Lansing to save MCS?

**buildingsofdetroit** · August-31-09, 09:16 PM

Sen. Brown was throwing around the figure $100 million on Local 4 today. There is no way in hell that building gets done for anything less than $200 million, especially if the Book-Caddy cost $180 million.

**mcsdetroitfriend** · September-01-09, 12:05 AM

And the owners are all about fixing it, but understandably they want there to be a plan for it. I mean sure you can fix it up but if there's no concrete plan then putting all that $$$ into it would be pointless and a huge loss.

If somebody comes up and says hey we want this building where do we sign? then that's perfect, but so far no ones done that and it sucks because people can't see beyond the broken glass and overgrown grass [[though the group I'm with The Michigan Central Station Preservation Society Inc. is hoping to go in with some landscaping gear and clean up the outside...just because it's empty doesn't mean it has to look neglected!)

**jt1** · September-01-09, 01:29 PM

[quote=mcsdetroitfriend;62953]And the owners are all about fixing it, but understandably they want there to be a plan for it. I mean sure you can fix it up but if there's no concrete plan then putting all that $$$ into it would be pointless and a huge loss.[quote]

And there is the definition of a slumlord. I honestly don't care if it gets rehabbed. Given its location it will not result in any additional development or spin off business. The fact that government and non-profits [[even if their heart is in the right place) are the only ones attempting to do anything for this building tells me all I need to know about how much Maroun cares.

The piece of shit, just like every other slumlord or owner that does not maintain his property should be fined every single day. the different is that Maroun can afford to at least maintain a basic fence but chooses not to.

I think your heart is in the right place but how can a group of people be so niave to perform charity helping beatify a building that has an owner that is as indifferent about it as I am about the last crap I left in the toilet.

There are a lot of non-profits that would happily accept your help and are helping someone other than a billionaire that has been allowed to let his buildings get to this point.

**mcsdetroitfriend** · September-01-09, 01:42 PM

[quote=jt1;63166][quote=mcsdetroitfriend;62953]And the owners are all about fixing it, but understandably they want there to be a plan for it. I mean sure you can fix it up but if there's no concrete plan then putting all that $$$ into it would be pointless and a huge loss.

And there is the definition of a slumlord. I honestly don't care if it gets rehabbed. Given its location it will not result in any additional development or spin off business. The fact that government and non-profits [[even if their heart is in the right place) are the only ones attempting to do anything for this building tells me all I need to know about how much Maroun cares.

The piece of shit, just like every other slumlord or owner that does not maintain his property should be fined every single day. the different is that Maroun can afford to at least maintain a basic fence but chooses not to.

I think your heart is in the right place but how can a group of people be so niave to perform charity helping beatify a building that has an owner that is as indifferent about it as I am about the last crap I left in the toilet.

There are a lot of non-profits that would happily accept your help and are helping someone other than a billionaire that has been allowed to let his buildings get to this point.

MCS has had two other owner besides Maroun who had no fence and allowed the building to be in the state it's in. By 1994 when Maroun picked up the property it was pretty already in the same state it's in today. I'm in class right no and don't have the book on me, but the two owners prior to DIBC had no fence and stripped and sold most of the interior. There's a flyer from 1993 for some DJ event that was to go on inside and the photo is basically a mirror image of what the building looks like today. Sure Maroun hasn't done much at all other than buying and maintaining a fence since then, but like i said before, theres been no concrete use for it. "If they build it they will come" does not work right now.

The city of Detroit also has some blame for the state of the building because they own the tracks, and the area underneath the tracks [[the former baggage and mail rooms). The area under the tracks lead right up into the building. DIBC has fences right where their property starts. There's a steel fence right at the end of the Subway to stop people from coming in but people find their way in. The other day someone cut through the fence, later that same day it was fixed.

So it's not to say the company isn't trying to maintain it, but people will get in if they want to. Also they're organizing a landscaping for the property, removing the windows, and adding new Lanax [[?) windows [[apparently 400 times stronger than glass). We'll see if that happens, temp fixes, but it'll look nice

**HazenPingree** · September-01-09, 01:51 AM

Originally Posted by buildingsofdetroit

Sen. Brown was throwing around the figure $100 million on Local 4 today. There is no way in hell that building gets done for anything less than $200 million, especially if the Book-Caddy cost $180 million.

I believe that to "restore" the building would cost vast sums, and undoubtedly more than the book caddy. However, if one were to adaptively reuse the structure, and disregard the interior, perhaps the figure could be below the book caddy's price tag. I have a hunch the government would choose the latter. Though it would be a punch in the gut, at least it would preserve the exterior of this endangered structure.

Stosh · September-02-09, 09:49 AM

Originally Posted by andylinn

I believe that to "restore" the building would cost vast sums, and undoubtedly more than the book caddy. However, if one were to adaptively reuse the structure, and disregard the interior, perhaps the figure could be below the book caddy's price tag. I have a hunch the government would choose the latter. Though it would be a punch in the gut, at least it would preserve the exterior of this endangered structure.

How does one "adaptively reuse" a structure by disregarding it's interior? Using it for target practice for the feds?

**Sandhouse** · September-02-09, 10:44 AM

The word "facadectomy" has been coined to describe saving only the outside of a historic building, while building a whole new structure inside or behind the facade. It's easy to imagine something like this happening to the waiting room and concourse of MC Depot, if a use were ever found for the building. That's a big "if," of course.

I wish I could have attended the Senate hearing, just to see how familiar the rural Republicans were with the building and the surrounding neighborhood. I have a hunch I wouldn't have run in to them at the next table at Lupita's after the meeting, but maybe I'm being too cynical.

**dtowncitylover** · September-02-09, 11:48 AM

I thank Sen. Brown for his wanting of MCS to be a transportation hub again. But the light rail line does not need to be connected to MCS. If used for transportation, MCS should be the center of the commuter rail lines [[and Amtrak) that will branch out from Detroit. Our current station does not have the capacity to carry both Amtrak and let's say 4 commuter rail lines [[Ann Arbor, Pontiac, Port Huron, and Monroe are the three I saw for the transportation plan) The train station can be the hub and headquarters and/or offices for the transportation authority and Amtrak offices, if so desired. Express buses and go between downtown and MCS for passengers.

**davewindsor** · September-01-09, 03:17 AM

Originally Posted by buildingsofdetroit

Sen. Brown was throwing around the figure $100 million on Local 4 today. There is no way in hell that building gets done for anything less than $200 million, especially if the Book-Caddy cost $180 million.

You can't compare the Book-Cadillac to MCS. For one, the BC was a 1,000 bedroom hotel and had to have plumbing redone for 1,000 washrooms and all the new condo kitchens. An office building like MCS only needs two central washrooms per floor. You're not going to be adding hundreds of kitchens with granite countertops for the converted condo section. You won't need to replaster the ceilings on the upper floors, just add suspended ceilings with ceiling tile and duct work. You don't need fancy lighting on the upper floors, just basic commercial lighting. You're probably not going to need to move the walls on the upper floors. The big cost will be rewiring the building. The $100 million figure sounds like a fair estimate..