  Tkelly1986 Member Username: Tkelly1986 Post Number: 60 Registered: 01-2004 Posted From: 68.251.74.200 |
Does anyone have an updated picture of One Kennedy Square and have any idea when people are moving in? I live in Chicago, so I am sort of out of the loop; well "Detroit Loop" that is. | ||
Jt1 Member Username: Jt1 Post Number: 7238 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 198.208.159.19 |
The webcam shows current pictures and the building can be seen on the left. Not the whole thing but constantly updated for you. campusmartiuspark.org | ||
E_hemingway Member Username: E_hemingway Post Number: 588 Registered: 11-2004 Posted From: 68.42.176.123 |
I took this photo in January. I had to really shrink it down to make it fit on the web site.  | ||
Cgunn Member Username: Cgunn Post Number: 34 Registered: 01-2004 Posted From: 199.8.67.17 |
This was taken in early April by tapezord on urbanplanet.org  | ||
Mind_field Member Username: Mind_field Post Number: 550 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 209.240.205.61 |
What is with the white pipe on the front of this building that extends from the spire to the base? It is ass fugly. It looks like a temporary sewage line or something. I haven't been downtown in a while, but that pipe has got to go. the spire is goofy looking too. | ||
Spidergirl Member Username: Spidergirl Post Number: 200 Registered: 12-2004 Posted From: 69.245.79.245 |
I saw that too walking downtown today...it looks like the 'white pipe' is pretty permanent to me. Although, I do like the marble columns at the base of the building. | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 507 Registered: 01-2005 Posted From: 207.200.116.139 |
I think the whole building is on the "ugly" side, and looks out of place among its neighbors. Prince Charles would be aghast. | ||
Rbdetsport Member Username: Rbdetsport Post Number: 83 Registered: 11-2005 Posted From: 68.61.11.146 |
I like it. I think the spire makes it unique and it looks really cool when it reflects the buildings off of it. | ||
Bob Member Username: Bob Post Number: 944 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 64.12.116.204 |
I'm just happy it is in Downtown Detroit and not in suburbia. | ||
Apbest Member Username: Apbest Post Number: 10 Registered: 03-2006 Posted From: 68.40.65.66 |
I think it could have been better, and sure the materials are probably on the cheap side. However, I kinda like the way it looks especially its placement in contrast with the architecture of dime and penobscot. Sort of a unique combination that makes Campus Martius distintive. I would like to see a relatively tall building at Monroe to sort of compliment Cadillac Tower's height. A residential tower designed in a spiral spire sort of way (like the planned Fordham spire in Chicago) would be cool. Maybe w/ an ESPN Zone in the first few floors. However, that's a pretty specific vision and will probably be far from reality | ||
Erikd Member Username: Erikd Post Number: 595 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 69.242.214.106 |
LOL at Mindfield. The "sewage pipe" is a permanent design element of the building. I'm not sure if I like it or not. Maybe it will look OK when the building is finished. We don't have the Washington Blvd "monkey bars" any longer, so maybe the Kennedy Square "sewage pipe" will serve as a replacement. LOL | ||
Dougw Member Username: Dougw Post Number: 1096 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 69.220.224.184 |
I decree that from this point forward, the white spire is referred to as the "sewage pipe". | ||
Wolverine Member Username: Wolverine Post Number: 143 Registered: 04-2004 Posted From: 141.213.196.136 |
Quality of architecture design asside, the material of this thing is crap. Detroit need some decent contemporary architecture that doesn't have bubbly looking facades. Oh well, you get what you paid for. | ||
Lmichigan Member Username: Lmichigan Post Number: 3605 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 67.172.95.197 |
I have another suggestion, the Kennedy Crack Pipe has a nice ring to it... | ||
Karl Member Username: Karl Post Number: 2118 Registered: 09-2005 Posted From: 68.230.22.99 |
In keeping with another DetroitYes tradition, the white pipe should be replaced with a fancy, more innovative "fire escape from hell" manufactured at the Packard Plant. | ||
Lmichigan Member Username: Lmichigan Post Number: 3606 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 67.172.95.197 |
lol @ Karl. I'm just imagining the Book Tower fire-escape on this brand new building. lol | ||
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 1291 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 69.14.122.57 |
I'd like to know when and where the Old City Hall historic marker that stood on Kennedy Square will be installed. And while we're at it, where's the Bagley Fountain that last graced the Kern Block? Maybe that will be part of the Cadillac Square project? | ||
Dnvn522 Member Username: Dnvn522 Post Number: 110 Registered: 11-2004 Posted From: 204.24.64.25 |
https://www.atdetroit.net/forum/mes sages/62684/70359.html | ||
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 1292 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 140.244.107.151 |
Thanks, Dnvn522!! Somehow I missed this earlier thread on the Cadillac Square project. | ||
Karl Member Username: Karl Post Number: 2124 Registered: 09-2005 Posted From: 68.230.22.99 |
