Rhymeswithrawk Member Username: Rhymeswithrawk
Post Number: 41 Registered: 11-2005
| Posted on Saturday, September 23, 2006 - 5:45 pm: | |
There is a huge Dumpster filled to the brim with garbage like old chairs and the like sitting in the parking lot next to the Fort Shelby (Lafayette side). I haven't seen anybody working inside lately. Could that renov. project be back on? |
Pffft Member Username: Pffft
Post Number: 1099 Registered: 12-2003
| Posted on Saturday, September 23, 2006 - 5:54 pm: | |
I noticed that too...the dumpster seemed new to me... |
Messykitty Member Username: Messykitty
Post Number: 152 Registered: 03-2006
| Posted on Saturday, September 23, 2006 - 5:56 pm: | |
A dumpster. My goodness! You heard it here first, folks! |
Rhymeswithrawk Member Username: Rhymeswithrawk
Post Number: 42 Registered: 11-2005
| Posted on Saturday, September 23, 2006 - 6:06 pm: | |
Hey, it's the first sign of progress at the F-S in years, kitty. |
Dan Member Username: Dan
Post Number: 1279 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Saturday, September 23, 2006 - 6:09 pm: | |
I was not aware the Fort Shelby was ever off. In fact the project was given $6.8 million in tax credits just last month. http://www.detnews.com/apps/pb cs.dll/article?AID=/20060816/B IZ/608160392/1001 |
Rhymeswithrawk Member Username: Rhymeswithrawk
Post Number: 43 Registered: 11-2005
| Posted on Saturday, September 23, 2006 - 6:11 pm: | |
I didn't mean the deal was off, sorry. I meant, "the work is back on." I hadn't seen anybody touching it for months. Hell, not since they did that environmental study this spring or early summer. |
Pffft Member Username: Pffft
Post Number: 1100 Registered: 12-2003
| Posted on Saturday, September 23, 2006 - 6:14 pm: | |
Yep after the initial flurry with the electricians etc., work had stopped. So this is good. |
Hardhat Member Username: Hardhat
Post Number: 178 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Saturday, September 23, 2006 - 6:23 pm: | |
Rhymes, I agree, at a project like the Fort-Shelby, a dumpster means something. |
Eric Member Username: Eric
Post Number: 546 Registered: 11-2004
| Posted on Saturday, September 23, 2006 - 6:23 pm: | |
Hopefully, this is a sign that the abatement which was supposed to start in August is beginning. http://modeldmedia.com/develop mentnews/shelby54.aspx (Message edited by eric on September 23, 2006) |
Bob Member Username: Bob
Post Number: 1162 Registered: 11-2003
| Posted on Saturday, September 23, 2006 - 6:37 pm: | |
If the complexity of the how long it took the Book Cadillac to get off the ground and get started, the Fort Shelby will take just as long. A dumpster is progress. |
Lmichigan Member Username: Lmichigan
Post Number: 4482 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Saturday, September 23, 2006 - 9:15 pm: | |
Why would it take just as long? The Fort is significantly smaller, and a less complicated project. I don't expect it to move at lightspeed, but it sure shouldn't take as long as the B-C. |
Rhymeswithrawk Member Username: Rhymeswithrawk
Post Number: 67 Registered: 11-2005
| Posted on Monday, September 25, 2006 - 9:55 pm: | |
From John Gallagher of the Free Press: "On the Ft. Shelby, I know they've lined up their state tax credits, but the word is that they still have a long way to go to get the rest of the financing in play. It wouldn't surprise me if they're trying to clean it up some to impress potential bankers." That'd make a lot of sense to me. |
Eric Member Username: Eric
Post Number: 553 Registered: 11-2004
| Posted on Thursday, September 28, 2006 - 1:16 pm: | |
I drove by about 11 there was a door open on the Lafayette side, the lights were on and through the windows I could see what looked to be a few workers. |
Dalangdon Member Username: Dalangdon
Post Number: 73 Registered: 03-2006
| Posted on Thursday, September 28, 2006 - 2:43 pm: | |
Is there anything fun in the dumpter? ;-) I would think it would be fascinating and fun to work in these old buildings - if they are being renovated. |
Gumby Member Username: Gumby
Post Number: 1420 Registered: 11-2003
| Posted on Thursday, September 28, 2006 - 2:46 pm: | |
Same things I noticed when I went by yesterday Eric. Are the just doing remediation work right now or are they doing significant work? |
