Hudson's Site Building Thread

**Lowell** · January-16-20, 10:42 AM

Absolutely fascinating 48307! Thanks.

**Scottathew** · January-16-20, 11:37 AM

Originally Posted by Lowell

Absolutely fascinating 48307! Thanks.

I actually got to meet the gentlemen that run the Youtube channel with the time lapse videos. They wrote code that automates the process. I put in a feature request of a time-stamp on the frames

**Warrenite84** · January-16-20, 12:11 PM

Tell him thanks for keeping us updated on the construction activity. [[It's been a learning process for me...)

I had hoped Bedrock would have kept us updated on the construction process like Parsons Brinckerhoff did with the streetcar construction...

**EGrant** · January-23-20, 07:46 AM

More concrete columns in place on the block portion of the site.

There can not be very many caissons left to drill at this point.

**mikeg19** · January-23-20, 10:18 AM

Actually, I believe they are going to drill them until every square inch of the site is combined to be one large caisson. Or so I've been told by insiders who claim this construction project is just a big ruse.....

**401don** · January-23-20, 10:39 AM

Originally Posted by mikeg19

Actually, I believe they are going to drill them until every square inch of the site is combined to be one large caisson. Or so I've been told by insiders who claim this construction project is just a big ruse.....

I don't know about the ruse but I have to agree this thread is pretty funny.

**bust** · January-23-20, 10:51 AM

They're burying deep secrets, encapsulated in concrete.
The steel impedes detection.
No one checks what enters the pit.
When they're done "construction" will stop.

**Seven&wyo** · January-23-20, 11:25 AM

They're obviously reburying Hoffa. Duh

**Gistok** · January-23-20, 03:22 PM

I thought I read somewhere 18 caissons for the tower, and 150 for the rectangular block.... so yeah... literally "one big caisson".

**mikeg19** · January-24-20, 02:28 PM

Originally Posted by Gistok

I thought I read somewhere 18 caissons for the tower, and 150 for the rectangular block.... so yeah... literally "one big caisson".

I'm not an engineer by any means, but the 150 number of caissons I was wondering about. I'm assuming there are many different sizes of them. Is it more cost effective to drill larger/less caissons for a project or is this solely determined by the load they will be supporting and they are distributed by some sort of formula? Just kind of curious why 150 is needed for the block footprint but only 18 for the tower. I understand the footprints are differing sizes but it seems like a ton of them. Any insight into that?

**bigboat** · January-29-20, 06:58 AM

Anybody hear what the final design and plan is for the tower portion of this development? It would be nice to know something and I really hope the final design is not a complete let down and the announcement is coming soon that the tower will be taller than originally [[912') proposed.

**Scottathew** · January-29-20, 08:02 AM

A lot of concrete columns now rise from the bottom of the pit. None of them are higher than street level yet.

Two crane bases are being secured to the earth. One just had concrete poured yesterday. The other which already had some concrete poured has another plywood box around it which will help form a cube of concrete around the base.

The drilling has continued and giant rebar cylinders are still being assembled to go in the holes.

Naysayers and "dirt moving" conspiracy theorists seem to be misplacing their keyboards of late

A busy site with lots of progress.

Milestones I'm looking for:
- Caisson drilling complete - the foul odor is no more
- Two giant cranes become prominent but temporary features of the Detroit skyline
- The giant dirt ramp is removed
- Support structures for the building rise above street level

**Lowell** · January-29-20, 11:02 AM

All this has been an amazing display of how far down builders must go before they can go up. Maybe we should run a pool on when the first part of the building nudges above street level.

**DetroitSoldier** · January-29-20, 03:49 PM

Hot off the press:

https://www.freep.com/story/money/bu...it/4609552002/

**Dmberko11** · January-29-20, 04:21 PM

Originally Posted by DetroitSoldier

Hot off the press:

https://www.freep.com/story/money/bu...it/4609552002/

Sweet! Saw that they poured the foundation for the 2nd crane yesterday. This is about to get interesting.

**ILKSGAMI** · January-29-20, 05:07 PM

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/real-e...s-bedrock-says

Well this is sad. Very curious to see what the final height actually will be. And what an emotional rollercoaster on this one..

**stinkytofu** · January-29-20, 05:28 PM

Originally Posted by ILKSGAMI

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/real-e...s-bedrock-says

Well this is sad. Very curious to see what the final height actually will be. And what an emotional rollercoaster on this one..

Fine by me. It'd look ridiculous if it was twice as tall as anything near it - I never wanted it that tall. It can be 500-600 feet for all I care.

I just want to see it go vertical...

**Gistok** · January-29-20, 05:51 PM

Originally Posted by stinkytofu

Fine by me. It'd look ridiculous if it was twice as tall as anything near it - I never wanted it that tall. It can be 500-600 feet for all I care.

I just want to see it go vertical...

Really? I suppose you feel the same about the Broderick Tower...

**JK313** · January-29-20, 05:45 PM

Still no news on when construction will start on the Monroe block. Just that the design process has been pushed back and won’t finish until middle of the year.

**313WX** · January-29-20, 05:56 PM

Gotta give credit to Gilbert. That was a hell of a bait and switch for a sweet incentive packages for both the Monroe Block and this site.

**Jason** · January-29-20, 06:12 PM

Originally Posted by 313WX

Gotta give credit to Gilbert. That was a hell of a bait and switch for a sweet incentive packages for both the Monroe Block and this site.

What was the bait and switch?

The height of this sounds like it's going to be close to the originally announced height. The One Campus Martius extension is almost done, Book Tower is still moving along.

The only project from the incentives package that isn't happening yet is the Monroe Block, but considering the scale of everything else I'm not personally surprised. But based on the way downtown's office market is, a major new office building is going to have to be built one way or another.

Aside from that, the incentives are based on state tax rebates for construction materials, labor, and employees at the future buildings, so if the buildings don't happen the incentives don't either.

**313WX** · January-29-20, 06:52 PM

Originally Posted by Jason

The height of this sounds like it's going to be close to the originally announced height.

And how do you know this for a fact?

**Jason** · January-29-20, 08:13 PM

Originally Posted by 313WX

And how do you know this for a fact?

My recollection is that the early rumor mill/leaks had it being shorter than the Ren Cen. Then the first announced height was 734 feet, and the Ren Cen is 728 feet. There's a diagram in a recent community benefits update which shows it being about 670 feet, and this announcement seems to reinforce that.

I guess I should clarify that when I say about the same height I mean that it's not going to be 912 feet, and not going to be 400 feet, but rather in the general range it was expected to be initially.

**stinkytofu** · January-29-20, 07:35 PM

Originally Posted by 313WX

Gotta give credit to Gilbert. That was a hell of a bait and switch for a sweet incentive packages for both the Monroe Block and this site.

I don't think it was a bait and switch. I think there was a lot of confidence - perhaps hubris - that'd they get tenants lined up [[as well as for Hudson site) that just hasn't happened despite a massive effort. It's a major bummer - for sure - but don't think it was a "dirty move".

**Metro25** · January-29-20, 11:09 PM

Originally Posted by stinkytofu

I don't think it was a bait and switch. I think there was a lot of confidence - perhaps hubris - that'd they get tenants lined up [[as well as for Hudson site) that just hasn't happened despite a massive effort. It's a major bummer - for sure - but don't think it was a "dirty move".

I don't think it's a bate and switch either, I don't think any logical person would.

Height reductions are never a celebration but this is still a huge and impressive project. I heard people saying that the UofM campus is now taking higher priority over Monroe Block, does anybody have a source for this?