Midtown Development Updates

[stasu1213]

^ What are you going on about? Tourists/Visitors coming to Detroit will not be looking for a Target or Walmart! If they want a souvenir they will likely go to one of the souvenir stores such as one of the Pure Detroit locations in Downtown, Midtown or New Center to buy a Tee Shirt, mug, post cards, Pewabic tiles, etc. And who in their right mind will go sight seeing without a camera or cameraphone?

People coming to Detroit as visitors will not be looking for whatever they require going to the suburbs for.

Now people moving into Detroit... that's a different matter, and retail complaints are valid. But generally not with visitors.

Visitors who come to the city may not be looking for a Walmart or Target to shop at during their short stay. However, having these amenities as well as other things such as functional safe neighborhoods, dependable mass transit, good school system, and versatility in art and culture, some of those visiting may think about moving to Detroit including heads of corporations may think about opening satellite companies here. Yes Target may not be effective in the short range. It will have it's place as bring effective in the longer range. Detroit doesn't have to be a metropolis to be a successful city. We still could be a functional international city which unlike New York and Chicago have a foreign country that is only 3 miles south of our border separated by two tunnels and soon to be two bridges. The Detroit vs Everybody had it's days. Now it's time to embrace and not isolate.

[southen]

Well you sold me on why we need a Target.

[ShadowSoarer]

This is a comparison of the Target construction back in Nov. 2022 between Detroit and St. Louis which were announced about the same time:

Midtown Detroit


Midtown St. Louis

[mwilbert]

^ What are you going on about? Tourists/Visitors coming to Detroit will not be looking for a Target or Walmart! If they want a souvenir they will likely go to one of the souvenir stores such as one of the Pure Detroit locations in Downtown, Midtown or New Center to buy a Tee Shirt, mug, post cards, Pewabic tiles, etc. And who in their right mind will go sight seeing without a camera or cameraphone?

People coming to Detroit as visitors will not be looking for whatever they require going to the suburbs for.

Now people moving into Detroit... that's a different matter, and retail complaints are valid. But generally not with visitors.

I am going to quibble a bit with this. Having a Target or whatever similar store downtown isn't a tourist attraction, obviously. But when you visit someplace, especially if you have kids with you or if you are staying for more than a day, you often find you need stuff that they probably won't have at a CVS, and then having something like a Target nearby is really helpful. If nothing else, people forget to pack stuff.

[gratiotfaced]

If City Club's poor management is the impediment for Target's groundbreaking, then maybe Gilbert should begin courting the retailer on a different location.

My personal suggestion would be the abandoned department store behind the Stott, on Griswold/State. I don't see why Gilbert couldn't buy it off the negligent owners. It's a large enough building [[3 floors), prime and central location, and would be great for visitors needing a quick item or two. Only downside is you're further away from WSU, and I know Target tries to locate near campuses.

[ShadowSoarer]

Another option would be to move it either the Book Tower or the Hudson Block both of which are suppose to be done later this year and neither of them has had any announcements for retail tenants. Those are still relatively close to the proposed UoM Center. There would still be a lot of free space for retail on Woodward and in terms of parking 30% of Downtown is allocated for parking.

[gratiotfaced]

Kirk Pinho popped into r/Detroit to say the Target developer is out to bid on contractors soon.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Detroit/com...eb2x&context=3

The 5-month delay still doesn't inspire confidence, but at least the project hasn't been quietly cancelled.

[stasu1213]

Another option would be to move it either the Book Tower or the Hudson Block both of which are suppose to be done later this year and neither of them has had any announcements for retail tenants. Those are still relatively close to the proposed UoM Center. There would still be a lot of free space for retail on Woodward and in terms of parking 30% of Downtown is allocated for parking.

Another great location in the former Independence Bank building on Griswold and Michigan. It has two levels and could be a City Target

[Richard]

^ What are you going on about? Tourists/Visitors coming to Detroit will not be looking for a Target or Walmart! If they want a souvenir they will likely go to one of the souvenir stores such as one of the Pure Detroit locations in Downtown, Midtown or New Center to buy a Tee Shirt, mug, post cards, Pewabic tiles, etc. And who in their right mind will go sight seeing without a camera or cameraphone?

People coming to Detroit as visitors will not be looking for whatever they require going to the suburbs for.

Now people moving into Detroit... that's a different matter, and retail complaints are valid. But generally not with visitors.

If you ever decide to visit the rat at Disney world,check out the wal-Marts,Targets,grocery shopping buildings and even ALDIs,that are within a 5 mile radius,they are packed 24/7 and no locals shop there,along with the factory outlet malls,ie: all retail ,it’s all visitors and tourists.

[Gistok]

^ With 60 million visitors a year... that is not surprising. Hell if Detroit had 60 million visitors a year, the city would likely not have a retail drought.

But yes... some people will need a Target and an Aldi's and some big box stores.

