Chemical Bank [Now TCF Bank] to move their headquarters to Detroit

[DetroitSoldier]

Demolition of the old building is nearly complete.


Edit: i have no idea why the photo is sideways. Sorry!

[Gistok]

Thanks for the image... that is coming down....

Reason for the sideways photo: You originally took the image sideways with your mobile device. So a lot of online software will rotate it again to the way it was as originally taken. For these type of images, I find that you have to rotate it the way you want it... go to MS Paint [[or other image modification software) and make a minor [[dot) change to the image, and then save it. It will then keep it orientated that way so the image will never show as being sideways again.

There may be other fast ways to correct this problem, but this way only takes seconds.

[Scottathew]

For DetroitYes I find that if I do any modifications in MSPaint it will display the right way. I usually cut my photo resolutions in half and do some cropping before I post so I avoid the sideways image issue.

[JK313]

https://www.neumannsmith.com/project/tcf-tower/

Some additional renderings and info I found

[Jimaz]

... Edit: i have no idea why the photo is sideways....

Irfanview is another good image editor. It's free for non-commercial use and designed to be simple but powerful. It can rotate images and likely anything else you'd ever want to do.

[NSortzi]

Drove by a few hours ago and the Michigan Mutual Liability Annex is gone.

[Dmberko11]

Drove by a few hours ago and the Michigan Mutual Liability Annex is gone.

Thank heavens! 😅😅 what an eyesore

[Jason]

Easily the worst bank HQ ever built downtown. I can't believe they're treating it as some kind of prestige project.

I wouldn't care so much if it wasn't so prominent. It's twice as tall as the surrounding buildings. It's also taller than the David Whitney Building and only 50 feet shorter than Broderick Tower, so this building will be replacing those two in any prominent views.

Also the garage is 10 floors tall and it only holds 320 cars. So 32 cars per floor. Even from aerials you can tell that the site isn't wide enough for a proper garage. So not only is the garage dragging down the project as a whole the garage itself is an awful garage.

[Metro25]

https://www.neumannsmith.com/project/tcf-tower/

Some additional renderings and info I found

Love the look of this one. Can't wait to see it go forward.

[stasu1213]

Let’s hope that this project doesn’t fall the same way as Alamo, Restoration Hardware, Meijer on Jefferson, and Planet Fiitness near the riverfront

[Detroitdave]

at this point I'd rather have 10 floors of parking that 10 surface lots !
I can't take a tall building on Woodward. The parking won't stick out too much.
At least TCF thought better than adding to the sea of parking lots already behind their building .

Easily the worst bank HQ ever built downtown. I can't believe they're treating it as some kind of prestige project.

I wouldn't care so much if it wasn't so prominent. It's twice as tall as the surrounding buildings. It's also taller than the David Whitney Building and only 50 feet shorter than Broderick Tower, so this building will be replacing those two in any prominent views.

Also the garage is 10 floors tall and it only holds 320 cars. So 32 cars per floor. Even from aerials you can tell that the site isn't wide enough for a proper garage. So not only is the garage dragging down the project as a whole the garage itself is an awful garage.

[NSortzi]

Also the garage is 10 floors tall and it only holds 320 cars. So 32 cars per floor. Even from aerials you can tell that the site isn't wide enough for a proper garage. So not only is the garage dragging down the project as a whole the garage itself is an awful garage.

The Michigan Mutual annex building had parking on the first four floors on half the site that the TCF Tower so yes, this site is doable for a “proper garage”, whatever that is. Is the Lofts at Merchants Row Garage not a “proper garage”? It’s on a much smaller site.

And TCF looks much better than Michigan Mutual and the surface parking lot on the site now. Even if you don’t love the design, there’s no denying that.

It also definitely won’t overpower the Broderick and Whitney buildings when entering downtown because they stand past Grand Circus Park which makes them appear more prominent while TCF will be crammed between Fyfe and Palms.

[JDKeepsmiling]

E
I wouldn't care so much if it wasn't so prominent. It's twice as tall as the surrounding buildings. It's also taller than the David Whitney Building and only 50 feet shorter than Broderick Tower, so this building will be replacing those two in any prominent views.

