Taller Buildings - When and where will we see them?

[Khorasaurus]

There's some disappointment that Gilbert's development on the Hudson's site probably won't be much taller than the surrounding buildings. Rather than hijack that thread, I thought I'd start a new one with my thoughts on new skyline-changing buildings.

We're in such a weird position with regard to height right now. The market has turned around to the point where there's a lot of momentum to fill our most prominent vacant lots. But the proposals for the Statler and Hudson's sites don't have much height to them. The Monroe Block tower that was cancelled had some height, but was not skyline-redefining. My guess is that something will get built there by the end of the decade, but again will only be 15-20 stories at the most.

If Statler City and Ilitch's proposed Adams-Madison wedge building get built, that leaves only the Tuller site and the Fine Arts facade as vacant spots on Grand Circus. My guess is that both get filled as part of the "late 2010s mid-rise boom." Likely no major height on either one.

If Brush Park, Cass Park, and West Foxtown participate in the turnaround [[through Ilitch or whoever), they will probably all be low-rise townhomes and small apartments.

Meanwhile, almost all the vacant lots fronting Woodward all the way up to New Center are going to be filled soon, with the Arena, that big Brush Park development, maybe the Queen Lillian building if that really happens, etc. But again nothing with much height.

If current trends continue and Greater Downtown continues to be a popular place to live and work, and we renovate our remaining major vacant structures [[Book, Metropolitan, Wurlitzer, Detroit Life, UA, Freep, Park Avenue and, sigh, the Stott), at that point there will be demand for more height. It's a little ways off, but I think we will get there eventually [[10ish years probably).

But where will the height go? There will be no space on Woodward or on Campus Martius and there is unlikely to be any space on Grand Circus. My thoughts:

1) The Joe Louis Arena site. It's riverfront, and they will need to build up a little bit so residents or hotel guests or whatever aren't looking at a freeway or the Cobo loading docks.

2) Larned and Shelby. Squeeze another tall building in the Financial District.

3) North side of Lafayette between Washington and Cass. This building will have a lot of pressure on it architecturally because it will serve as a visual terminus of Washington Blvd.

4) The Bagley/Grand River area. Lots of parking lots there now. If Rosa Parks Transit Center becomes the terminus of several regional BRT lines, this will suddenly be a popular place for office space. There could be some really cool buildings here with all the oddly shaped lots.

5) Midtown. The "height" here may only be 10-15 stories, but eventually the housing crunch is going to result in some taller apartment buildings. My guess is mainly in the area bounded by John R/Warren/Alexandrine-ish/Third.

6) New Center. IF [[and it's still a big if) all the planned transit investments come to fruition, and New Center becomes the meeting point of Woodward BRT, MiTrain, Amtrak, and M-1 Rail [[plus several other bus routes), that will be a major economic driver, and likely result in some tall-ish office buildings. The lot beteween the Argonaut Building and Woodward seems especially ripe for something. Hopefully nothing that obscures the Fisher.

Thoughts? I don't want this thread to turn into another debate about whether current trends will continue. Just kind of asking - since we're not getting height on the Hudson's site, where will we see it? And when should we realistically expect it?