Discuss Detroit » Archives - Beginning January 2006 » Casino construction « Previous Next »
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Cellus
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Username: Cellus

Post Number: 1
Registered: 02-2006
Posted From: 68.42.122.141
Posted on Thursday, February 23, 2006 - 2:38 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

anybody have any pics of the construction progress of mgm and motor city casinos that they can post?
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Detroit_stylin
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Username: Detroit_stylin

Post Number: 2509
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 66.202.227.12
Posted on Thursday, February 23, 2006 - 10:39 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

MGM ismaking good headway on the site...

I think right now they are currently putting in the steel work on the third level of the Pking deck I think. So roughly about 25% of the area that the casino is going to be sitting on is well under contruction now...
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Bibs
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Username: Bibs

Post Number: 454
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 198.208.251.23
Posted on Thursday, February 23, 2006 - 12:31 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The ramp from the Lodge to I-96 West Bound is elevated above the construction site. You get a nice view of the construction site.
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Spidergirl
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Username: Spidergirl

Post Number: 155
Registered: 12-2004
Posted From: 63.77.247.130
Posted on Friday, February 24, 2006 - 12:44 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Forgive the quality...merely the camera phone. It's fun to watch from out the windw...reminds me of playing Sim City.

Parking Garage


Casino Area


Hotel
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Bibs
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Username: Bibs

Post Number: 456
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 198.208.251.23
Posted on Friday, February 24, 2006 - 1:38 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

What is the average height of the buildings? I'm trying to imagine what it will look like from the free way. How about Greek town buying the building MGM is vacating and create a casino district?
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Lmichigan
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Username: Lmichigan

Post Number: 3233
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 67.172.95.197
Posted on Friday, February 24, 2006 - 2:07 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The parking garage will rise a little over 90' in height (120' or so including the elevator tower), the casino building will be three stories and rise to a height of slightly over 60', and the hotel tower will rise to a height of 190' (and over 200' if you count the elevator tower). This information is courtesy of a Hamilton-Anderson Associates after a little digging.
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Mcpd1300
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Username: Mcpd1300

Post Number: 54
Registered: 01-2006
Posted From: 68.42.175.57
Posted on Friday, February 24, 2006 - 2:35 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Well if Greektown Casino moved out of Greektown, that would kind of defeat the naming of it... and it would leave a massive hole in Greektown, IMHO.
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Lmichigan
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Username: Lmichigan

Post Number: 3236
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 67.172.95.197
Posted on Friday, February 24, 2006 - 2:41 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Not just that, Greektown is easily the best of the three properties in melding into the neighborhood as best it can, and respecting the layout of the urban fabric. The city doesn't need anymore cut-off superblocks downtown. The old IRS/MGM Building will be just fine, as will the blackhole that will be MGM Grand Detroit.
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Mountainman
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Username: Mountainman

Post Number: 2
Registered: 02-2006
Posted From: 153.90.171.16
Posted on Friday, February 24, 2006 - 3:57 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I'm trying to visualize where exactly these photos are from. Used to live metro Detroit, been away for a couple of years
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Rbdetsport
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Username: Rbdetsport

Post Number: 67
Registered: 11-2005
Posted From: 68.60.133.115
Posted on Friday, February 24, 2006 - 7:47 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I am just glad this thing is finally getting started. Anyone got any pics of the Motorcity Casino area?
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Cellus
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Username: Cellus

Post Number: 3
Registered: 02-2006
Posted From: 68.42.122.141
Posted on Friday, February 24, 2006 - 9:21 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

i would like to see some pics of the MotorCity Casino area as well.
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Ray1936
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Username: Ray1936

Post Number: 317
Registered: 01-2005
Posted From: 207.200.116.139
Posted on Friday, February 24, 2006 - 10:05 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Interesting. That strip of Michigan Avenue at the Hotel site used to be Detroit's Skid Row. Building after building of flop houses, pawn shops, and bars. I can only remember the name of one bar....the Crow Bar. This would have been in the fifties and sixties; it was pretty well wiped out in the mid sixties.

