Statler site construction to start this summer?

[hybridy]

Take one for the team Lowell. Run out and lay down in front of that front loader - or at least the porta-potties.

wow squeaking in for a summer start...tomorrow is the first day of fall

[EGrant]

A quick reminder of the innovative, game-changing architecture going up at this prime location.

[southen]

Barf. If they were smart they would add additional parking above grade to add height to the project as well as cash in on future shortages in parking once more surface lots disappear. I still can't believe they will be putting residents right up against the people mover.

[ParisianLesion]

Barf. If they were smart they would add additional parking above grade to add height to the project as well as cash in on future shortages in parking once more surface lots disappear. I still can't believe they will be putting residents right up against the people mover.

There are residents right next to the PM in several buildings. Try living in Chicago if you think the PM is loud. Not only is the El louder, it can be like strobe light going off in your room at night.

[313WX]

And so it begins with two porta-potties and a front loader. Shot from Sept. 20, 2017.

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[Lowell]

Day 2 the crane builders arrive. Unfortunately this may likely be my last day of this view. DetroitYES world headquarters is moving to TechTown.

[Lowell]

A quick reminder of the innovative, game-changing architecture going up at this prime location.

Apparently transportation changing too -- The People Mover has vanished but seemingly they left a stump of it in the foreground as a memorial.

[DetroitNightLights]

A quick reminder of the innovative, game-changing architecture going up at this prime location.

It looks much better than the original with the video screen. A nice crown like the one on the Whitney Building would make a big difference.

[SammyS]

Barf. If they were smart they would add additional parking above grade to add height to the project as well as cash in on future shortages in parking once more surface lots disappear. I still can't believe they will be putting residents right up against the people mover.

Developers should start considering the high likelihood of personal cars being redundant in the near future. Parking decks need to be convertible back into livable space or risk emptiness.

[DetroitNightLights]

Zads07, that you [[and I) would like it to be taller does not mean that it needs to be taller. I prefer brick pavers to asphalt or cement. That doesn't mean that Detroit needs all brick streets.

Grand Circus Park was not always surrounded by skyscrapers. The park opened in 1867. The Statler was built in 1915, 48 years later. Most of the other buildings surrounding the park were built after 1900. Grand Circus Park was a nice place to display a skyscraper, rather than a group of skyscrapers that featured a nice park.





I got these pictures from here: https://www.detroityes.com/mb/showth...k-in-its-prime

Grand Circus Park will look just fine with mid-rise buildings. Detroit should not be building skyscrapers it doesn't need just so it can feel like its part of some imaginary club of skyscraper cities. Every skyscraper that is currently proposed could have been spread out in much smaller urban buildings stretching out over many blocks.

[southen]

Some plots of land demand buildings of a certain scale. Yes, GCP started lined with homes but as technology progressed and population grew those grand boulevards and streets leading to the park lent themselves to taller and more substantial buildings. The Statler and Tuller took that into account and were at the perfect scale for their surroundings. The size of the block and scale of surrounding buildings demand something better than a sprawled out development that would be better suited in a surrounding neighborhood vs. downtown.

[DetroitNightLights]

I disagree. It looks like it was designed with iconic central buildings in mind. The scale of smaller buildings and church steeples looks even better than the boxy skyscrapers that later surrounded it. It'd be nice if we could fill in that area and the parking lots to the north with buildings like that.

I'd rather we build like Paris than New York. Those vanity skyscrapers there are ridiculous.

[Gistok]

Well mercifully that will never happen... the land is too valuable. Here's what East GCP at E. Adams and Witherell looked like.... no thank you!

[southen]

Who is asking for a vanity skyscraper? Something the size of the Statler qualifies as a vanity skyscraper to you?

[DetroitNightLights]

I'd rather see all those empty lots in Northwest downtown built on before we get new skyscrapers.

Are we building it because the market dictates a need for it, or are we building it because we think it would look better?

