Louis Aquilar @ the Detroit News (http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070806/BIZ/708060321/1001)


Stumbling blocks: Vacant buildings impede Detroit redevelopment
Louis Aguilar / The Detroit News

Big empty buildings continue to stymie downtown Detroit's comeback, particularly in the area under consideration for the new homes of Quicken Loans Inc. and the Detroit Red Wings, developers and city officials say.

...

Olympia has been on a buying spree of mainly empty buildings and lots near Grand Circus Park. This comes at a time when its lease with the city-owned Joe Louis Arena, home of the Wings, soon expires. The company is looking to possibly build an arena in the area behind the Fox.


Also,

another article on the topic
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll...706180381/1128 (http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070618/SPORTS0103/706180381/1128)

If the Wings get a new arena, would that leave Detroit as the only major city with two empty downtown stadiums? Not to mention the Silverdome in Pontiac.

You know what, downtown drives me nuts. Why can't they take a page out of other successful cities and do something with this area. In recent trips I've seen some amazing things in urban areas that clean it up, make excellent use of the space, and make it friendly to tourism and in turn economic growth. Kwame and Co need to sit down. They had their chance to do something when the world came to watch the All-Star game, the Super Bowl and World Series games. The tripped over themselves. I've talked to numerous people that have visited from other states that were amazed at how poorly that area was planned.

I hope it happens. There is no reason to have a hockey arena on the river. There are no windows in it, what's the point? Comerica would have been nice on the river, but the Joe there serves no purpose (location wise). Might as well tear it down and expand Cobo (supposedly we miss out on a lot of shows because Cobo is smaller than a lot of big city convention centers)

To continue my thought, I'm not sure who or what Olympia is, but the city needs to put some things in motion where they give Olympia something so they can tear these buildings down. If there is real historical significance and a plan to preserve it while also making it useful and maintained, fine. If not, grant whatever exemptions or other tools necessary to destroy buildings and replace them with functional space.
My most recent trip was to Salt Lake City. Obviously, their problems never were similar to Detroit's, but prior to the Olympics they took an old, abandoned train depot and cleaned it up while building the "Gateway" around it. That area now attracts insane levels of commercial traffic and has been an amazing boost to the local economy.
The plan would have to be different for Detroit, given some different factors, but something must happen. Detroit's struggles are at the heart of what is wrong with the state.

Olympia is Illitch's company. Like Palace Entertainment for Davidson.

New York tore down the polo grounds, ebbets field and I'm sure hundreds of other "historic" locations. Being sentimental is great, but sometimes we take that a little too far. not every building that's old can be saved.

If there IS a plan for that city, I'd like to know what it is. Otherwise, it seems that the plan would be for it to be allowed to become so decrepit that land values drop to the point where people finally buy it up, bulldoze, and start over. Unfortunately, any sort of action in Detroit is going to seemingly take place long after most who read this forum are dead.

New York tore down the polo grounds, ebbets field and I'm sure hundreds of other "historic" locations. Being sentimental is great, but sometimes we take that a little too far. not every building that's old can be saved.

AGREED. Just become some shithole is old doesn;t mean it's worth a shit. Tear 'em all down and build shiny new stuff that later generations can argue over whether to tear down.
Look at the Egyptians: Other than a few pyramids and the Sphinx, they've torn everything down and rebuilt.

So if it's Ilitch that has been buying the building, why exactly do those same buildings impede redevelopment? Why doesn't Ilitch wipe out the buildings and go from there? Surely there is something else, even if it's parking structures, thar he can do with some of the space. Clear enough for an arena and a handful of parking structures/secure lots that are very close to the existing arenas and stadiums. Then, use the others as development opportunities for trendy restaurant chains and merchandisers. There is no local shopping near the Comerica/Ford Field/Hockeytown/Fox area. Even if you just duplicate an area like Great Lakes Crossing it would be much improved.
In other plans, the next biggest need is a large scale homeless shelter.

Sounds like Illitch is trying to create some sort of "campus" in the area by the Fox.

So if it's Ilitch that has been buying the building, why exactly do those same buildings impede redevelopment? Why doesn't Ilitch wipe out the buildings and go from there? Surely there is something else, even if it's parking structures, thar he can do with some of the space. Clear enough for an arena and a handful of parking structures/secure lots that are very close to the existing arenas and stadiums. Then, use the others as development opportunities for trendy restaurant chains and merchandisers. There is no local shopping near the Comerica/Ford Field/Hockeytown/Fox area. Even if you just duplicate an area like Great Lakes Crossing it would be much improved.
In other plans, the next biggest need is a large scale homeless shelter.

There is probably one historic building in the middle of all his holdings or something.

So I was thinking about this yesterday. I was thinking how many homeless people I see downtown. I was thinking, "What if Olympia made a deal with the city that freed up land for their campus and in return they funded a building a mile or so down the road on Woodward that was a massive shelter facility."
I don't know how legislation would impact this idea - and it's off-topic admittedly - but I think they could build a huge, attractive building to care for the homeless, and at the same time help the homeless care for themselves.
So you build a building that has a main floor that's 100,000 square feet. You make the building about 6 stories tall. The main floor has beds and a huge cafeteria (soup kitchen). There are also administrative offices, lockers, what not. The second floor is also filled with beds and about 15 offices. The remaining 4 floors are rooms with 4 beds and a bathroom.
The place employs homeless people to clean the facility, care for the landscape, cook in the cafeteria, do general maintenance as able, etc. It pays minimum wage for this and charges $10 per person per night to stay in the rooms with the bathroom. A laundry facility is provided at a small cost as well. Offices will be used by people from MIWorks, pro bono attorneys, social workers, and other people that can come in and meet with people that have cleaned themselves up, gotten healthy, and want to do something more for themselves and their family so they can move on.
There is a 30 day limit on how long people can stay in the rooms. They must be gone at least 2 weeks before they can come back for another 30 days. This cycle can repreat itself 3 times before the family is on it's own again unless it is able to show evidence that they're laying a foundation to move on.
By cleaning up the area with a very attractive building and employing people to take care of the building and recouping some money for letting people stay there, on paper it seems like something that could take a big step in cleaning up the area. By getting those people cleaned up and off the streets, as well as giving many a source of income, as well as adding the other buildings, you make the area far more attractive to retail businesses who can come in and make it a solid economic center.

And in the meantime, the are has been provided with ample safe parking at reasonable rates without having to walk a mile. The Palace is the best example of good parking we have. The Silverdome had some, better than Ford Field and Comerica anyhow. But it certainly creates the sports district and any sports themed superstore would be insane to stay away.

Meanwhile, by all means plow the Joe and make a riverfront park with statues honoring Joe as well as other sports great to play in Detroit.