Ah yes, we really have jumped the shark when it comes to expectations in the city when we complain about another 21 story building in our skyline. I was around this forum when we were happy someone was at least boarding up a skyscraper, and not leaving it to the elements. 300 employees, no surface parking and ground floor retail.... they can build these everywhere as far as I am concerned.

[Atticus]

Ah yes, we really have jumped the shark when it comes to expectations in the city when we complain about another 21 story building in our skyline. I was around this forum when we were happy someone was at least boarding up a skyscraper, and not leaving it to the elements. 300 employees, no surface parking and ground floor retail.... they can build these everywhere as far as I am concerned.

Amen.

Fingers crossed this one doesn’t encounter the same delays other projects have seen in getting off the ground as of late. With the need to have a consolidated HQ building soon, I am optimistic that it forces the construction to happen sooner rather than later.

Also hopeful TCF as a whole is able to grow more [[i.e. more corporate acquisitions), as long of course as the HQ remains here. Hopefully that brings more jobs to the CBD, and with it obviously more residents to fill the growing number of apartments and condos opening up in the greater CBD.

[casscorridor]

Easily the worst bank HQ ever built downtown. I can't believe they're treating it as some kind of prestige project.

I wouldn't care so much if it wasn't so prominent. It's twice as tall as the surrounding buildings. It's also taller than the David Whitney Building and only 50 feet shorter than Broderick Tower, so this building will be replacing those two in any prominent views.

Also the garage is 10 floors tall and it only holds 320 cars. So 32 cars per floor. Even from aerials you can tell that the site isn't wide enough for a proper garage. So not only is the garage dragging down the project as a whole the garage itself is an awful garage.

I couldn't agree more. The building should have been the same height as the buildings next door, and placed the garage in the back. But no they need a phallic symbol for whatever egotistical CEO is in charge.

[DetroitSoldier]

I couldn't agree more. The building should have been the same height as the buildings next door, and placed the garage in the back. But no they need a phallic symbol for whatever egotistical CEO is in charge.

Seriously? Scale is important, but it's not like this is totally out of place. We have a dozen of 20+ story buildings located adjacent to 10-ish story or shorter buildings with no complaints. Plus, location is everything. This building will have both a Woodward frontage, a never before seen curb appeal on Elizabeth, and killer South views from the top floors.

It's not like this is a 700 footer next to a 50 foot building. Are you complaining about the proposed 700 foot Hudson site tower adjacent to the 50 foot Skillman Library? Sure we can complain about all the parking being above grade instead of below, but our demand vs cost is not there yet.

I don't want Detroit to settle for just any development. We are beyond that 2005 way of thinking. However, complaining about a quality development in a part of downtown that really needs it, because the building is 150 feet taller than it's neighbor...GTFO!

[SammyS]

^^^
Agree. Wonder if the architects had the foresight to have the parking portion convertible to office space at a later time.
On that note, I think all future parking structures should keep this in mind especially if a complete demolition is not feasible.

[Gistok]

While not a big fan of the TCF Bank architecture... at least the parking structure portion will be hidden in great part [[looking up and down Woodward) by the neighboring Fyfe Building to the south, and the Francis Palms Building [[Fillmore Theatre) to the north.

The view looking up lower Woodward might even be enhanced by the TCF Bank's 20 stories, with the Fyfe Building hiding the parking...

[DetroitSoldier]

Don't forget there is a short 2 story building that houses Brass Rail Pizza Bar and The Annex on Adams. Surely having a building of measurable height behind it will add to visual appeal from the park...that is assuming that TCF Tower won't have an ugly south facing like the Little Caesars building. Their south facade is just aluminum panels with random windows.

[Gistok]

Don't forget there is a short 2 story building that houses Brass Rail Pizza Bar and The Annex on Adams. Surely having a building of measurable height behind it will add to visual appeal from the park...that is assuming that TCF Tower won't have an ugly south facing like the Little Caesars building. Their south facade is just aluminum panels with random windows.

I was looking for an architectural rendering of that view [[saw it somewhere)... but can't find it to repost. From what I remember, it didn't look as bad as I thought it might, and actually added interest to the "north wall" of GCP West. Too bad we can't say the same for the Statler and mostly empty UA/Tuller blocks.