[401don]

If you ever decide to visit the rat at Disney world,check out the wal-Marts,Targets,grocery shopping buildings and even ALDIs,that are within a 5 mile radius,they are packed 24/7 and no locals shop there,along with the factory outlet malls,ie: all retail ,it’s all visitors and tourists.

Because people rent condos for a week and need groceries, etc. Not exactly similar to Detroit. Apples and oranges.

[stasu1213]

Well you sold me on why we need a Target.

Not trying to sell you on the idea. I am just trying to show that some type of one stop store is needed on that strip of Woodward especially in the downtown or midtown area. Whole food warplanes there under a different Council. There probably was a plan in place then to put a Target and other stores in that area. I am disappointed that the Somerset Collection downtown only sell Detroit labeled items and nor different items from stores at Sonerset mall. The concept of attaching a Target, Meijer, or any big named retail to an development is a way of stopping that retail from opening in Detroit in my opinion.

[ShadowSoarer]

Looks like the Target in Midtown St. Louis might be done by Oct. 2023. Meanwhile not sure if the Target in Midtown Detroit will break ground by then. Add on top of that might take like another 4 years to build [[considering the time it took to build City Club Apartments in Downtown).

https://www.ibjonline.com/2022/06/08...town-st-louis/

[gratiotfaced]

https://www.freep.com/story/money/bu...t/70155669007/

CODA in Brush Park will begin in June and take ~18 months to complete.

[ShadowSoarer]

https://www.freep.com/story/money/bu...t/70155669007/

CODA in Brush Park will begin in June and take ~18 months to complete.

I thought that the CODA was already under construction. I guess demolition doesn't count. So basically we lost like 9 months of construction time [[or almost half the time it takes to finish the project). Took this back in beginning of October 2022 [[building might've been demolished before then):

[stasu1213]

https://www.freep.com/story/money/bu...t/70155669007/

CODA in Brush Park will begin in June and take ~18 months to complete.

I dont trust the report. This project had 3 delayed dates for construction to begin. Notice how the news announcement came out after bloggers questioned the continual
continual delayed progress of this development?

[gratiotfaced]

I think there was a snag with incentives/historical preservation funding when they had to tear down the unstable carriage house. Maybe that was the cause of the delay? I'm not aware of an official explanation though.

The developer behind it seems very passionate about Detroit and Brush Park. I'm hopeful they can finally get this moving. But if July rolls around and there's no progress, I think we might have to write this one off the list.

[stasu1213]

I think there was a snag with incentives/historical preservation funding when they had to tear down the unstable carriage house. Maybe that was the cause of the delay? I'm not aware of an official explanation though.

The developer behind it seems very passionate about Detroit and Brush Park. I'm hopeful they can finally get this moving. But if July rolls around and there's no progress, I think we might have to write this one off the list.

The carriage house was razed almost 2 years ago.

[401don]

Good things come to those who wait, and wait, and wait....
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/ne...t/70171746007/

[ShadowSoarer]

Good things come to those who wait, and wait, and wait....
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/ne...t/70171746007/

This is good news but have a hard time believing that all 3 City Club buildings will be done by Nov. 2024 considering how long it took them for the Downtown development. The article also doesn’t state when construction is to begin.

[Gistok]

This is good news but have a hard time believing that all 3 City Club buildings will be done by Nov. 2024 considering how long it took them for the Downtown development. The article also doesn’t state when construction is to begin.

The downtown building was "stick built". A 16 story tower will likely be steel/cement.

[stasu1213]

This is good news but have a hard time believing that all 3 City Club buildings will be done by Nov. 2024 considering how long it took them for the Downtown development. The article also doesn’t state when construction is to begin.

I would not put my trust into this report.

[Airforceguy]

$50M-plus Detroit apartment development scrapped

A $51 million-plus Brush Park apartment development plan has been canned.
The proposed Brush House development with 178 units was announced in July 2018 as part of $102 million in new residential development by a pair of teams. Brush House was led by Moddie Turay and David Howell of Detroit-based City Growth Partners LLC. The company also said at the time it was building a $4.7 million project called the Brush 8, which consists of eight condo units still under construction across the street at 3119 Brush St.The Brush House development was also to include 15,660 square feet of ground-floor retail and 127 underground parking spaces, the city and developers said at the time.



Turay is a former Detroit Economic Growth Corp. executive who in 2021 was selected for a Harvard Graduate School of Design Loeb Fellowship. He moved to Boston last year and has become president and CEO of Massachusetts Housing Investment Corp., a community development financial institution.

Turay told Crain's on Thursday that a combination of his relocation, rising interest rates and construction costs prompted the project's cancellation. He also said seven of the eight Brush 8 townhomes have been sold, and construction on those is expected to wrap up this month.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/real-e...rapped-detroit

[kuuma]

ground is broken next to the Bonstelle Theatre on Woodward/Eliot. Will it be finished in time for the 2024 NFL draft?

[southen]

ground is broken next to the Bonstelle Theatre on Woodward/Eliot. Will it be finished in time for the 2024 NFL draft?

No chance in hell.