Anyone remember old skid row?
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Aiw
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Username: Aiw

Post Number: 5329
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 70.48.210.229
Posted on Friday, February 24, 2006 - 10:48 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Virtual Motor City Does!
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Aiw
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Username: Aiw

Post Number: 5330
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 70.48.210.229
Posted on Friday, February 24, 2006 - 10:51 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

While those areas were run down, it's a shame. Looks like some great architecture was plowed under.
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Jimaz
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Username: Jimaz

Post Number: 232
Registered: 12-2005
Posted From: 68.2.191.57
Posted on Friday, February 24, 2006 - 10:56 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Jesus Christ, what a goldmine of imagery!
Thanks, Aiw!
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Lmichigan
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Username: Lmichigan

Post Number: 3239
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 67.172.95.197
Posted on Friday, February 24, 2006 - 10:58 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Yeah, before the Lodge and the Fisher finished off the area, it looked to have been a cohesive, quaint(Physically: narrow streets, human scaled), if even run down, neighborhood. I don't think I'll ever get over that many individual lots, acres, and entire streches of streets being vacated to make place for one giant, Las Vegas-sized, casino complex in the context of an otherwise urban downtown. I wish the city would have just asked for even a little more intergration with the downtown area.
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Royce
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Username: Royce

Post Number: 1482
Registered: 07-2004
Posted From: 70.236.187.104
Posted on Saturday, February 25, 2006 - 8:56 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Lmichigan, how many times are you going to lament about this issue? The area was destroyed by the freeways, not the casino. MGM's permanent casino location is the best thing that could have happened to the area. It's the best thing that could repair the damage caused by the freeways. The only other development that was best suited for that area would have been the parking lots. So, Lmichigan, take your pick, a casino or parking lots.
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Lowell
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Username: Lowell

Post Number: 2315
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 66.167.211.61
Posted on Saturday, February 25, 2006 - 9:35 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Great shots Spidergirl, thanks. From that viewpoint, you have earned your name.
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Wmuchris
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Username: Wmuchris

Post Number: 246
Registered: 06-2005
Posted From: 204.39.224.35
Posted on Saturday, February 25, 2006 - 7:20 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Spidergirl,
Were those pictures taken from Edison's Cisler Building?
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Lmichigan
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Username: Lmichigan

Post Number: 3243
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 67.172.95.197
Posted on Saturday, February 25, 2006 - 7:33 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

It sure does looking like the DTE Center. So, what corner is it that the hotel tower will be closest too? I'm having a hard time with the street layour since it's all torn up, now. I know which direction we are looking in each, but the streets are a little less obvious for me.
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Reetz12
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Username: Reetz12

Post Number: 31
Registered: 09-2005
Posted From: 69.246.61.199
Posted on Sunday, February 26, 2006 - 9:22 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The hotel will be on the northwest corner of third and michigan ave(bagley exit off the lodge.) If you look at the hotel pic above, you see the bagley exit running along michigan ave.
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Ptero
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Username: Ptero

Post Number: 16
Registered: 12-2005
Posted From: 141.210.48.142
Posted on Sunday, February 26, 2006 - 9:46 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

my my my. It's too bad they couldn't save that flash in the pan... Plum Street. Maybe a brass plaque commemorating it on the floor somewhere inside the casino.

ptero... learning to drive where the Plum once reigned... Plenty of streets and stop signs, no houses.
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Harsensis
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Username: Harsensis

Post Number: 23
Registered: 07-2005
Posted From: 71.227.102.82
Posted on Monday, February 27, 2006 - 12:25 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Seeing how close that is to Tiger Stadium it would be nice to see that incuded in the project some how.
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Goat
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Username: Goat

Post Number: 8145
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 70.53.97.130
Posted on Monday, February 27, 2006 - 10:25 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Does anyone think that the sites chosen for the casino's will benefit Detroit? They (other than Greektown) seem to be islands unto themselves.
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Detroit_stylin
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Username: Detroit_stylin

Post Number: 2517
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 66.202.227.12
Posted on Monday, February 27, 2006 - 11:04 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Spidergirl has about the same vantage point of the consteruction site that I see on a daily basis. Thought she was in the same area I was until I saw how much closer she was to the site. I think that she must have taken them from DTE. It's the only other place that makes sense in that area.
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Bibs
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Username: Bibs

