Quaint little fixer upper

[Richard]

https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...EebOTeVgAIwi6A

The seller is the Detroit Land Bank Authority. Please note that the Detroit Land Bank Authority is entitled to a tax capture for the 5 tax years subsequent to transferring ownership of the property.

So they are not transferring ownership until the 5 years of taxes are paid?

[Cincinnati_Kid]

Great architecture. Must have been built in the early 19th century. Will cost a fortune to rehab.

[renf]

It looks more recent than the early 19th century.

[jiminnm]

Great architecture. Must have been built in the early 19th century. Will cost a fortune to rehab.

The listing says it was built in 1928.

[Kathleen]

Laredo Apartments
https://www.emporis.com/buildings/14...detroit-mi-usa

[JRiordan]

https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...EebOTeVgAIwi6A

The seller is the Detroit Land Bank Authority. Please note that the Detroit Land Bank Authority is entitled to a tax capture for the 5 tax years subsequent to transferring ownership of the property.

So they are not transferring ownership until the 5 years of taxes are paid?

"After a Michigan land bank conveys property to a non-tax-exempt entity, the land bank receives 50% of taxes collected on that property for five years."

[bust]

Wouldn't it be great to see what this team could do with it?

Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/16/a...pe-vassal.html

Day-dreaming.

[EastsideAl]

The listing says it was built in 1928.

There were a bunch of these Spanish/Moorish style apartment buildings built around the city in the 1920s. Especially in this near west side area around Dexter and Linwood. They were a distinctive feature of the city's architecture, but they are, unfortunately, quickly disappearing. It would be a shame to lose this striking example.

[renf]

Thanks for mentioning Anne Lacaton and Jean Philippe Vassel. I presume they were the first to win the Pritzker Prize for their extraordinary work in
reusing once abandoned buildings. It would be nice if they spent a year in Motown.

[Richard]

There were a bunch of these Spanish/Moorish style apartment buildings built around the city in the 1920s. Especially in this near west side area around Dexter and Linwood. They were a distinctive feature of the city's architecture, but they are, unfortunately, quickly disappearing. It would be a shame to lose this striking example.

That’s why it caught my eye,it’s rare to see moorish revival on that smallish scale , usually large institutions in this country,Ringling Circus mansion,University of Tampa,libraries etc.

I agree it would be a shame to lose it and it would be hard pressed to find other similar examples in the country,very unique.

I wish the LB would revisit their policies,as it is it discourages private investment,it is feasible as a non profit with taxpayer funds and fed funds,but the city suffers by losing the tax base it would generate as a for profit,to many burdens on the existing taxpayers with no return.

[Gistok]

^Richard, these small late 1920s Moorish Deco gems in Detroit remind me of the later 1930s-1940s Deco Moderne small residential buildings in the Art Deco district of Miami Beach's South Beach. Thanks to the late Barbara Ann Capitman, she started up the renovations and historic preservation of Miami Beach's now wildly popular famous district.

There are some streets and neighborhoods in Detroit with a mix of early and late Art Deco gems... but the largest group is in the Palmer Park area, which is now having a renaissance, thanks mainly to a group called Shelborne Development...

https://www.google.com/search?q=Detr...w=1280&bih=591

[Richard]

In the early 80s you could walk through any building or beach side hotel in South Beach because it was all open and abandoned to the drug addicts,you could pick up those buildings for pennies on the dollar.

If you did not get shot or stabbed when you looked at them,nobody wanted them,it was actually the TV show Miami Vice that started buying them and renovating them for filming purposes.

It was not uncommon to be eating lunch at local restaurants next to the cast members,next came the billions that the drug trade generated and the need to wash the proceeds,so it was easy to make South Beach come alive again when there are suitcases of cash laying about waiting to be spent,it did not have to make financial sense.

I think Detroit has an architectural base that is hard to find anywhere else in the country,so many examples that were lost to urban renewal in other cities.

It kinda shows how Detroit was a international city that was influenced across the world,even in NYC or California you do not see that mix of styles.

[Grand River Guy]

There are many many small old apartment buildings in the neighborhoods. I saw this one in person the other day. Beautiful. I would like to see them all saved. Got to get roofs on and keep water out.

[masterblaster]

In the early 80s you could walk through any building or beach side hotel in South Beach because it was all open and abandoned to the drug addicts,you could pick up those buildings for pennies on the dollar.

If you did not get shot or stabbed when you looked at them,nobody wanted them,it was actually the TV show Miami Vice that started buying them and renovating them for filming purposes.

It was not uncommon to be eating lunch at local restaurants next to the cast members,next came the billions that the drug trade generated and the need to wash the proceeds,so it was easy to make South Beach come alive again when there are suitcases of cash laying about waiting to be spent,it did not have to make financial sense.