Viziondetroit Member Username: Viziondetroit
Post Number: 815 Registered: 11-2003
| Posted on Thursday, September 28, 2006 - 2:58 pm: | |
I can't tell if there is anything significant going on but, they took the old metal awning off which was a safety hazard. I walk past going from work to the parking lot. I will take my camera one day next week and sneak some shots as I walk past on the inside of the place. |
Burnsie Member Username: Burnsie
Post Number: 654 Registered: 11-2003
| Posted on Thursday, September 28, 2006 - 6:00 pm: | |
I really doubt that anything other than remediation work is being done, since nothing in the media or on this site has indicated that the deal has closed yet. Remember all that remediation work at the B-C that took placed long before the deal was closed. |
Rhymeswithrawk Member Username: Rhymeswithrawk
Post Number: 91 Registered: 11-2005
| Posted on Saturday, September 30, 2006 - 9:17 pm: | |
I walk past going from work to the parking lot. I will take my camera one day next week and sneak some shots as I walk past on the inside of the place. On the 1st Street side, someone cut a circular hole into one of the blue pieces of plywood. You can peer into the building there. Not much to see. It smells like my grandma's basement. |
Burnsie Member Username: Burnsie
Post Number: 658 Registered: 11-2003
| Posted on Saturday, September 30, 2006 - 10:38 pm: | |
Ah yes, that musty, dank smell. I remember it really permeating the sidewalks around Hudson's, especially on hot days. |
Eric Member Username: Eric
Post Number: 555 Registered: 11-2004
| Posted on Sunday, October 01, 2006 - 12:04 am: | |
Did anyone else see George Bullard's blog post today? This photo is the Pick Fort Shelby Hotel, built in 1918, on West Lafayette between First and Second, not too far from downtown. It closed in the 1970s. Optimists hope to restore the building into a modern hotel and apartments. But for decades it's been mostly an empty shop of broken windows. The last memorable business in the hotel was the Anchor Bar, which occupied part of the first floor for a while. More recently, vultures have been spotted circling the building. Old buildings apparently are not all that economical to re-use, else the Shelby would have been revamped. The Fox theatre being one exception. If the Shelby and other abandoned buildings couldn't revive in the booming 1990s, there's little hope for a future in current downturn. The city's so down, it has trouble attracting Starbucks. http://info.detnews.com/george bullardblog/index.cfm (Message edited by eric on October 01, 2006) |
Itsjeff
Member Username: Itsjeff
Post Number: 6960 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Sunday, October 01, 2006 - 7:53 am: | |
If the Shelby and other abandoned buildings couldn't revive in the booming 1990s, there's little hope for a future in current downturn. Uh, George, there IS a hope for a future in current downtown because the funding is secure and the project is a go. Yours is an interesting perspective; that since abandoned buildings weren't renovated 10 years ago, they shouldn't be renovated now. But, upon examination, appears to be full of crap. |
Douglasm Member Username: Douglasm
Post Number: 684 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Sunday, October 01, 2006 - 10:45 am: | |
Actually, I see nothing wrong in not being able to attract a Starbucks, and if you're using that criteria as an indicator of the economic health of your city, you got troubles I don't want to even talk about. Out here, they're in almost every supermarket and on what seems like every streetcorner. The problem is they have the heart, soul and warmth of my ex-wife. I'll take the little independent anytime, thank you. |
Burnsie Member Username: Burnsie
Post Number: 659 Registered: 11-2003
| Posted on Sunday, October 01, 2006 - 11:52 am: | |
I agree that Bullard's statement was idiotic, but I'd hesitate to say that "the funding is secure and the project is a go." Until we hear that the deal has officially closed, nothing is "secure." |
Itsjeff
Member Username: Itsjeff
Post Number: 6961 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Sunday, October 01, 2006 - 12:36 pm: | |
