What would your Lafayette Building Redevelopment plan be?

[gnome]

UrbanOutdoors,

I think you might be on to a couple of things. Using the Lafayette as a training facility for green rehabbers is an interesting idea. If the city could tap into State and Federal re-training dollars, we could develop a workforce trained in LEED construction/rehab. Moreover, once the building is rehabbed the training workforce could move on to another building in need of rehabbing. There are certainly enough city-owned eyesores around tokeep people busy for years.

Essentially this would a series of rehabbed LEED buildings along with a trained workforce.

[Rocko]

Surprised no one posted this - from Crains Detroit dated April 3. You be the judge:

Quote:
Jackson defends DEGC track record on historic preservation

By Nancy Kaffer

George Jackson is fighting back.

Following weeks of criticism after a Downtown Development Authority decision to raze the long-abandoned Lafayette Building, a petition drive and a pledge by Detroit Mayor Ken Cockrel Jr. to re-evaluate the demolition decision, the Detroit Economic Growth Corp.'s CEO has issued a fiery statement defending the DEGC’s historic preservation track record.

“Compare our scorecard to the ‘successes’ of these self-described ‘preservationists’ and it becomes very clear who is actually saving buildings, and who is simply generating noise,� Jackson wrote.

The DEGC has worked to preserve and protect 130 historic buildings, he wrote, including the Detroit Opera House, the Fort Shelby Hotel, the Kales Building and the Westin Book Cadillac, and has demolished two long-vacant city-owned buildings and part of Tiger Stadium in the last four years, while funding the demolition of 11 privately owned, blighted structures.

The Lafayette Building is a no-go for redevelopment — the DEGC’s been working to redevelop the Lafayette since Jackson’s arrival in 2003, he wrote, with no success.

“The Ferchill Group, a Cleveland-based developer that specializes in historic redevelopment projects and who redeveloped the Book Cadillac building, took a long look at it and declined, saying ‘the economics weren’t even close,’� Jackson wrote.

“The reality is the building is badly deteriorated. It has structural issues. The efficiency of the floor plan is problematic. In short, the costs of rehabilitating it are just too great to allow a viable business plan.�

And the Lafayette isn’t safe, he wrote.

“At the same time, pieces of the building are falling to the ground, creating a hazard for pedestrians,� Jackson wrote.

The DEGC worked to save the Book for six years, Jackson said.

“So it should be no surprise that I’m bothered by the strident claims of a small group of individuals who continually whine that the DEGC has no sense of history,� he wrote. “Or worse, that we are involved in some kind of ‘conspiracy’ to rob Detroiters of their vintage buildings. With loud voices and well-placed calls to reporters, they always get good coverage whenever a blighted structure must be demolished — either for the safety of the community or the potential for redevelopment.�

Jackson closed with suggestions for those who want to preserve old buildings: “Patronize businesses that are in vintage buildings. Each time a restoration generates profits, it raises the chances for another one,� he wrote. “Don’t complain. Recruit investors and developers and help us match them with businesses willing to pre-buy or pre-lease space. Put skin in the game, not just talk.�

Also key, he said, is advocacy for better laws and more stringent enforcement of existing blight-fighting tools.

“Spend time going after bad property owners, instead of vilifying organizations that actually do preservation, such as DEGC and the city of Detroit,� he wrote.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...FREE/904039972

[Gistok]

“Spend time going after bad property owners, instead of vilifying organizations that actually do preservation, such as DEGC and the city of Detroit,� he wrote.

Did anyone notify Mr. Jackson that this was a city government responsibility?

[Rocko]

There are nearly new parking garages on two sides of this building , how convenient!

[Lorax]

Huggybear, you have a point, however, perhaps only the ground floor needs to be renovated and leased at below market rates to get a semblance of being occupied, while the funds for mothballing are used to clean out the upper floors, stabilize the roof, etc. The only utilities needed would be on the first floor. A variance can be obtained for just the first floor. ADA requuirements would be limited to the first floor [[access/egress, bathrooms, etc.)

It's been done in other cities, even here in Miami.

[scuola]

UrbanOutdoors,

I think you might be on to a couple of things. Using the Lafayette as a training facility for green rehabbers is an interesting idea. If the city could tap into State and Federal re-training dollars, we could develop a workforce trained in LEED construction/rehab. Moreover, once the building is rehabbed the training workforce could move on to another building in need of rehabbing. There are certainly enough city-owned eyesores around tokeep people busy for years.

Essentially this would a series of rehabbed LEED buildings along with a trained workforce.

We need "green rehabbers?" We already have people to do that--they're called carpenters, electricians, plumbers, landscapers. In fact, they have trade unions and continuing education programs to help them with the "green" details. But it's not rocket science. An electrician doesn't require an advanced degree to connect a solar panel. They'll learn when the demand is there for solar panels. And with the collapse in homebuilding, there are plenty of them available to do the green building you want. Problem is, what good is it to do a green building if nobody is there to buy it or lease space in it? Green building, green education, green everything requires another kind of green before anything happens--dollars.

That being said, I like ideas--so here is mine:

I think the city should contact regional universities, or even University of Detroit Mercy to see if they are still interested in opening a downtown campus. I know at one time UDM wanted to create a mixed use high rise on their parking lot across from their law school. If the school could raise the funds for that, then maybe Detroit could offer up the Lafayette building for free. Short of that, I think we have to invest in mothballing it. Board it up, preserve it. Green or not, we just don't build anything like we used to...let's keep what we got.