Post Number: 457
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 64.12.116.204
Posted on Monday, February 27, 2006 - 11:13 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Lmichigan - Thanks for getting the height of the building. Since the freeways are below grade, the three story casino will look six stores tall. Optical illusion of course.
I agree with you that the Greek Town Casino is well integrated into the surrounding neighborhood and generates foor traffic which makes people fell safe etc. From what I have read, Casino traffic normally funnels money away from local businesses such as restaurants so having the casinos in a seperate district might not have a negative effect on Greek Town.
I think the local economy is going to have a negative affect on the casinos in the short term! They get most of their businesses from the surrounding community. Better get those long haul coaches warmed up!
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Huggybear
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Username: Huggybear

Post Number: 161
Registered: 08-2005
Posted From: 70.236.169.121
Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 - 1:18 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)


quote:

Does anyone think that the sites chosen for the casino's will benefit Detroit? They (other than Greektown) seem to be islands unto themselves.


In one sense, it doesn't matter.

From the standpoint of anyone but the casino owners, casinos as constituted right now primarily serve the purpose of generating tax revenue for the city. If this is how you view their best and highest purpose, they work better as islands. After all, if your choice is between having people spend money at a casino (where the city takes a big cut) and having them spend money at surrounding businesses (where the city's take is very, very small by comparison), you would probably choose the former - and an island is desirable.

On the other hand, if you value spillover more and municipal revenue less, you'd hate islands.

In terms of spillover as it's developed, I'm not sure if one experience is overwhelmingly better. Greektown is more integrated but integrated into an area that was already a tourist attraction - and to my understanding, the casino owns and collects rent on a lot of the "spillover" property like the former Trappers Alley. If it's charging these outside tenants percentage rent (i.e., collecting a cut of their profits), then it comes one step closer to the economics of an "island."

On the other hand, the two island casinos (MGM and Motor City) don't add much if anything to street level but take the place of what would have been two big vacant lots (IRS and the Wagner Bakery) - no doubt following an expensive demolition process.
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Spidergirl
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Username: Spidergirl

Post Number: 156
Registered: 12-2004
Posted From: 63.77.247.130
Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 - 9:26 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Yeah...from DTE. Someone has the layout of the casino from an article in the Detroit News, but I haven't been able to find it online to post...
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Jdkeepsmiling
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Username: Jdkeepsmiling

Post Number: 42
Registered: 01-2006
Posted From: 208.50.91.234
Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 - 9:51 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Does anyone have links to renderings of what these things are supposed to look like when completed??? Just wondering.
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Spidergirl
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Username: Spidergirl

Post Number: 157
Registered: 12-2004
Posted From: 63.77.247.130
Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 - 12:33 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Not the best quality, but here's the supposed site plan I was talking about. Does anyone have the link to the original from the Detroit News?

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Lmichigan
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Username: Lmichigan

Post Number: 3253
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 67.172.95.197
Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 - 2:11 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Wow, I had never seen the layout out. What was the date of that article? It is not surprising to see that there is more parking than casino space, though.
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Spidergirl
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Username: Spidergirl

Post Number: 158
Registered: 12-2004
Posted From: 63.77.247.130
Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 - 2:48 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The self-park structure will be 9 stories high and will be shared with DTE for their downtown employees/contractors, with a walk-way through to one of the buildings.
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Lmichigan
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Username: Lmichigan

Post Number: 3257
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 67.172.95.197
Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 - 2:56 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Again, do you know when the article was posted, just wondering?
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Reetz12
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Username: Reetz12

Post Number: 33
Registered: 09-2005
Posted From: 216.144.213.130
Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 - 4:50 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

More parking only because I believe there is a state law at how much gambling space is actually allowed. Now walkways throught the casino are not gaming space, just areas of where tables/slots are actually locaated. BUt the state of Mich only allows so muchg.
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Spidergirl
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Username: Spidergirl

Post Number: 159
Registered: 12-2004
Posted From: 63.77.247.130
Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 - 5:07 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Sorry Lmichigan - no clue when the article came out...
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Goat
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Username: Goat

Post Number: 8149
Registered: 10-2003
Posted From: 70.54.68.57
Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 - 5:46 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

HuggyBear, thanks for the response. I never thought of it that way. I do agree with your post. Thanks for the insight.

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