  Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 3355 Registered: 02-2005 |
My mistake! Yeah it was the Fine Arts bldg. which was likely going to see a preserved facade. So what does it mean if they're peeling off brick at the UA? | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 4941 Registered: 08-2004 |
The facade is the only part of the Fine Arts Building that is being preserved. The building itself is being razed, because its' framework is made of wood beams, which (because of nonexistent roof maintenance) have started to collapse into the building. So Mike Ilitch is building a new steel framed building behind to attach to the historic facade. That just leaves the Adams Theatre auditorium behind the alley (attached to the Fine Arts Building with a skywalk for balcony patrons and a basement tunnel for main floor patrons) as undecided for a future fate. (Message edited by Gistok on July 26, 2007) | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 4942 Registered: 08-2004 |
Mackinaw, although I'm no expert... the mere peeling off of bricks doesn't sound like demo work (I don't think they peeled them off for the Statler demo). It sounds to me like a new veneer will likely be added/attached. | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 3357 Registered: 02-2005 |
I agree. Certainly not a demo. | ||
Kid_dynamite Member Username: Kid_dynamite Post Number: 163 Registered: 06-2007 |
3rdworld...he was joking. Believe me...that's not happening. | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 4949 Registered: 08-2004 |
Can anyone confirm what they appear to be doing (if anything) to the theatre portion of the United Artists Building? So far we know that they have moved equipment to the roof of the auditorium, which is a good sign. I'm not sure that portion of the UA complex needs a new brick veneer, but fixing up the roof would be a great omen. On another note... looks like some Ann Arbor and Miller-Canfield related posts simply vanished!!  (Message edited by Gistok on July 26, 2007) | ||
Andylinn Member Username: Andylinn Post Number: 457 Registered: 04-2006 |
wait, what were the A2 / MCPS post that were removed? both hit close to home! | ||
Detroitrulez Member Username: Detroitrulez Post Number: 313 Registered: 12-2006 |
bump | ||
3rdworldcity Member Username: 3rdworldcity Post Number: 810 Registered: 01-2005 |
Kid-Dynamite: Of course I was very skeptical in my post re: the AA deal. However, the reference to Miller-Canfield was intriguing. (Good job, Quozi.) On the off chance that Quicken has been in MC's offices, I wanted to know the name of the lead lawyer. That would have told me something. MC does some of my legal work and the firm has represented Ilitch in the past. If I'd have gotten a name I could have determined whether Quicken was meeting w/ real estate lawyers or was involved in a financing transaction. The latter would have been my guess. | ||
Rbdetsport Member Username: Rbdetsport Post Number: 335 Registered: 11-2005 |
If this same firm has worked with Ilitch before, maybe the meeting was between Ilitch and Gilbert on possible land acquisations. | ||
Thejesus Member Username: Thejesus Post Number: 1691 Registered: 06-2006 |
"The brick on the UA is being stripped on the west side of the building" Jeez...I'm starting to think this whole building will get restored and be offered for sale to the public before we even read anything about it in the papers :D | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 1323 Registered: 10-2003 |
http://www.gobeal.com/bealinc. php Is this who is doing the demo? If so: "Beal Incorporated provides demolition services, specializing in historic building renovations, for a variety of clients throughout Michigan. The company specializes in interior demolition and lead/asbestos abatement with projects sizes ranging from $10,000 to over $1,000,000." | ||
Thejesus Member Username: Thejesus Post Number: 1693 Registered: 06-2006 |
^someone posted that already in the UA thread... https://www.atdetroit.net/forum/mes sages/5/102019.html?1184593730 | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 1325 Registered: 10-2003 |
Sorry, it's hard to keep up with the rampant whirling speculation. | ||
Thejesus Member Username: Thejesus Post Number: 1695 Registered: 06-2006 |
^no that's cool, just wanted you to know that it was discussed already in case you wanted to read the thread and so you didn't wonder why you didn't get any replies... | ||
3rdworldcity Member Username: 3rdworldcity Post Number: 812 Registered: 01-2005 |
