 33rd floor of the Stott building.

Guests were either forced to wait extended periods of time on the ground floor when only one of the two elevators was working, or trek down dozens of flights of stairs to get to the first floor when both elevators were out of order.
...
Snoek also said there have been basic maintenance issues such as a lack of snow removal at the former Free Press building.

Staff in the Detroit Buildings, Safety Engineering & Environmental Department and the Department of Public Works said Tuesday afternoon that no complaints have been filed concerning the former Free Press building.

The Stott building is 15 percent leased. The former Free Press building is vacant.

Full Article at Crains

god dammit... here we go again.. i don't understand why they would sink all that money and just... blah.. this shit is really annoying

[Honky Tonk]

How about a link to the story, Dawg?

[dmike76]

Yeah I was not happy when I read this article. How do other cities deal with this sort of problem?

[Hamtragedy]

Same thing happened to the Book Tower. Investors in the 90's power washed half of the exterior, stopped, listed the building for way more than they paid for it, watched the market crash, and now the building sits, empty. Speculation in Detroit has been a losing proposition for decades.

[SpartanDawg]

How about a link to the story, Dawg?

my bad ​http://t.co/3o3y26cAPH

[313WX]

How about a link to the story, Dawg?

I see what you did there...

[313WX]

Yeah I was not happy when I read this article. How do other cities deal with this sort of problem?

For starters, other cities have a functional enough government with enough resources to enforce the ordinances they have on the books.

Besides that, it's simply a matter of economics. If the market demanded that these properties be well maintained, then you best believe the investors would be doing just that.

Detroit still isn't at that point.

[swingline]

This is not good news. The auction purchases of the Stott and Free Press buildings by the DDI Group always seemed kind of sketchy. DDI admitted to little or no pre-auction due diligence and it paid very high [[for Detroit) prices for properties that require comprehensive renovation at a cost exceeding $50 million. This smacked of danger signs of speculation from a poorly informed foreign investor with too much cash.

Is DDI even keeping the Free Press building secure? If not, there is little hope they will follow through on redevelopment of either of these building.

[SpartanDawg]

This is not good news. The auction purchases of the Stott and Free Press buildings by the DDI Group always seemed kind of sketchy. DDI admitted to little or no pre-auction due diligence and it paid very high [[for Detroit) prices for properties that require comprehensive renovation at a cost exceeding $50 million. This smacked of danger signs of speculation from a poorly informed foreign investor with too much cash.

Is DDI even keeping the Free Press building secure? If not, there is little hope they will follow through on redevelopment of either of these building.

yeah i agree this is really really upsetting. Bedrock [[Gilbert and co.) got outbid last second by these guys on one of the properties [[I think the Free Press building) or even both?? But at the time I remember in an interview shortly thereafter Dan Gilbert said at first "we were shocked we lost the building, then we all celebrated and gave each other high fives" because it showed that there are other investors willing to dump millions into the renovation of the city

and at the time i know i was also ecstatic someone other than bedrock would have a stake downtown.... but looking back.. man i wish Gilbert really did get them.. he would already have renovation started on these suckers..

goes to show.. don't complain about what we do have in gilbert.. people can say all they want he's making a monopoly.. but he is backing up his claims and has saved 40 historic buildings from dilapidation.

[Spartan]

hm...

http://www.freep.com/article/2014031...tt-Clark-Lofts

[swingline]

Hmmm. DDI is at least spending on PR/communications. http://www.freep.com/article/2014031...tt-Clark-Lofts That is a start. Hope the group follows through. Free Press and Stott renovations would be as big as the Kales/Broderick/Whitney rehabs.

[swingline]

You beat me to the article Spartan.

[mwilbert]

Same thing happened to the Book Tower. Investors in the 90's power washed half of the exterior, stopped, listed the building for way more than they paid for it, watched the market crash, and now the building sits, empty. Speculation in Detroit has been a losing proposition for decades.

This isn't quite right for the Book Tower. John Lambrecht bought it in the late 80's, committed suicide, his wife tried to sell it at what appears to have been a loss in the early 90's. The deal fell through, she continued to operate the building until she sold it in 2006, prior to the crash. I don't know if she tried to sell it for more between those two deals, but the people she sold it to in 2006 promptly went under.

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

I'm cautiously optimistic because the spokesman says they "don't hold buildings." I certainly hope that's the case.