Lmich - I'm just waiting for an innovative DY'er with Photoshop to post the "revised" pic. It'll make the white pipe look so good everyone will be begging for their very own white pipe. A new opportunity for Mr Belvedere........ | ||
Itsjeff Member Username: Itsjeff Post Number: 5839 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 208.27.111.125 |
I like the "pipe." I think it's an interesting architectural element. I like the whole building, in fact. | ||
Viziondetroit Member Username: Viziondetroit Post Number: 360 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 65.42.23.2 |
man it doesn't matter if what the building looks like or is built out of, people on here will B*%ch about it anyway.. | ||
Rsa Member Username: Rsa Post Number: 829 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 69.215.246.152 |
amen vizion! there seems to be quite a bit of whining going on as of late. not that i'm defending the building ['cuz i don't think the design was very well thought out either], but stop with the bitching about materials. glass and steel are not "cheap" and neither is the white marble they used for the base. pick a better argument for the "anti-modern" sentiments. -RSA (RockStArchitect) | ||
Sharmaal Member Username: Sharmaal Post Number: 787 Registered: 09-2004 Posted From: 136.1.1.101 |
I hear that, Vizion. I can't wait to see what materials you folks use when your building goes up. Something tells me it'll be sand and seashells. | ||
Viziondetroit Member Username: Viziondetroit Post Number: 361 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 65.42.23.2 |
I think it will be a long time before we see actual brick and motar buildings going up like 50+ years ago (and I don't mean that brick panel stuff) let's be glad there are so many construction projects going on as is.. :-D | ||
Sknutson Member Username: Sknutson Post Number: 547 Registered: 03-2004 Posted From: 67.114.23.202 |
I haven't seen the building in person, but it looks fine to me. Purty lookin' glass, I says. | ||
Viziondetroit Member Username: Viziondetroit Post Number: 363 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 65.42.23.2 |
I took this one a week ago.  | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 1442 Registered: 02-2005 Posted From: 141.213.173.94 |
It's good enough for me. Sure its too small on one hand, but if it was any bigger it would only add to the surplus of downtown office space. Sure its too modern, but I am with those who say that the contrasts with the Dime and Penobscot next to this are actually pretty cool. One legitimate complaint is that it is too suburban; it does not hug Woodward very closely, so it is quite a break from lower Woodward to its south, and Merchants Row to its north. However, if we look a CM as a sweeping urban "room"--kind of the family room with cathedral ceilings of our city--then having a little room to look around isn't all bad. Clearly you can tell I'm mixed. But more people will be working downtown, so its very good on the whole. Whoever said that we can't see bricks and mortar projects from scratch anymore was way off. It can be done and is being done. One of the best looking new apartment buildings in Ann Arbor, about an 8-story building I think, is all brick with stone (don't know if it's real or not) accents (this is the buidling on State which houses Buffalo Wild Wings on the ground floor). | ||
Viziondetroit Member Username: Viziondetroit Post Number: 367 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 65.42.23.2 |
I didn't say it wasn't possible, just not as easily found as the glass and metal we see these days. I'd love to see brick and mortar, it's more expensive | ||
The_aram Member Username: The_aram Post Number: 4829 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 68.41.124.8 |
Mackinaw, you need to go over to the corner of Packard and Hill in A2 and take a look at the new Gerald Ford School of Public Policy building. It's probably the finest new-construction building I've seen in a very, very long time. It's beautiful. Looks like it was built 70 years ago. EDIT: here on the school site, they have a slideshow of pictures of the building construction. the ones towards the end are fairly recent, but they've made a lot of progress since they were taken. http://www.fordschool.umich.edu/ (Message edited by the_aram on April 27, 2006) | ||
Swingline Member Username: Swingline Post Number: 469 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 172.129.26.131 |
One Kennedy Square may not win any AIA awards, but it is a solid addition to the CBD placed on a difficult site. The materials seem just fine to me and adds some welcome diversity of architectural style to the area. It is a substantial step up from the kind of off-the-shelf corporate campus ribbon window product that crowd the arterial roads near suburban freeway interchanges in SE Michigan. The building's Campus Martius elevation provides a lot of interest and the first floor glazing seems to have a lot of potential for tenant uses that can add to Campus Martius street life and activity. I hope that the building fills up quickly. | ||
Swingline Member Username: Swingline Post Number: 470 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 172.129.26.131 |
One other thing. I've whined about this before, but the name of the building still sucks. It makes no sense to name a building after a public square that was bulldozed in order to build the buidling. I'm not complaining about the loss of the square. I just think that the name is stupid and contrived. I'll try not to obsess about this. | ||
