More East of Downtown Residential Rising - 1200 Units - Shapero Hall Falling

[Lowell]

Remember the days when just one of these projects would have garnered a week's worth of excited discussion here?

• Developers share details of five projects in the area
• Total of more than 1,200 new residential units and retail planned
• Joe Muer restaurant and Friends School sites among those to be redeveloped

Full Crain's Detroit Business article here.

The biggest news among these projects, in terms of changes to the visual landscape and skyline, is the announcement of plans to demolish Shapero Hall, the former WSU Pharmacy Department of which owner Dennis Kefallinos had made a half-assed start on residential conversion.

Here is a backside picture I took in 2008 when Kefallinos was using it as a billboard for his Russell Industrial Center's Russell Bazaar. Shapero Hall is, to my taste, rather utilitarian in design and not of architectural significance. So I think few tears will be shed over its demise.



It appears the architects are riffing on the nearby Mies Vander Rohe styles for the new buildings.