Brush Park Failures & Losses in 2009

**leland_palmer** · January-18-10, 02:14 PM

2639 John R [[crosswinds) has already been mentioned on the forum and documented here.

However, when I went through Brush Park last weekend I realized that I had missed some other demolitions over the past year. My last photos in the area were from Feb 09. I drove through a few times since then, but I completely missed these demos.

First up is 269 Winder which was supposed to be a crosswinds project since at least 2004. It seem like all they did was put some new tarps up from time to time. It never looked in that bad of shape.

Attachment 4877

Right next door was the Yale Building. When all of the redevelopment started in the area it was still in pretty good shape and looked inhabited. It is a shame that it was lost with all of the restorations that have occurred on that street. Why was it let to get to the state it was in before the demolition? When did these two disappear?

Attachment 4878

Moving up to Erskine I've already railed against Hip City Living about 281 Erskine here before. Nothing good has happened since they planted their flag there in 2007.

Attachment 4879

The other loss was 291 Erskine which has been in a bad, yet fairly stable condition for at least 6 years.

Attachment 4880

Click on the links to see these houses over the past 6 years.

**DetroitZack** · January-18-10, 02:34 PM

Thanks for posting this! That is too bad about 269 Winder, what a great looking house. The Yale looks like it was in good shape, what up with that?

For those that may have missed it, last month I made a thread when I noticed a building on John R in Brush Park was a goner.
http://detroityes.com/mb/showthread....ush+park+loses

**vivadetroit** · January-18-10, 09:53 PM

Add to the list 64 Alfred. This was up for sale in the Wayne County Tax Forfeiture Auction in October. Went to show Brush Park to some journalists from the Auto Show & was floored that it was gone so quickly. Wish I could win the lotto and fix up one of these buildings before they're all gone.

**leland_palmer** · January-18-10, 10:19 PM

Originally Posted by vivadetroit

Add to the list 64 Alfred. This was up for sale in the Wayne County Tax Forfeiture Auction in October. Went to show Brush Park to some journalists from the Auto Show & was floored that it was gone so quickly. Wish I could win the lotto and fix up one of these buildings before they're all gone.

Do you mean the Ransom Gillis House? Which is actually 205 Alfred [[the old address is 63 Alfred). When were you there? It was still there on the 10th. WTF? They spent all of that money moth-balling it.

**Zacha341** · January-18-10, 10:47 PM

Great... I know the house... someone has obviously dropped the ball. Broken promises again. You almost want to throw up your hands re. this area. Especially with the dead end streets. It is getting to creepy to even drive around there at high noon! And I've cruising around that area since the 80's when going to school near there. It seemed to be some hope -- now you wonder what it would be like to live there even in one of the homes all "fixed" up. What with all the squalar on four sides of you?

What is Crosswinds official statement re. this -- relative to properties they claimed to have had interest in? Or owned?

Originally Posted by leland_palmer

Do you mean the Ransom Gillis House? Which is actually 205 Alfred [[the old address is 63 Alfred). When were you there? It was still there on the 10th. WTF? They spent all of that money moth-balling it.

**casscorridor** · January-18-10, 11:25 PM

maybe they decided they can't renovate the buildings so they'd rather tear them out then have them sit abandoned. what a shame though, i'd much rather look at abandoned historic buildings than dirty weedy empty lot after empty lot.

**exmotowner** · January-26-10, 08:31 AM

Question? About how many houses were in Brush park in its heyday and about how many are left? I know I used to drive down those streets and just get sick of the mansions sitting empty and rotting away. Just curious about the numbers if anyone knows. [[please forgive me if this has been given before but I could not find it in the search). Thanks

**cman710** · January-26-10, 09:00 AM

As far as I know, the Ransom Gillis house is still standing, so please confirm for us whether it still is. That would be a really great loss.

I photographed the Yale building just this summer. It is a shame that we are losing all of these buildings. At some point, one has to wonder how long Brush Park will remain Brush Park. Once all these mansions are gone, what differentiates it from any other mostly vacant area, besides a nice location near downtown?

**Newhorizons** · January-26-10, 10:23 AM

When I drove through the last time I was shocked to see what had turned into a fiasco for Detroit residents that believe in their city.. I think these homes and buildings should be given to motivated individuals that have the means to restore these projects before it's to late. Above all reduce the taxes on these properties I have seen forclosures with huge tax rates that no one can pay right now.

**leland_palmer** · January-26-10, 11:14 AM

[quote=cman710;113983]As far as I know, the Ransom Gillis house is still standing, so please confirm for us whether it still is. That would be a really great loss.

Yes, Ransom Gillis is still there. I didn't notice anything else missing so I'm not sure which house he was referring to.

Retroit · January-26-10, 12:14 PM

Originally Posted by exmotowner

Question? About how many houses were in Brush park in its heyday and about how many are left? I know I used to drive down those streets and just get sick of the mansions sitting empty and rotting away. Just curious about the numbers if anyone knows. [[please forgive me if this has been given before but I could not find it in the search). Thanks

I'll defer to anyone that has a more accurate account, but I would say there were approximately 500 houses maximum and approximately 50 are left, half of those being congregated in just a few blocks. Most of the blocks have just a few houses left.

I'm afraid Brush Park exists largely in name only. Unless someone is willing to investment hundreds of million dollars in Victorian reproductions, that neighborhood would be virtually unrecognizable to someone from one hundred years ago.

[[Yeah, I know, "Retroit never has anything good to say about Detroit, why doesn't he just leave?", blah, blah, blah)

**EastsideAl** · January-26-10, 12:49 PM

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Brush Park is the greatest missed opportunity in the recent history of Detroit. The enormous screw-ups that have happened here in pretty much every respect, despite the area's obvious historical importance and potential, are a major part of what makes so many of us despair for our city's development and preservation agencies' abilities to do anything right. Or even to care about anything beyond banking land for someone else's future profits and lining the pockets of [[and getting juicy kickbacks from) their preferred demolition contractors.

**drjeff** · January-26-10, 01:17 PM

[quote=leland_palmer;114027]

Originally Posted by cman710

As far as I know, the Ransom Gillis house is still standing, so please confirm for us whether it still is. That would be a really great loss.

Yes, Ransom Gillis is still there. I didn't notice anything else missing so I'm not sure which house he was referring to.

One thing that did change in the Ransom Gillis house- up until sometime last year, all the windows were covered [[i.e. boarded up). I noticed late last summer that the octagonal window on the upper right of the front of the house is now open to the elements and has never been repaired. Considering there is what looks to be a pretty recent roof on the building, it's a shame that water can now get in and do serious damage. Who owns this property?

**vivadetroit** · January-26-10, 05:51 PM

sorry, I was mistaken. The house number is 64, but it might be on Edmund Place. I will drive by tomorrow and check it out. I just know it was in the Wayne Co. Tax list and it was there in Oct. when I went on my own little "Dream Cruise" - dreaming that I had money to buy one of these gorgeous houses and redo it!

but here's a nice link to Brush Park pix I found while trying to figure out what street I had meant:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/5078889...7607028977241/

**cman710** · January-27-10, 12:06 PM

Thanks for posting the link to that great set of Brush Park pictures. I checked my photos from July 12, 2009, and the octoganol window was open to the elements by then.

**exmotowner** · January-29-10, 08:26 AM

"I'm afraid Brush Park exists largely in name only. Unless someone is willing to investment hundreds of million dollars in Victorian reproductions, that neighborhood would be virtually unrecognizable to someone from one hundred years ago"

Hell I was up there 2 years ago and it was almost unrecognizable to me and I've only been gone 20 years.