Possible New Life for Michigan Central Station? Ford Motor Co. a Buyer? YES!

**Lowell** · May-13-19, 09:05 AM

Restoration of Michigan Central proceeds! At the end of March I accompanied friend and BBC reporter Jonathan Marcus and photographer Ryan Southen for an inside tour.

Jonathan is producing a major work on the project for BBC's website and radio which is scheduled to appear next month. Until then here is a sneak preview I took of the west wing of the lobby.

**hybridy** · May-13-19, 09:22 AM

Originally Posted by Lowell

Restoration of Michigan Central proceeds! At the end of March I accompanied friend and BBC reporter Jonathan Marcus and photographer Ryan Southen for an inside tour.

Jonathan is producing a major work on the project for BBC's website and radio which is scheduled to appear next month. Until then here is a sneak preview I took of the west wing of the lobby.

Paging Southen. Perhaps Ryan would be willing to share some preview photos here. I know he's an active poster.

**Lowell** · May-13-19, 10:01 AM

Originally Posted by hybridy

Paging Southen. Perhaps Ryan would be willing to share some preview photos here. I know he's an active poster.

This teaser I shot from my iPhone. Since Ryan was working for BBC I'm guessing he may wait on their publication where you will see his work in full glory.

**Richard** · May-13-19, 10:25 AM

What was that favorite saying in the past? Something like ..tear that shi* down?

Looking great !

**southen** · May-13-19, 01:24 PM

There are some posted on my instagram @rsouthen. I don't know how many more I will post before publication but given the amount of tours given I didn't think it would be too big a deal to post a few for my small Detroit audience.

**Worldsgreatest** · May-13-19, 02:20 PM

thank god it was sealed up before this massive amount rain happened.

**Gistok** · May-13-19, 03:39 PM

Thanks for the info Lowell, and looking forward to see your work Ryan!!

Lowell, I remember a few years back some photographer from the National Geographic Magazine came by to take photos of the former Michigan Theatre for use in an article about Detroit. But I never saw or heard anymore about it. Our late friend and Michigan Building owner Tony Pieroni sent me this really awesome image that the photographer took. I assume it was time lapse photography, because it shows the ceiling lit up in hues of color that we never get to see in the twilight of the unlit ceiling space. This is a wonderful image [[sorry to theadjack).

Lowell, you can add this image to your online images if you wish, and just mention it as a National Geographic image [[if that is permissible).

**southen** · June-24-20, 03:49 PM

Found on Inform's website: https://www.in-formstudio.com/cpa-mixed-use/

Not sure how real this proposal is but it looks like quite a bit went into it. I think Ford's investment will lead to more thinking and concepts like this. Would be a nice use of the CPA building and accompanying lots.

**NSortzi** · June-24-20, 09:04 PM

Originally Posted by southen

Found on Inform's website: https://www.in-formstudio.com/cpa-mixed-use/

Not sure how real this proposal is but it looks like quite a bit went into it. I think Ford's investment will lead to more thinking and concepts like this. Would be a nice use of the CPA building and accompanying lots.

It says it's conceptual so I wouldn't hold out too much hope. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a renovation in the planning stages for the CPA Building and those adjacent lots, though.

Here's a photo I took of MCS last week:

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**pocketchange** · June-25-20, 10:14 AM

Be interesting how this continues. Ford is willing to let 30,000 of their employees work from home until 2021. I am thinking they aren't as concerned anymore about office space long term.

**Lowell** · June-25-20, 11:26 AM

Originally Posted by southen

Found on Inform's website: https://www.in-formstudio.com/cpa-mixed-use/

Not sure how real this proposal is but it looks like quite a bit went into it. I think Ford's investment will lead to more thinking and concepts like this. Would be a nice use of the CPA building and accompanying lots.

Nice find! It would be terrific if it happened. I always loved the CPA. I hate to bring up the P-word, but 400 parking spaces seems mighty thin for that many offices and residence, not to mention patrons.

**Atticus** · June-25-20, 11:31 AM

Originally Posted by pocketchange

Be interesting how this continues. Ford is willing to let 30,000 of their employees work from home until 2021. I am thinking they aren't as concerned anymore about office space long term.

It will be interesting what the future holds. That being said, I don’t think 100% work from home is going to continue long term in many situations.

About 8 years ago, a company my spouse worked for let everyone [[that could) work from home. They found that for the first year or so it worked fine, and that productivity was about the same as being in the office. However, over time productivity began to slide as new employees entered the workplace, and as existing employees took on new roles and positions. Basically, the in-office experience was needed to build that trust and relationship needed to effectively do the work long term, especially for new team members. And as team members changed, you needed to rebuild the team with more in-person interactions.

