Saturday, April 28, 2012

Replaced

The missing bronze plaque dedicating the "Gateway to Freedom" sculpture in Hart Plaza has been repaired and re-installed.  The plaque was removed by the Detroit Recreation Department after it was damaged by scrappers trying to steal it in 2010.  It had been replaced with a construction barrel until recently.



Monday, April 23, 2012

What's Next?

What will the ultimate fate of the Ford Auditorium site be?  Mayor Bing would like to build a permanent outdoor amphitheater at the location and bulldoze Chene Park for redevelopment.  Obviously, a funding source would have to be secured first and given the current state of the city, that proposition does not seem very likely this decade.

In the meantime, it has been revealed that the Detroit Jazz festival would like to expand their footprint on the riverfront by erecting a temporary stage on the site.  This would be contingent on whether the city can convert the grounds to green space in time.  Some work has already begun.  






Saturday, April 07, 2012

Rivertown Loses Another

The once proud and thriving Rivertown district has suffered another loss. The Troester Building was built in 1911.  It was located at the corner of Riopelle and Franklin. It was the home of the Rhinoceros Club.

October, 2003

April, 2012

April, 2012

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Hot Taco Detroit!

Please welcome the latest addition to Park Avenue, a Taqueria. Hot Taco is located in the Iodent building next to Centaur.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

The Auburn

Work has started on the latest addition to Midtown.  The Auburn,  named after the car company that once had a dealership on the site, is a mixed use development that will add 58 market rate rental units and 9,000 square feet of retail to the corner of Canfield and Cass this fall.




Monday, March 05, 2012

Jeffries East Becomes Cornerstone Estates

The low-rise Jefferies East housing project was torn down in 2008.  Work proceeds on the site today as it continues its transformation into Cornerstone Estates, a 180-unit mixed-income affordable housing rental development.

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Detroit, a Series of Tubes

You may be familiar with the shiny tubes that traverse Jefferson and Randolph avenues.  You may have even used one of the tubes that link the JLA garage to Joe Louis Arena and Cobo Center. There's even one that links the St. Regis Hotel in Detroit's New Center to Cadillac Place. Yes, Detroit seems to have its fill of human habitrails, but the city is about to get one more.





The Greektown Casino already has one skywalk linking it to a garage, but one just isn't enough.  It seems that the casino's valet service isn't fast enough.  The casino, which didn't have enough money to build out the performance space it was required to when its original license was granted, is going to build a valet parking garage behind Monroe Street. The reason?  The casino wants to cut the time gamblers have to wait to flee the city from 20-30 minutes down to 5-7 minutes.


This reduction in vehicle retrieval time does not, however, come without a cost.  In order to facilitate a speedy escape, Greektown plans to demolish a building containing one of the oldest restaurants in the city.  The Laikon Café was established in the 1920's and the current owners held a 10 year lease on the building.  However, a dispute over that lease forced the restaurant to close, allowing the casino to purchase the vacated property.  In the building's place, the casino will build yet another skywalk across Monroe linking the casino to the new garage.


One of the main selling points for allowing to casino to remain at its temporary location was that it would be integrated with the neighborhood, building synergy.  Instead, with this latest skywalk, Greektown will become a little less greek and foot traffic will be further reduce as customers, along with their winnings, are "tubed" from the casino to their vehicles without ever having set foot upon a city street.


At least the crater that used to be New-Hellas Restaurant has finally been filled it.  Unfortunately, this was only done to create a staging area for the new construction.