Rsa Member Username: Rsa Post Number: 830 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 69.215.246.152 |
nice pic vizion. it kinda illustrates what i don't like about the building: the apparent lack of thought. the shape, the height, the different portions on the facades, the plaza, etc. all seem to be quite random. it's like a combination of "neat" architectural ideas all glued together for the sake of being "neat", not a comprehensive idea applied to the entire building. however, there are a few nice ideas. the spire is a great idea, altho a little sloppy in it's application/connection to the building. it serves as a "beacon", "spire", or "terminus" of michigan avenue. the green glass is a nice contrast to the surrounding buildings (contrast not only serves to bring attention to itself, but to accentuate the surrounding buildings). the arc atop the building is very striking when seen from afar; again, a very powerful contrast of the very orthagonal neighbors. the white marble at the base is a nice attempt at corresponding to neghbors while not matching (nbd bldg. has a white marble facade). i say attempt because their marble is new and much more white, while nbd's marble has weathered and dulled some (which is why you shouldn't try and "match": you'll never be able to replicate older buildings for this reason). vizion is also right about the brick: you'll never see it used to the scale that it once was. panel brick (pieces of brick imbedded in concrete slabs) is too heavy for very tall buildings. thin brick (thin pieces of brick fitted onto a metal backing) have a shorter lifespan than steel and glass and are more fragile. traditional brick construction is far too costly now due to labor. | ||
Lmichigan Member Username: Lmichigan Post Number: 3608 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 67.172.95.197 |
I agree with your first paragraph, RSA. My problem with the design is that it looks almost like legos, like something preassembled, taken apart, and simply put back together on site, almost like a cheap, run-of-the-mill design you'd pick out of an architectural catalog that could be built anywhere. I'm happy with the base, and, of course, the ground floor restaurant space and the workers it will add to downtown, but I find it completely wrong that many would bitch at people that have legitimate concern with the building's design. Hell, even the cheesegrater, next door, adds some kind of character and texture to the skyline around Campus Martius. One Kennedy looks like a building they took out of Troy or Southfield Towne Center and plopped down on the urban park. It even pales in comparison to the modern Compuware Building. It's not that it's a modern design, I like many modern designs, in fact. It's the fact that it is a cheap modern design, more fitting for a major, suburban office park than an urban downtown where, and especially on a park that is meant to serve as a place to showcase the best architecture the area has to offer, IMO. It just doesn't fit, and it's not because it's modern architecture. | ||
Rsa Member Username: Rsa Post Number: 831 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 69.215.246.152 |
sorry lmich, but having "legitimate concerns" about a building that's already built is kinda like having "legitimate concerns" about the weather: it's going to happen whether you like it or not, making negative statements about it is just complaining. now, don't get me wrong, i would love to have an intellectual discussion about the architecture of the thing (if you couldn't tell already), but much of the above posts are hardly quantified as such. i can agree with you to a point. i think they could've made the footprint of the building a little more contextual. however, as far as design and materials, i think the point was to contrast (see above opinions on contrast) - if that's what you mean by "fit". i think it fits in very well stylistically, as i mentioned before about contrast. which brings up a good point: american cities are organic. they build, demolish, add new, etc. this is what gives them character and defines them. when we start talking about "fitting in", even an ugly building (see blue cross blue shield bldg.) "fits in"; it acts as the "negative" to good architecture's "positive". it can be the metaphorical blank wall of a museum to a very beautiful piece of art hung upon it. now, i'm not advocating building ugly buildings and i'm not saying that the e&y building is ugly. i'm just saying that it does fit in because it's different. | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 2025 Registered: 08-2004 Posted From: 4.229.105.228 |
Calling that tall thin white drain pipe like thingy a "spire" does a disservice to true SPIRES everywhere. But I do find the way it is attached to the building by that huge "lapel pin" near the top rather whimsical. It does provide a point of interest. The buildings zigzag setbacks with the ribbons of windows reminds me of the Bingham Center (13 Mile & Telegraph, where I used to work in the 1980's). I agree with those who say that something more attractive could have been built on this site, on the most important square in Detroit. But on the bright side, it could have been worse. (Singing that tune from the Mad TV dating hotline skits.... "Lowered Expectations....") | ||
