  Cgunn Member Username: Cgunn Post Number: 143 Registered: 01-2004 |
Deal to buy Guardian questioned 2 officials want county to look at 1001 Woodward The mostly vacant building, which used to house First Federal Bank, was supposed to be turned into condos this year, but the project never got off the ground. The owner has been plagued with lawsuits regarding the building. It's for sale for $20 million, down from $28 million. So its $13.5M cheaper if they buy 1001 Woodward. | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 1997 Registered: 04-2006 |
How much revenue could be generated by buying and leasing the Guardian? Could buying 1001 be similarly cost effective and would they have additional space to lease? Should the county even be in the real estate business? To me, the current Wayne County Building doesn't even seem that big. How many workers could they have down there that would warrant the county to purchase a skyscraper? Threadjack: Check out that Watermark ad. | ||
Thejesus Member Username: Thejesus Post Number: 2530 Registered: 06-2006 |
they have people spread out all over the place...not just at the wayne county building...the idea was to consolidate all their people into a single location... I like the idea of Wayne county in 1001 much better than then taking up space downtown's best skyscraper... there's not enough interest in 1001 as a residential building and the Guardian should have a much easier time attracting commercial tenants and | ||
Hans57 Member Username: Hans57 Post Number: 216 Registered: 05-2006 |
I would have no problem with the county buying up 1001 Woodward. I never thought that it looked like a residential building anyway. Purely office space to me. | ||
Charlottepaul Member Username: Charlottepaul Post Number: 1872 Registered: 10-2006 |
"How much revenue could be generated by buying and leasing the Guardian?" I don't think that the county should be in the business of property management. If they can't fill and use the whole building, then buying it seems like a bad idea. "the Guardian should have a much easier time attracting commercial tenants" Except for the fact that 1001 has dedicated parking and the Guardian does not... | ||
Digitalvision Member Username: Digitalvision Post Number: 435 Registered: 11-2003 |
Completely true. Dedicated parking, to almost every business tenant, is a deal breaker. I think building that garage makes it much, much more valuable than without it. | ||
Gnome Member Username: Gnome Post Number: 259 Registered: 08-2007 |
While I liked the idea of getting out of that loser of lease in the old Wayne County Building, I didn't like the idea of Wayne County being in charge of the maintenence for the Guardian. Can you imagine what those county employees could do the Wirt Rowland's masterpiece? | ||
Cgunn Member Username: Cgunn Post Number: 144 Registered: 01-2004 |
Imagine: Wayne County buys 1001 Woodward; Bank of American leases Guardian building. (They already have a branch in the building) (Message edited by cgunn on October 26, 2007) | ||
Downtownguy Member Username: Downtownguy Post Number: 84 Registered: 07-2004 |
Cgunn... from your lips to their ears. I never was too crazy about the county being in the property management business either. Could the county fully occupy 1001? Does anybody know the square footage of each? | ||
Thejesus Member Username: Thejesus Post Number: 2531 Registered: 06-2006 |
"Imagine: Wayne County buys 1001 Woodward; Bank of American leases Guardian building." I think they actually have to employ people before they can occupy a skyscraper...they just reduced their workforce by about 4,000, 1,500 of which are in Michigan. | ||
Cgunn Member Username: Cgunn Post Number: 145 Registered: 01-2004 |
^^Your correct, so therefore the current building may be too large for thier needs. So LEASING smaller space may worth it. | ||
Thejesus Member Username: Thejesus Post Number: 2534 Registered: 06-2006 |
^^^my point is they barely have any workforce in Michigan now...it would make no sense to move a handful of people downtown if the only incentive to moving downtown is to establish a "presence" there...with such a small number of workers, they hardly be notice, and they certainly wouldn't be able to have a building named after them | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 3871 Registered: 02-2005 |
BoA has already talked about moving their regional HQ from Troy to Detroit. That was the first thing they talked after acquiring Lasalle. 1500 new workers in a downtown office building is pretty substantial. I think that Wayne County in 1001 would be outstanding. Those limited government fund can't pay for the upkeep of a nice old building, so we can let them trash that mid-century gem. Okay that's not the real reason...a building like that just seems to fit government purposes really well, though. And, in truth, I don't want to see the Guardian go down the tubes witht the county. I'm guessing their rent would also be cheaper... | ||
Thejesus Member Username: Thejesus Post Number: 2537 Registered: 06-2006 |
"BoA has already talked about moving their regional HQ from Troy to Detroit. That was the first thing they talked after acquiring Lasalle. 1500 new workers in a downtown office building is pretty substantial. " I'm aware of what BoA said publicly, and I agree that moving 1,500 workers downtown would be a big deal... the problem with that is, you have to actually have 1,500 workers employed at your headquarters to be able to move that many... Not only does BoA only have 800 people at their headquarters in Troy, but the article in the paper last week said they were going to lay off 1,500 workers state-wide...its anyone's guess how many of those will be workers at the Troy HQ, but it doesn't sound like BoA will have many people left in Michigan to move after the layoffs are complete... | ||
Gnome Member Username: Gnome Post Number: 263 Registered: 08-2007 |
