Proposed - The Alexandrine Apartments

[JonWylie]

Proposed apartment building at 664-667 W. Alexandrine Street being presented to the Historic District Commission

30 units, 3 stories, 35 ft tall





Given the address and the orientation, I believe it will be going here. I believe it will run perpendicular to the street, as opposed to parallel, meaning the units won't face the road.

[Satiricalivory]

That parking is unnecessary.

[masterblaster]

It is nice to have new multi-family housing in Midtown to increase population and density. This is what that area of the city needs...

...but the exterior metal stairway and platforms gives this building a 1960's roadside motel feel to it. And with the front facade of the building being so narrow, you think they could give the front face of the building a signature aesthetic feature[[s).

Thank for sharing!

[Kathleen]

^^ Agree that the Alexandrine-facing front could use something more distinctive.

Glad to see something happening on that block. Hope that something will happen with the house sitting to the east. And let's get the building at Third and Alexandrine moving along! I've been watching that one for several years...

[JonWylie]

I immediately thought cheap motel too. Given the area it's in, I'm not sure if commercial space is allowed, so that might limit what they can do on the street facing side, but maybe they could at least put a nice patio or something, definitely leaves something to be desired. But nonetheless, good density in a small area.

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

That parking is unnecessary.

How? There are 27 spaces for 30 units. According the the documents 23 would be required.

[hybridy]

It is nice to have new multi-family housing in Midtown to increase population and density. This is what that area of the city needs...

...but the exterior metal stairway and platforms gives this building a 1960's roadside motel feel to it. And with the front facade of the building being so narrow, you think they could give the front face of the building a signature aesthetic feature[[s).

Thank for sharing!

I like that the units can get a cross breeze, but the downside is the exterior stairs. Utterly impractical in the great lakes. Someone really trying to do this on a shoe string.

[casscorridor]

That parking is unnecessary.

The parking is fine. The problem is those tiny studios. I've been in hotel rooms bigger than that. Should be illegal.

The 406 sqft studio is okay, at least big enough to fit a table and a bed, but the 294 sqft one is insane. You'd have to eat dinner on your bed. It's like something out of Seoul or Hong Kong, but unlike those cities, there's no shortage of land in Detroit! The city should reject this proposal and demand those studios be made bigger.

[Jason]

There's another rendering in the link that shows the street facing side, which does have a bump on it.

Personally I like this better than most of the developments we've had. I'm not a fan of all of the superficial swoops and zig zags and extrusions and all of that. This still has a little bit of that but it keeps it to a minimum.

And overall the design makes sense, orienting it perpendicular to the street like that. The exterior gallery access makes sense too. And aside from functionality I would say that there's an easy contextual argument for the exterior stairs since so many of the apartments in that area have them. I also like the design of the units although idk how you're supposed to arrange the living room with a tv in it.

Other than the diagonal on some of the roof lines this looks like something you'd find in Japan.

[Danny]

Fine by me. Built it up.

[JonWylie]

There's another rendering in the link that shows the street facing side, which does have a bump on it.

Personally I like this better than most of the developments we've had. I'm not a fan of all of the superficial swoops and zig zags and extrusions and all of that. This still has a little bit of that but it keeps it to a minimum.

And overall the design makes sense, orienting it perpendicular to the street like that. The exterior gallery access makes sense too. And aside from functionality I would say that there's an easy contextual argument for the exterior stairs since so many of the apartments in that area have them. I also like the design of the units although idk how you're supposed to arrange the living room with a tv in it.

Other than the diagonal on some of the roof lines this looks like something you'd find in Japan.

Here's a picture of the front. Not bad, we'll see how it comes out. I think there's going to be some push back about the massing, maybe they can mimic something more along the lines of what you see across the street.

[Gistok]

The parking is fine. The problem is those tiny studios. I've been in hotel rooms bigger than that. Should be illegal.

The 406 sqft studio is okay, at least big enough to fit a table and a bed, but the 294 sqft one is insane. You'd have to eat dinner on your bed. It's like something out of Seoul or Hong Kong, but unlike those cities, there's no shortage of land in Detroit! The city should reject this proposal and demand those studios be made bigger.

Wouldn't those be marketed to WSU students? Here is a potential layout for a 300 sq. ft. studio apartment... doesn't look all that bad, if they are marketed to WSU students, or graduate students.

