Old Hudson, Lafayette Building sites planned as downtown gardens

[Pushtina]

Finally some good news today...

http://www.freep.com/article/2011032...text|FRONTPAGE

[Detroitnerd]

Bwahahahahahahahaha!!!

[K-slice]

Finally some good news today...

Is that sarcasm?

[ghettopalmetto]

Most expensive tomato patch ever!

Maybe a few million more bucks on demolitions, and Detroit can start rockin out some potatoes and beets too!

[rbdetsport]

This is ridiculous. I thought this was a joke when I read it... Premier Development Opportunity.

[Pushtina]

Is that sarcasm?

You weren't expecting construction of some sort, were you?

[mwilbert]

Better than parking lots, but that's pretty bizarre.

[Detroitnerd]

Forget it. Put the resources going into making "gardens" [[are they going to break up the concrete and tear down the girders?) into mothballing Book and Stott towers!

Just when you think Detroit's leadership can't get any stupider, they surprise you.

[ghettopalmetto]

If I read the article correctly, they're putting a community garden on the gold-plated diamond-studded Cristal-serving Premier Parking Garage?

You can exceed the live load capacity of that structure with 6 inches of soil.

What the HELL is the matter with these people???

[mikefmich]

Great......I can think of the 14th floor in December whilst I pick my peas. This is JUST what is needed on Woodward which is the pre-eminent Avenue in Detroit history.

[Gistok]

No the girders must stay...

They can hang grape trellises from them and grow grapes for "Chateau Vin-Demo" wines....

[1953]

Leadership...not our strong suite...

1953

[Planner3357]

"Downtown is alive and well." Give me a freaking break. If that were the case there wouldn't be any vacant storefronts or buildings.....what a crock of shit. I understand the Lafayette site, but the old Hudson's sight....WTF?

[Richard]

Move over Motor City embrace the new Garden City complete with little bronze plaques that designate the past.



Carrots planted in place of the Ford?

[iheartthed]

Leadership...not our strong suit...

1953

Haha, nice. This should go on a t-shirt.

[stasu1213]

Wasn't there plans for a office/retail complex to be develope on the former Hudson's site? Why put a garden on that site with girders that are there to support up to an 80 stories building, protruding out of the ground. I blame Sir Charles Pugh and other members of the city clownsel for allowing this plan to happened. The city could not find any developer who would wish to build on the former Hudson's site? Had potential developers refuses to participate in the "Pay to Play" game that some politician is still playing? Are the Mayor and city planners void of vision and just settle on erected a "Garden" on the site? Enquiring minds want to know.

[mwilbert]

I think this is not the right way to look at it. I doubt anyone wants to develop that site for anything good right now. The gardens will be the easiest things to get rid of if there is a real development proposal--there is no associated revenue. If they are giving the gardens an 99 year lease or something then you are right, but I doubt that is the case.

[leland_palmer]

Does anyone remember how many floors the Premier Garage was built to support?

[BrushStart]

Honestly, you all seem to be dogging this idea. Let me tell you why I REALLY like it:

1. These sites are not doing anything right now except looking ugly and collecting trash. They make the fabric of downtown seem even more tattered.

2. Compuware is doing this, so it isn't really costing the city anything. We get a nice garden for free.

3. A garden is not prohibitive of future development if any plans for these sites eventually emerge.

Look at it this way, if we don't do anything, these lots will remain empty and ugly, perhaps indefinitely. Do any of you have a better idea?

[detroitbob]

I blame Sir Charles Pugh and other members of the city clownsel for allowing this plan to happened.

I don't usually go to bat for anything council related, however, I'd rather see some green admidst the rusty iron girders.

[ghettopalmetto]

Does anyone remember how many floors the Premier Garage was built to support?

I did a back-of-the-envelope calculation a few years ago, and figured the columns could support something akin to a 14-story office building.

The immediate concern, though, is the slabs. Parking garages are designed to support loads of 50 psf, per the building codes. Soil can weigh anywhere from 105-125 pcf--less than 6 inches of moist soil will exceed the design capacity of the parking garage slabs.

The garden is a stupid, terrible and dangerous idea for that reason alone. But God forbid Detroit ever let logic dictate a course of action.

[wolverine]

Do any of you have a better idea?

I do actually!

1. Attract big business
2. Construct an office building

It can't be impossibly hard. Detroit is a decent sized city with a big metro. C'mon now, you can do it like all the other cities. :-)

[Dbest]

I'm not sure I want to eat vegetables grown in the heart of downtown. I don't like the thought of my veggies being "incubated" in a pollution filled downtown garden. Also the thought of dirt blowing around by the spaces worries me. I LOVE Detroit, just dont want to eat...

[BrushStart]

I do actually!

1. Attract big business
2. Construct an office building

It can't be impossibly hard. Detroit is a decent sized city with a big metro. C'mon now, you can do it like all the other cities. :-)

I hope you're being sarcastic Wolverine. We're having trouble filling the vacant buildings that are still standing, let alone finding people to build new ones. The people on here advocating the construction of new buildings on these sites are nuts. Do we really need any more glut in our completely saturated market? One could convince me of building a residential building, maybe, but we don't need more office space.

[Gistok]

Good calculating GP.... when they built the garage they built it so that it could support about a 15 story building.