A friend, a trusted source, says that the crane on the roof and the material they hauled up was used to put a new roof on the UA. He also told me he inspected the City files and that Ilitch was ordered in late June by BASE to file an application for the ongoing work and provide the City w/ the scope of the work being done and to be done and has not done it; it was due on July 7th. The purpose was to determine whether he's required to pull a building permit. Also, Ilitch last Feb. was ordered to obtain a Certificate of Compliance for the UA by early March and has not done that either. A C of C is a big deal and no other building owner would be permitted to avoid getting one. (One could argue that all this work is an attempt to make necessary repairs in order to obtain a C of C but that's a stretch.) Why all the secrecy? My guess is that he's going to renovate the building, based on what I see now. | ||
Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 4013 Registered: 10-2003 |
"My guess is that he's going to renovate the [United Artists] building, based on what I see now." Wow, that^ would be bombshell. I do hope your guess is correct. | ||
Wschnitt Member Username: Wschnitt Post Number: 8 Registered: 07-2007 |
Are there any pictures of either the UA of Fine Arts buildings? | ||
Eric Member Username: Eric Post Number: 907 Registered: 11-2004 |
I really hope you're right. I can't say though I'm surprised that Ilitch isn't playing by the rules again | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 4950 Registered: 08-2004 |
Eric, you are absolutely right about not being surprised that Ilitch isn't playing by the rules again. However, in this one instance (restoring the United Artists Building), it becomes extremely difficult to work up any indignation over it! | ||
Lmichigan Member Username: Lmichigan Post Number: 5846 Registered: 10-2003 |
Well, one can take solace in knowing that as we see more and more improvement, downtown, it becomes increasingly more difficult for the Ilitch empire, and any other slumlords, to continue to neglect at least properly securing their properties. | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 4952 Registered: 08-2004 |
Wschnitt, here ya go (how the United Artists Building looked a few weeks ago)....  And here (how the UA Theatre looked many decades ago)...  (Message edited by Gistok on July 26, 2007) | ||
Billk Member Username: Billk Post Number: 49 Registered: 09-2005 |
" The brick on the UA is being stripped on the west side of the building. " * This is not true. Nothing has been done to the facade except minor cleaning up of the UA marquee area. There is interior work going on inside, | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 4957 Registered: 08-2004 |
Has anyone seen them actually stripping bricks off the building facade? Or are folks only looking at the west side, which had many bricks stripped off back in the 1990's when some came loose and rained down onto parked cars below? | ||
Jz_detroit Member Username: Jz_detroit Post Number: 20 Registered: 12-2005 |
I drove by yesterday and noticed nothing different. There may be work being done inside but the exterior is untouched. | ||
Scs100 Member Username: Scs100 Post Number: 1274 Registered: 12-2006 |
That might explain why only the west side is stripped. My bad. | ||
Kenp Member Username: Kenp Post Number: 628 Registered: 03-2006 |
The brick work on this side is all tore up.  | ||
E_hemingway Member Username: E_hemingway Post Number: 1278 Registered: 11-2004 |
It's been like that for a while. See Gistok's last post. | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 3388 Registered: 02-2005 |
From today's Detroit News, part of an interview with Peter Karmanos: "Will Dan Gilbert, chairman of Livonia-based Quicken Loans Inc., move his headquarters and 5,000 jobs downtown? "I believe so." Next door to your 4,000 (of 8,000 total) on Woodward? "I hope so." What if he doesn't, and he chooses the old Statler site at Washington Boulevard and Grand Circus Park instead? "I still hope he comes downtown." If conditions changed and you did conclude a deal to sell the company to a rival or private equity group, would Compuware stay in Detroit? "One of the caveats I had" with any prospective buyers "is the company remain in Detroit. They understood that and they agreed with that. We are not moving to Dallas" -- a clear shot at Comerica Inc.'s HQ decampment -- "or anywhere else."" http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.d ll/article?AID=/20070728/OPINI ON03/707280387&theme=Biz-Compu ware Gotta love Karmanos. | ||
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize Post Number: 1902 Registered: 02-2007 |
His interview is simple and to the point. Just like many people's opinion and thoughts on the site. |