[JK313]

https://detroitmi.gov/sites/detroitm...f%20Report.pdf

There’s some renderings in here that give an idea of what the south side of the building will look like

[DetroitSoldier]

I was looking for an architectural rendering of that view [[saw it somewhere)... but can't find it to repost. From what I remember, it didn't look as bad as I thought it might, and actually added interest to the "north wall" of GCP West. Too bad we can't say the same for the Statler and mostly empty UA/Tuller blocks.

Gistok, that is exactly where my mind was on this too. The visual appeal of urban density is based on layers of buildings of different colors and materials. The tan stone and black glass of 18-24 Adams and the gothic revival detail of the Fyfe Building could play really well off a well designed glass backdrop.

Due to our massive gaps in building density, it is hard to find these layered views in Detroit, but when things line up it is a really beautiful thing. This can be more than just infill, it can be enhancement if done right.

[Jason]

The Michigan Mutual annex building had parking on the first four floors on half the site that the TCF Tower so yes, this site is doable for a “proper garage”, whatever that is. Is the Lofts at Merchants Row Garage not a “proper garage”? It’s on a much smaller site.

And TCF looks much better than Michigan Mutual and the surface parking lot on the site now. Even if you don’t love the design, there’s no denying that.

It also definitely won’t overpower the Broderick and Whitney buildings when entering downtown because they stand past Grand Circus Park which makes them appear more prominent while TCF will be crammed between Fyfe and Palms.

The problem with the site is it's too narrow to fit both the ramps and the parking spaces. Usually with a garage you have at least two aisles, which spiral upwards, and the aisles have parking spaces on each side. This site is too narrow, so there's only enough space for parking spaces on one side of the aisle.

The Merchants Row garage uses an elevator so they're able to fit [[based on aerials) 18 spots per floor, even though each floor is only 5,500 square feet. This site is 19,000 square feet and only has 32 spots per floor.

The 1001 Woodward garage is 11 floors of parking and is the same size but just slightly wider [[they even cheated out some extra depth by overhanging the alley) but it's just wide enough to fit two double loaded aisles, and it has over 700 parking spaces.

This site is too narrow for a parking garage and as a result the garage they're trying to put there is ridiculously inefficient. And then the layout of the parking garage is determining everything else about the building.

Like, they say it has ground floor retail but if you look at the main rendering you can see the layout of the parking garage and the garage entrances on Elizabeth. It's hard to tell for sure but based on that and then based on the rendering of the ground floor, I think the elevator lobby and small lounge in the rendering is the entirety of the "ground floor retail". The parking garage is taking up the rest of the space.

The only reason they're building on that site in the first place is because someone on the board owns that parking lot. But that site isn't big enough for decent office floor plates so then they got into that arrangement with the Michigan Mutual Building and their garage, and everything got complicated. Even if they had just managed to build a parking garage a block away everything would be much better.

[casscorridor]

Seriously? Scale is important, but it's not like this is totally out of place. We have a dozen of 20+ story buildings located adjacent to 10-ish story or shorter buildings with no complaints. Plus, location is everything. This building will have both a Woodward frontage, a never before seen curb appeal on Elizabeth, and killer South views from the top floors.

It's not like this is a 700 footer next to a 50 foot building. Are you complaining about the proposed 700 foot Hudson site tower adjacent to the 50 foot Skillman Library? Sure we can complain about all the parking being above grade instead of below, but our demand vs cost is not there yet.

I don't want Detroit to settle for just any development. We are beyond that 2005 way of thinking. However, complaining about a quality development in a part of downtown that really needs it, because the building is 150 feet taller than it's neighbor...GTFO!

If the entire building was office, I wouldn't be complaining about the height. It's the fact that half of it is parking, which means the bottom half is essentially de-activated and lifeless. I don't really care about height, although I think some on this board obsess about it. Architecturally, the design is not great, but it's also about what I'd expect from TCF Bank, so I can't really complain. But in terms of urban design, placing any above ground parking on Woodward is a mistake and I think it deserves to be mentioned.

[JK313]

I really don’t see the problem with it. At the very least it’s a decent looking building that does a good job of hiding/incorporating the parking in the current design, while adding to the street wall. it’s unfortunate that half of the building is parking, but it’s better than a bunch of surface lots or parking garages with empty retail spaces.