[southen]

Given the numbers for occupancy with apartment rentals the market dictates we need more units downtown. The problem is the city committed the land for nothing to a developer who is committed to doing the project cheaply. If an RFP was sent out now for this site you'd see vastly different proposals for this plot of land.

[DetroitNightLights]

Well mercifully that will never happen... the land is too valuable. Here's what East GCP at E. Adams and Witherell looked like.... no thank you!

If you cleaned up the streetscape, the scale and ornamentation on those buildings would be just fine.

Do you guys really feel the Madison, Adams Building [[facade) and Opera House look bad because they are not skyscrapers? The building proposed is tall enough to be above the tree line and have a commanding presence on the park.

[southen]

The Madison and Adams are sandwiched between or adjacent to taller buildings. If they were all that height it would be underwhelming given the other buildings fronting the park.

The Opera House frontage of the park is pretty disappointing to be honest. I understand the limitations given that they need a loading zone, but the blank facade adds very little to the area. I give it a pass because it is a cultural institution, not a cheaply made apartment building.

The fact that you think two story structures fronting the park would be just fine might be my cue to stop discussing this with you. It is the downtown of a major US city, there is nothing wrong with having higher expectations for certain parts of the city. We are past the point of having to settle for crap.

[DetroitNightLights]

The block North of East Adams looks great.

My point was to backup the previous poster who implied the obsession with height is a personal preference. The park seems to do fine as long as the street wall is maintained and the buildings "fit".

Skyscrapers are too hard to renovate, distort what area infrastructure exists, suck resources and tenants from smaller developments, and end up being intimidating to their surroundings. Skyscrapers are unnecessary in an area that is bordered by block upon block of vacant lots. We should be focusing on filling the holes, not building towers.

[southen]

Filling holes for the sake of filling holes is just as detrimental as building some 100 story behemoth on the park. Nobody is asking for some giant building, what many want is a modern replacement of the Statler, which would not be considered a skyscraper in most big cities.

[Gistok]

The Opera House frontage of the park is pretty disappointing to be honest. I understand the limitations given that they need a loading zone, but the blank facade adds very little to the area. I give it a pass because it is a cultural institution, not a cheaply made apartment building.

I agree that the Opera House "stage house" and loading dock are very bland. Those large gray panels are begging for some kind of decoration. A Pewabic tile mural [[like in some of the People Mover stations) would jazz it up quite a bit. But that area is a pedestrian dead zone... which could not be helped... due to the configuration of the 1922 built Capitol Theatre.

[313WX]

The Madison and Adams are sandwiched between or adjacent to taller buildings. If they were all that height it would be underwhelming given the other buildings fronting the park.

The Opera House frontage of the park is pretty disappointing to be honest. I understand the limitations given that they need a loading zone, but the blank facade adds very little to the area. I give it a pass because it is a cultural institution, not a cheaply made apartment building.

The fact that you think two story structures fronting the park would be just fine might be my cue to stop discussing this with you. It is the downtown of a major US city, there is nothing wrong with having higher expectations for certain parts of the city. We are past the point of having to settle for crap.

Spot on with all of your points.

[DetroitNightLights]

In no way is this building "settling", other than for a lack of ornamentation.

One Kennedy Square [[Ernst and Young) is about the same height, and that fits in just fine. The problem with One Kennedy is that it didn't connect well with the street. The new Statler site building seems to fix that with hanging gardens and open cafe space facing the park. As far as function and programing goes, it is pretty good. It also matches the architecture of some of the other surrounding buildings on Washington and Bagley.

[313WX]

One Kennedy Square [[Ernst and Young) is about the same height, and that fits in just fine.

The difference between that and the Statler site is, if you recall, One Kennedy Square replaced another low-rise building.

So it's not a good comparison.

[southen]

One Kennedy also allows for views from Campus Martius of two of Detroit's most celebrated structures, the Dime Building and Penobscot. I don't think too many people would be upset if something taller on the Statler site overshadowing Trolly Plaza.