Does anyone have an opinion on why the 1001 Building wouldn't work? Would vehical traffic jam up Wooward? I don't have a solid image in my head about the 1001 parking deck, isn't the entrance on Griswold? I'm keeping my mouth shut about B.O.A. moving downtown. | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 2005 Registered: 04-2006 |
I thought BoA just made the statement that they prefered central cities, not that they were thinking of moving? | ||
Thejesus Member Username: Thejesus Post Number: 2538 Registered: 06-2006 |
"I thought BoA just made the statement that they prefered central cities, not that they were thinking of moving?" That's how I read it too...as in, we might prefer Chicago over Troy, MI as our mid-western regional HQ... | ||
Jiminnm Member Username: Jiminnm Post Number: 1477 Registered: 02-2005 |
If there is a market for Guardian Bldg tenants, why hasn't the current owner found them and leased space to them? | ||
3rdworldcity Member Username: 3rdworldcity Post Number: 961 Registered: 01-2005 |
I believe Ficano. The county won't change its plan to buy the Guardian. The owner of the Guardian has tremendous political clout with the City and the County. That's the only reason the County is planning to do such a dumb deal in the first place. (It's not as corrupt as the current deal with the County Bldg., however.) Buying 1001 is a great idea. Too bad it's unlikely to happen. | ||
Zxzm Member Username: Zxzm Post Number: 34 Registered: 10-2007 |
The owner of the County Building has stated that he is willing to negotiate the terms of the lease. The County doesn't need to buy anything. If their interested in buildings, maybe they should look at finding/building stuff that antiquated and ill-suited, such as Frank Murphy. (Message edited by zxzm on October 26, 2007) | ||
Lefty2 Member Username: Lefty2 Post Number: 534 Registered: 07-2007 |
Cgunn- are you kidding? Ficano made the RIGHT choice in the Guardian Bldg. How sweet a deal they made. Anything less is whining by people who lost out on deals | ||
Charlottepaul Member Username: Charlottepaul Post Number: 1874 Registered: 10-2006 |
"Does anyone have an opinion on why the 1001 Building wouldn't work? Would vehical traffic jam up Wooward? I don't have a solid image in my head about the 1001 parking deck, isn't the entrance on Griswold?" The parking deck is next to the building (north) along the Woodward side of the block. You can see it behind 1001 Woodward in this pic: http://www.flickr.com/photos/s nweb/261137987/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/e baldy/89794763/ | ||
Gnome Member Username: Gnome Post Number: 268 Registered: 08-2007 |
thanx charlottepaul, I still have it in my head that Hughes and Hatcher menswear is still there. I guess the folks who worked at that building when it was First Federal must have parked under Kennedy Sq. Its funny how something gets stuck in your head and you just can't see what's new. thanx for info | ||
Cgunn Member Username: Cgunn Post Number: 149 Registered: 01-2004 |
"The owner of the County Building has stated that he is willing to negotiate the terms of the lease." Yeah, but it was still in the millions. If your rent is in the millions. Why rent that little space for millions, when you can own a building for just around the same cost. Lefty2 What was so sweet about the deal that they possibly can't get from 1001 Woodward? | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 5583 Registered: 08-2004 |
For years the county has been complaining about the terms of its' lease. And yet the owners didn't budge. And then there's the fiasco with the scaffolding on the tower of the Old County Building... didn't the county have to pick up that tab? It wasn't until the county actually found another building to move to... that the owners of the old building finally came around to offering a better deal. Too little too late... | ||
Cgunn Member Username: Cgunn Post Number: 150 Registered: 01-2004 |
^^I agree. (Message edited by cgunn on October 27, 2007) | ||
Lefty2 Member Username: Lefty2 Post Number: 567 Registered: 07-2007 |
Cgunn, 1001 woodward? enough said! | ||
Swingline Member Username: Swingline Post Number: 936 Registered: 11-2003 |
What kind of security does the county require for the offices it would relocate to the Guardian? Would it require metal detectors for its public visitors to these offices? Installing such equipment in the Guardian lobby would be a horrible blemish on a National Historic Landmark property. Also, the non-county tenants in the building probably wouldn't be too keen on requiring their visitors and clients to pass through such screening. | ||
Eric_c Member Username: Eric_c Post Number: 1080 Registered: 11-2003 |
Excellent point, Swingline. | ||
Tkelly1986 Member Username: Tkelly1986 Post Number: 425 Registered: 01-2004 |
I still say they should buy the MCS or have Matty renovate it for a huge county complex. If not everything will fit in the tower than there is plenty of room to build around Roosevelt Park. Things like a new jail ect... | ||
Detroitbill Member Username: Detroitbill Post Number: 368 Registered: 09-2006 |
Well if the county doesn't want 1001 Woodward maybe BofA or Quicken should consider. The building , complete with location and parking is a steal. Even with renovations its a good purchase to a large business interest for Headquarters. Several People have spent more on building a home in Oakland and parts of Wayne County in the last 5 years than the asking price. | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 2047 Registered: 04-2006 |
Also, the non-county tenants in the building probably wouldn't be too keen on requiring their visitors and clients to pass through such screening. I doubt it would matter much to them. Pretty much every skyscraper in Manhattan has heavy security and screening for visitors, historic or not. Some of them even resemble going through airport security... | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 5625 Registered: 08-2004 |
Security screening has now become the norm for all shows at the Fox Theatre. Even during the August Theatre tours when only the tour members and guides are in the Fox, they must first go thru a metal detector. |