The bulk of this project is funded by HUD loans and tax breaks. That part is in place. Apparently the investors have issues on their end, but they're contributing such a small part of the overall cost that they should be getting their act together. |
Lmichigan Member Username: Lmichigan
Post Number: 4526 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Sunday, October 01, 2006 - 4:22 pm: | |
Bullard sounds like a Debbie Downer type. It's getting harder and harder to paint downtown as a wasteland or ghosttown which makes his blog just seems very hollow. Detroit has a long way to go, but if he really wants to try make a judgement off of a city by how many Starbucks it has (we had a thread on this) you can see that he's grasping for straws. Now, if he wants to go out furthre into the out neighborhoods, some that are continuing to die, we may have a point. But, downtown? No. |
Dalangdon Member Username: Dalangdon
Post Number: 74 Registered: 03-2006
| Posted on Sunday, October 01, 2006 - 5:51 pm: | |
Starbucks. Don't get me started. They've dumbed down their recipes and cut training so severely (or just have bad trainers) that they've become the McDonalds of coffee. But there's always a good chunk of folks who will go with the brand they know rather than try anything new, and sticky sweet gunk usually appeals to them, so I'm sure Starbucks will continue to be a good investment. Sorry, I know this is about the Fort Shelby, but to use Starbucks as a barometer of viability is just dumb. Starbucks come in after an area "arrives" and then provides lowest common denominator "class" for folks who don't know any better. Much better bellweathers are when the real money opens it's wallet - and that seems to be happening in Detroit. |
Eric Member Username: Eric
Post Number: 556 Registered: 11-2004
| Posted on Sunday, October 01, 2006 - 7:16 pm: | |
This guy is an editorial writer so he works just down the street from the Fort Shelby. You'd think he might look out the window sometime or take a walk in the area that is longer than from the News' parking lot to the building. Even his own paper did story on the enviromental work this summer. Good to hear that funding is in place or is at least very close. |
Erikd Member Username: Erikd
Post Number: 739 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Sunday, October 01, 2006 - 8:03 pm: | |
That blog post is full of errors:
quote:The last memorable business in the hotel was the Anchor Bar, which occupied part of the first floor for a while.
The name of the bar was Shelby's. The Anchor Bar is located around the corner.
quote:Old buildings apparently are not all that economical to re-use, else the Shelby would have been revamped. The Fox theatre being one exception.
What about the Kales, Orchestra Hall, Trappers Alley, The Opera House, the 5 buildings of Merchants Row, the 3 buildings of The Lofts at Woodward, the Vinton, the Iodent, the Lafer, or the Book-Cadillac?
quote:The city's so down, it has trouble attracting Starbucks.
Starbucks just opened a 6th Detroit location on Woodward. How many more do we need to attract? --------- It is scary to think that this guy works for a Detroit newspaper. After reading his blog post, I would swear that he had never even been to Detroit. |
Itsjeff
Member Username: Itsjeff
Post Number: 6962 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Sunday, October 01, 2006 - 8:42 pm: | |
Erik, the Anchor was originally in the Pick. They later moved to the present location. |
Erikd Member Username: Erikd
Post Number: 740 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Tuesday, October 03, 2006 - 1:19 am: | |
Shelby's was the last bar in the Fort Shelby Hotel. They were there after the Anchor Bar moved around the corner. Maybe I should have said "It is scary to think that this guy works for a Detroit newspaper. After reading his blog post, I would swear that he hasn't been to Detroit in 10 years." |
Pffft Member Username: Pffft
Post Number: 1110 Registered: 12-2003
| Posted on Tuesday, October 03, 2006 - 1:30 am: | |
Actually the Anchor Bar's second location was in the Fort Shelby. Originally it was on the other (west) side of the News. So now it's in its third location. Bullard is a free-lancer. |