I think Detroit has an architectural base that is hard to find anywhere else in the country,so many examples that were lost to urban renewal in other cities.

It kinda shows how Detroit was a international city that was influenced across the world,even in NYC or California you do not see that mix of styles.

There are many many small old apartment buildings in the neighborhoods. I saw this one in person the other day. Beautiful. I would like to see them all saved. Got to get roofs on and keep water out.

13 years ago this month, I did a photo thread, on this very forum, about the abandoned apartment buildings and elegant 2-family flats of the Dexter-Davison area that were being stripped and vandalized. I am sure some of these buildings have been demolished by now. It is heart breaking what we have lost here.

https://www.atdetroit.net/forum/mess...tml?1210098239

[5939DT]

13 years ago this month, I did a photo thread, on this very forum, about the abandoned apartment buildings and elegant 2-family flats of the Dexter-Davison area that were being stripped and vandalized. I am sure some of these buildings have been demolished by now. It is heart breaking what we have lost here.

https://www.atdetroit.net/forum/mess...tml?1210098239

The fourth pic in the link looks a bit like 925 Whitmore [[Palmer Park) where I delivered the News in 1965-66. Beautiful old building, loved the ancient [[even then) elevator with the metal gate so that you could see the floors going by as you went up or down.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

The listing says it was built in 1928.

I concur, thanks.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

The fourth pic in the link looks a bit like 925 Whitmore [[Palmer Park) where I delivered the News in 1965-66. Beautiful old building, loved the ancient [[even then) elevator with the metal gate so that you could see the floors going by as you went up or down.

Damn shame they let these gorgeous buildings fall to neglect.

[Pontiac6000]

Damn shame they let these gorgeous buildings fall to neglect.

There is one more, at 1141 Holcomb. In 2007 street view the steps were part of the charm too. The building had an old elevator also, and great leaded glass windows and spanish tile floors. Some with Juliette balconies, sun rooms, and unusual configurations. It was freely open between us, the Kean, and the Hibbard apt on Jefferson.

Everyone had to leave upon renovation, it looks nice now, but no original charm.

[Lowell]

Here is my apartments ruins list from quite a while ago, some have been fixed up, sadly many others are gone. I still have many more to add when time permits. My favorite, cited by Kathleen above, is the first on the list, the Moorish-influenced Laredo.

https://www.detroityes.com/webisodes...tRuins/toc.htm

[davewindsor]

I'm surprised land bank doesn't package it with a vacant lot for parking. A 7,000sq ft lot with a 22 unit apartment building on it is really tight. I wouldn't want to park my car overnight in an ungated parking spot in that area.

[davewindsor]

If you're looking to put in a bid and rehab, this apartment building at 3290 Rochester St. looks like a far better deal, only two and a half blocks from Linwood & W Boston Blvd. For $30K, you get a nice historic building from 1926 with an adjacent lot for parking. It looks like it has some good bones to it and it's also only 3 stories so you don't need put in an elevator. https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...6_M96832-76944

[Richard]

^ that’s another LB owned property.

What is the one across the street that is highlighted with white borders,you can see it off to the right in the 8th photo and the last one?

[mwilbert]

Right. The buyer probably wouldn't care about this, except that my understanding is that as a result, the property isn't eligible for other tax abatements that might otherwise be available. You can petition the Land Bank to waive this and there are a large number of circumstances in which they will do that, possibly involving a payment to the land bank in lieu of the expected tax receipts. Regrettably, as far as I can tell this property isn't in a NEZ or a Federal Opportunity Zone, so those incentives aren't available.

I looked at this building before it went to the Land Bank. I really would like to see it saved, but I decided I wasn't the person to do it. I hope someone decides they are that person.

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

Is it realistic to think a building in this location will be saved, as opposed to one in a more prime location?

[davewindsor]

^ that’s another LB owned property.

What is the one across the street that is highlighted with white borders,you can see it off to the right in the 8th photo and the last one?

That's the historic Shelbourne. A vacant 21 unit. Recent sales report says someone scooped it up for $212K on May 7, 2021. https://www.howardhanna.com/Property...old/2210018174

It looks like a work in progress where someone ran out of money trying to fix it up because it still has glass on more than half the windows from the front and the ones missing glass are boarded up with chipboard/plyboard that surprisingly the owner managed to paint most black. It doesn't look like the units were exposed to the elements, but the listing description says it's a full gut renovation though the original hardwood floors are still restorable, so compared to across the street it doesn't sound like a full gut.

Perhaps you could get away with just painting the walls, sanding the floors, feeding some pex plumbing--there's no way the copper is still there [[https://plumbingperspective.com/leak...laced-with-pex) and running armored cable wiring along the baseboards. The steam boiler pipes might still be good. Depending on the condition of the inside--I could see it still being worth $212K.