[Satiricalivory]

The parking is fine. The problem is those tiny studios. I've been in hotel rooms bigger than that. Should be illegal.

The 406 sqft studio is okay, at least big enough to fit a table and a bed, but the 294 sqft one is insane. You'd have to eat dinner on your bed. It's like something out of Seoul or Hong Kong, but unlike those cities, there's no shortage of land in Detroit! The city should reject this proposal and demand those studios be made bigger.

No the parking is not fine, there is no reason to have parking on both sides of the building. Specially since these are tiny studios, they're likely going to be mostly rented out by students. If you're going to have parking facing the alley then whatever, but this is excessive.

The density is the only good thing about this. The area they're building does not have much land available.

[EastsideAl]

It looks like living in a Best Western Extended Stay kitchenette unit. Which I had to do once for several weeks in some pointless corner of suburban Washington, and would not recommend to anyone as a way to live for any long-term stretch of time.

Can't we do better urban architecture than something that looks like a [[slightly) glorified motel surrounded by parking lots that belongs somewhere in some desolate outer ring suburb?

[Meddle]

'We'll leave the light on for you.'

[angry_fred]

'We'll leave the light on for you.'

Seriously. This place will be a crack house within 8 years of being built.

[JonWylie]

Seriously. This place will be a crack house within 8 years of being built.

Get out of here with this garbage. The questionable architecture doesn't negate the fact that this will be a brand new build in a great area of Midtown, and will likely mandate a premium rent payment.

[angry_fred]

Get out of here with this garbage. The questionable architecture doesn't negate the fact that this will be a brand new build in a great area of Midtown, and will likely mandate a premium rent payment.

I disagree. Rates are dictated by the market. No one wants to live in 300 square feet. They're going to have to have a super low bar for tenant screening in order to fully lease this place out. Living in 300 square feet just sounds awful...and I've dealt with small before

[Gistok]

I disagree. Rates are dictated by the market. No one wants to live in 300 square feet. They're going to have to have a super low bar for tenant screening in order to fully lease this place out. Living in 300 square feet just sounds awful...and I've dealt with small before

I believe that is being built for WSU student housing. The entire neighborhood from this new construction northward to Warren Ave. is a student housing district south of WSU [[for off-campus housing). 300 sq. ft. is too small for most of us, but for students at university, it is much better than a dorm.

[Jason]

Out of 30 units only 6 of them are studios. There will always be a handful of young people where it's important for them to be in midtown and they need something cheaper and don't plan on being in their apartment much anyway. These types of small studios are common around the world.

As far as the parking goes, the site planning results in there being the space for the parking spaces one way or another. You have to orient the building perpendicular to the street, and in order for people to have windows and daylight there needs to be open space along the sides of the building. They could knock out a few parking spaces to plant some more trees and I think that would be a good idea, but there's not really a circumstance where it's substantially different.

And as far as being urban or not urban this is the standard apartment building of Japan [[slab that's perpendicular to the street with exterior gallery access and a mostly paved exterior) and other asian countries, and it's also very common in northern europe, so if it it's the standard in some of the most urban places on the planet I think it counts as being urban enough for Detroit.

[old guy]

Actually only about five units are in the 300+ sf range. I’m sure not everyone is looking for small, but it is reasonably sought after by a large number of people these days.
I do agree the exterior resembles a few motels I’d prefer not to remember staying at, but it’s not hideous. My first thought was that it was shipping containers stacked, but I actually like that look.

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

I’m always amused when people issue pronouncements such as “no one wants to live in 300 square feet.” Perhaps you don’t and that’s fine. A student or person with a minimalist lifestyle can find it perfect.

[old guy]

Well then, I guess that’s that.

[Gistok]

^^ Old guy... I agree with you... the layout of the place has an unfortunate resemblance to many motels with 3 hour rooms, and a quarter slot for the vibrating beds...

I think zoning restrictions would prevent it from ever becoming one!

The area south of WSU has quite a mix of different housing units in multi unit housing, some quite historic.

https://www.forrentuniversity.com/Wa...07353175664095

[NSortzi]

There’s plenty of mid century apartment buildings that look just like this. It’s more likely they were going for that look, not a seedy motel look, for obvious reasons.