As such, that work space shifted back to an in-office environment, with the flexibility to work from home half of the week. Everyone still has laptops and can still do their job remotely, which is great for snow/ice days and for parents who need to stay home with sick kids. But they still want to have my spouse come in and interact with the rest of the team.

I suspect that will be the case for a lot of other office environments as well, once the Covid situation passes.

**JonWylie** · June-25-20, 11:45 AM

Originally Posted by Atticus

It will be interesting what the future holds. That being said, I don’t think 100% work from home is going to continue long term in many situations.

About 8 years ago, a company my spouse worked for let everyone [[that could) work from home. They found that for the first year or so it worked fine, and that productivity was about the same as being in the office. However, over time productivity began to slide as new employees entered the workplace, and as existing employees took on new roles and positions. Basically, the in-office experience was needed to build that trust and relationship needed to effectively do the work long term, especially for new team members. And as team members changed, you needed to rebuild the team with more in-person interactions.

As such, that work space shifted back to an in-office environment, with the flexibility to work from home half of the week. Everyone still has laptops and can still do their job remotely, which is great for snow/ice days and for parents who need to stay home with sick kids. But they still want to have my spouse come in and interact with the rest of the team.

I suspect that will be the case for a lot of other office environments as well, once the Covid situation passes.

This is pretty much a spot on analysis. Work from home is a nice feature, but isn't going to be replacing office buildings for the majority of companies because it isn't as efficient. Another thing I've heard that in-office working helps with is management of workload. Essentially, in an office setting, when people interact face to face, they are much less likely to pile work on someone they have to see everyday, but when it's remote, the emails pile up and it's hard to see who is drowning in work and is being overworked.

**SpartanDawg** · June-25-20, 07:35 PM

Michigan Central Station getting new branding and logo, revealed today by Ford executives:

Michigan Central branding from Ford. Exec explanation: It "harkens to some of the great transportation networks if you go to some of the cities and you go on a train, this is sort of the symbol you might see. You can also see the arches of the station reflected in the M, here

**Jimaz** · June-25-20, 07:47 PM

Originally Posted by SpartanDawg

...You can also see the arches of the station reflected in the M....

That's brilliant. I recognized that even before I read the quote, which of course is the goal of good logo design. [[the language within the language)

**DetroiterOnTheWestCoast** · June-26-20, 12:03 PM

I’d say that’s an excellent logo. The simplicity is spot on.

**MSUguy** · June-29-20, 06:15 PM

Ford recently took over to Michigan Central Station Preservation Society page as their official site. They did an update a few days ago. One big change is they will not use the Rosa Parks site for one of their buildings. Instead it'll go on the big lot of land at 17th and Venor to create more density around the station.

https://www.facebook.com/18806034870...7833294013705/

**Satiricalivory** · June-29-20, 07:09 PM

I'm watching it now, thanks for posting.

**Zads07** · November-17-20, 08:01 PM

We have renderings!

https://media.ford.com/content/fordm...rX2bShdv6lEbnU

Lots of photos, I'll attach them all in batches.

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**Satiricalivory** · November-17-20, 09:42 PM

The book depository looks gorgeous, that's going to be the best place to work in America.

**mikeg19** · November-18-20, 08:31 AM

Originally Posted by Satiricalivory

The book depository looks gorgeous, that's going to be the best place to work in America.

If the coffee isn't free, I don't give a damn about floor to ceiling windows.

**angry_fred** · November-18-20, 09:35 AM

Originally Posted by mikeg19

If the coffee isn't free, I don't give a damn about floor to ceiling windows.

Ford has had free coffee since 2018

**southen** · November-18-20, 12:17 PM

This is a nice update. It looks like they are still waiting a final design for the office building west of the station from Snoetta and it looks like they havent fully fleshed out what they will be doing with Roosevelt Park and all of the green space. Just based on the "grass" areas in the rendering there will be plenty of room to grow with office space or to put some more residential in the area. I wouldn't mind a few 10-15 story residential buildings surrounding the park to add density and more foot traffic.

**DetroitSoldier** · November-18-20, 12:30 PM

I feel like the Roosevelt Park space should be left green and undeveloped. There will be tremendous opportunities for cultural events to take advantage of this area. I feel like this is an area that everyone will want to take advantage of. Imagine the train station as a backdrop with a stage in front, food and drinks being sold from trucks on the streets and people listening to music or watching a movie from blankets and lawn chairs on the grass itself.

**ndavies** · November-18-20, 12:48 PM

Roosevelt park is staying a park. The city has large plans for Roosevelt park and the surrounding area. Including removing the road down the center of it and completely rebuilding the intersection at Michigan and Rosa Park. Rosa Park will also become 2 way north of I-75.

You need to look at the cities soon to be finalized greater Corktown framework. There are plans for over 700 housing units in Corktown and North Corktown.

https://detroitmi.gov/departments/pl...eater-corktown