Another Southfield highrise hotel to become abandoned

[CorktownPaddy]

My first post/comment because of the memories evoked when talking about The Michigan/Sheraton et al.
I recall picking up a girl [[I was really hung up on) back in the early 70's when she'd get off shift at 11:00 PM
The place was one of THE places way back then.
and no, I loused up with the girl, big boo-boo on my part...

[RickBeall]

My 10th year high school reunion was there. I just remember a big room with movable walls. ... and all of us still looking young.

I wonder how many years will it be until we are exploring the ruins of Northland, and Lowel will be posting about the irony of it all.

[Gistok]

This hotel's downward spiral is not just some isolated incident in Southfield. The southern half of Southfield is continuing on a downward spiral... just look at the buildings around Northland, and the dozens of empty 2 story office buildings along 8 Mile, Northwestern and Southfield Fwy.

Many of the smaller businesses were built and run by Jewish businesspeople. But with the continuing northwestern migration of [[formerly) Detroit's Jewish population... they certainly are leaving a lot of empty buildings in their wake.

One wonders if one day those 3 massive [[and very costly) overpasses over I-696 will one day be removed with the continuing outmigration of the Jewish community?

[Onthe405]

I think the Westin brand has actually improved in the last 15 years. I know when Marriott took over the Ren Cen hotel in 1996, the hotel had become a little run down, much beyond what today's Starwood would allow for a Westin.

I agree. Westin is hardly a "degenerated brand". If anything it's at the top of the business-class hotels. St Regis hotels are for old money types, W hotels are for douchy types, Westin hotels are for business-types, Sheratons are for families, and Four Points are for budget travelers.

Both of you are simply reiterating/reinforcing my original post. Western International Hotels declined quickly & markedly shortly after the name change to Westin and when it was sold almost 25 years ago. Since the 1994 sale, then the subsequent Starwood acquisition, it has improved considerably. However, that doesn’t mean it is on par with the original collection of hotels back in the 60s -80s. WIH was originally much more like “Preferred Hotels” in that it worked backwards from the current mega chain [[Starwood, Hilton) approach.

Independent urban landmark hotels that met the standards were considered for WIH management contracts and adopted into the family—but WIH didn’t slap their name on it. Each property was unique, independent, and reflected the character of their respective cities. Mega chains work the other way. As they assess a property’s potential, they retrofit/upgrade/decorate it to fit into one of their pre-set, standardized portfolio of existing brands.

Whether it be restaurants, retail, hotels, airlines, or any other consumer-driven industry, the rise of the cookie-cutter chain is how business has evolved. Granted, it’s mostly us cranky old folk that believe service has degenerated along with this trend over the past 30 years.

[cmubryan]

This hotel's downward spiral is not just some isolated incident in Southfield. The southern half of Southfield is continuing on a downward spiral... just look at the buildings around Northland, and the dozens of empty 2 story office buildings along 8 Mile, Northwestern and Southfield Fwy.

Many of the smaller businesses were built and run by Jewish businesspeople. But with the continuing northwestern migration of [[formerly) Detroit's Jewish population... they certainly are leaving a lot of empty buildings in their wake.

One wonders if one day those 3 massive [[and very costly) overpasses over I-696 will one day be removed with the continuing outmigration of the Jewish community?

The "closer-in" Jewish population is alive and well in northern Oak Park and Huntington Woods. I recently purchased a home in Huntington Woods near 11 and Coolidge and can say that my neighborhood has a higher Jewish percentage than where I grew up in West Bloomfield. A couple new synogogues have opened up recently in Oak Park and even in Royal Oak. The younger Jewish population seems to prefer this area as there is just more going on here between all of the vibrant districts [[Ferndale, Royal Oak, Berkley and Birmingham) than out in West Bloomfield. It's the closest one can get to living in the city, while still having a quality school district and safe neighborhoods. It's a shame to see parts of my first hometown of Southfield slide down hill but this is not new news by any means. I just wish there was a way to turn it around. The housing stock in Southfield is quality but I think many people with higher incomes have given up living there because of the perception of crime and poor schools. Thus we now have a partially abandoned area around Northland mall. As of right now, we pretty much have two seperate Jewish neighborhoods divided by predominately African American Southfield. Don't get me wrong, some older Jews still reside in Southfield and will continue to do so until they die off but the heavy concentration that was once there in the 60s-80s is long gone.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

No, haven't you heard? We're all moving to Atlanta now.

Too much driving in Atlanta.. Atlanta has spread out so much it ain't funny. The city limits says it has about 485,000 residents, but I bet the metro area has at least 5 million people.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

The "closer-in" Jewish population is alive and well in northern Oak Park and Huntington Woods. I recently purchased a home in Huntington Woods near 11 and Coolidge and can say that my neighborhood has a higher Jewish percentage than where I grew up in West Bloomfield. A couple new synogogues have opened up recently in Oak Park and even in Royal Oak. The younger Jewish population seems to prefer this area as there is just more going on here between all of the vibrant districts [[Ferndale, Royal Oak, Berkley and Birmingham) than out in West Bloomfield. It's the closest one can get to living in the city, while still having a quality school district and safe neighborhoods. It's a shame to see parts of my first hometown of Southfield slide down hill but this is not new news by any means. I just wish there was a way to turn it around. The housing stock in Southfield is quality but I think many people with higher incomes have given up living there because of the perception of crime and poor schools. Thus we now have a partially abandoned area around Northland mall. As of right now, we pretty much have two seperate Jewish neighborhoods divided by predominately African American Southfield. Don't get me wrong, some older Jews still reside in Southfield and will continue to do so until they die off but the heavy concentration that was once there in the 60s-80s is long gone.

That and the fact that Southfield has the highest property taxes in Oakland County, doesn't help it's case either.

[313WX]

Too much driving in Atlanta.. Atlanta has spread out so much it ain't funny. The city limits says it has about 485,000 residents, but I bet the metro area has at least 5 million people.

So it's basically the Detroit of the south.

If we trade some of their economic prosperity for some of our water we would both be golden.

[gdogslim]

In my opinion the city is sick in the head for what they did to the people staying there.
At least you give the tenants some kind of notice not just throw paying customers on the street. I smell a big lawsuit blowing Southfield way.
On the other hand, anyone who lives in a place for four, six months without hot water or heat has a some real problems to deal with, but give someone some time to move their stuff.
"Barbara Zieve lived at the hotel for 17 years". I thought to myself , are you kidding me, 17 years in a hotel?? , that is weird!