I've never been in the Stott - nice lobby though in this Curbed article

http://detroit.curbed.com/archives/2...owner.php#more

[nain rouge]

Let's face it, these monolithic office buildings are tough to maintain long-term unless you're in a REALLY healthy economic area. I still think it's a shame Detroit lost so many of its old 2-4 story buildings in and around downtown in the name of progress. At one time, just about every major ethnic group in Detroit [[as well as African-Americans) had a business district similar to Greektown, usually surrounded by single-family homes and duplexes on small lots.

But instead, we replaced those areas with giant buildings that have maybe 2 or 3 storefronts, if we're lucky. And even if the first couple floors are open to the public [[which is rare), the businesses are usually lackluster and have no character. I wonder why?

Presently, downtown Detroit has such a shoddy, modernist design I really have a hard time conceptualizing how it can ever be that great of an urban area unless there's tons of new construction. If all it took was big, pretty buildings, Southfield and Troy would be urban meccas by now. There's more to it, and the city hasn't had a clue in over 80 years. Mixed use is only attempted out of desperation.

What's left of the Cass Corridor is way more urban than anything downtown, which is just one big set piece.

[SpartanDawg]

This is absolutely horrible. This is a key skyscraper in the Capitol Park district, and is absolutely gorgeous. When DDI bought it so many people [[myself included) were praising a Chinese investment group for diversifying the ownership of buildings downtown. If you recall, Gilbert was beat out by DDI LAST SECOND in the online bidding for this. Imagine if gilbert was able to take control of the building. I guarantee there would already be progress and new tenants already moved into the building.

http://detroit.curbed.com/archives/2...t-building.php


Every time the city takes a few steps forward something like this sets it back. I wish the city would seize the building from these jackasses because they clearly don't care for the building and are just another slum landlord trying to capitalize and make a quick buck. The thing is when they did purchase the building it actually was not in bad condition at all! sky bar just opened their top floor and there was a new office tenant that had just moved in.

Now sky bar was FORCED to close their top floor because DDI REFUSED to maintain the elevators and keep them safe for daily use. and now the pipes are bursting and the building is flooding. Rant over.. but this is really grinding my gears

[swingline]

Resurrecting an old thread for this: http://detroit.curbed.com/archives/2...lding.php#more

Anybody surprised?

[dtowncitylover]

Two steps forward, one step back.

Severe repercussions need to be implemented on this company.

[Mind field]

Fine the hell out of this company. This is not acceptable. DDI needs to do something with the Stott renovate it or sell it!

[stasu1213]

I had thought that DDI had paid some elected official off to get the building

I had houy

[Khorasaurus]

This is absolutely brutal. Almost everything else in the surrounding area is being rehabbed. And yet DDI has taken an occupied building [[granted with a ton of vacant space, but still occupied) and now it will almost certainly go dark because of their neglect.

Is there any doubt Gilbert would have had this building rehabbed and tenants moving in by now had he bought it?

[Danny]

Please Dan Gilbert, buy the David Stott Building from those slumlords!

[Danny]

The DDI Chinese Investors [[who own the Free Press and David Stott Buildings) are worst group of so-called commie business men. What do they know about investing American properties? They are way over their socialist commitment. They are just exploiting Gilberttown Detroit buildings waiting for someone to buy it and clean up their mess. The DDI are must worse than Dennis Kelifinos and his properties that he will not fix!

[hortonz]

Over the weekend, a water main broke at the condominium at 540 Ouellette in Windsor. Over two feet of water flooded the lobby and the residents were forced to find new accommodations for an extended period of time. The flood also caused major damage to the Manchester pub next door, which was forced to close for several weeks while the damage was repaired. Why are landlords in DT Detroit and Windsor so damn negligent?

[Mackinaw]

FWIW, a water pipe burst this weekend at my fairly new-construction NYC apartment, and it would have flooded by apt if not for quick NYFD response. I only blame my landlord insofar as they chose horrible contractors to build the place, apparently forgetting such basic things as...insulation.

Anyway, it was a huge mess, and I'm sure the Stott got it even worse.

On the other hand, these things happen, the question is more about what do the owners do next.

I am on board with the notion that these Chinese owners SUCK and I do not count on them to do the right thing or to investigate and prevent future incidents. Also, it may well be that this occured due to them consciously lowering the temperature on the affected floor, in which case their culpability goes up. Yet I'll hold out like 1% hope that this headline gets their attention and they dig into their deep pockets to throw a bunch of money into the Stott's upkeep and renovation soon.