Matt_the_deuce Member Username: Matt_the_deuce Post Number: 629 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 69.14.248.252 |
I was hoping for a little less sea foam green, and more transparency. The back of the building looks like it was designed for an alley. Too bad it's on a major financial district street. In the end I'm happy the building is up. It's a big plus for the area. Maybe someday the budgets will get a little bigger. I'm assuming this kind of glass would have cost too much.  | ||
Lmichigan Member Username: Lmichigan Post Number: 3610 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 67.172.95.197 |
Rsa, by "fitting in" was probably not the best term to use, and I was debating on whether to even add it. I don't mind contrast. Chase Tower contrast nicely with the Penobscot and Dime, as does Compuware, but they complement eachother in a strange way. One Kennedy Square just looks like a cheap, Lego design regardless of whether it "fits in" or "contrasts." The opaque glass skin looks almost like cheap plastic or finished vinyl instead of glass. I've actually seen it in person, and while it's just good to have something to fill Kennedy Square I can't just help to think every time I see it how Redico could have, at the very least, went for Compwaure or Chase Tower quality. | ||
Huggybear Member Username: Huggybear Post Number: 203 Registered: 08-2005 Posted From: 68.252.127.120 |
Short memories. Clearly no one remembers the fugly Kennedy Square parking garage. For having such a patriotic name, it was the single most Stalinist item in town. Good riddance. Is E&Y beautiful? No. Is it ugly? No. It's just a glass box. It fits in as the 1990s delegate in the little museum of styles in CM park: 1910s (Dime), 1920s (Penobscot), 1950s (Chase), 1960s (1001 Woodward), etc. Look - if it has a rent low enough to attract new workers to downtown, it's fine. | ||
Bigin06 Member Username: Bigin06 Post Number: 2 Registered: 04-2006 Posted From: 64.12.116.204 |
As a longtresident and someone who used to skip school and hangout downtown, I think this building is great. I like the contrast to the older buildings It adds a lot of color to the streetscape AND most importantly its another sign of the resurgence of Detroit that another major Corp chose to build in Detroit. I Love It (when compared to what was there before) | ||
Llyn Member Username: Llyn Post Number: 1519 Registered: 06-2004 Posted From: 68.61.197.206 |
Might as well chip in... I like the spire, and I like the marble at the base and its contrast with the color of the building. The thing I don't like is the materials for the side of the building - looks cheap to my uneducated eye. So... 50/50. | ||
Jt1 Member Username: Jt1 Post Number: 7270 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 198.208.159.19 |
The_Aram is correct that the new building is great looking. There is however a big difference between private sector and public sector deveopment which gives the public sector much more money to use in construction. The business cases are completely different but I can't argue about the building being great looking. | ||
The_aram Member Username: The_aram Post Number: 4831 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 68.41.124.8 |
well, yeah, of course. i wasn't trying to argue that the Kennedy Square building should look like the Ford School building. I lived just up the street from the Ford School building and have enjoyed watching it go up as the year progressed. Passed it almost every day and there was always something new to look at. | ||
Jt1 Member Username: Jt1 Post Number: 7273 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 198.208.159.19 |
And it replaced one of the more infamous meat head fraternities on campus. I think they lost their national charter in the mid 90s then their house burnt down. The old frat house was very nice but the new place is pretty impressive. | ||
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 1300 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 69.14.122.57 |
Kennedy Square rounds out area: Building unique, yet it balances Campus Martius by John Gallagher "One Kennedy Square, downtown's newest office building, gets several little things wrong but a couple of major things so right. Strikingly visible because of its green-glass façade, the soon-to-open building occupies the historic site of the former Kennedy Square. While modest at 10 stories, its key location, just west of Campus Martius Park, puts this building on stage with a surprisingly new and different look for downtown. ..." Full story at: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs .dll/article?AID=/20060429/BUS INESS04/604290311/1017/BUSINES S | ||
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 1301 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 69.14.122.57 |
And I still want to know whether the Old City Hall historic marker is to be reinstalled on this block, preferably on the Woodward side. Anyone? | ||
The_rock Member Username: The_rock Post Number: 1172 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 68.42.251.225 |
Aram/Jt1--- I am trying to recall an old fraternity house ( meathead or otherwise) that was on the corner of Packard and Hill where you state the Ford School building is now located. I don't recall one there. But I have not been down at that location in years. Are you thinking of the former Sig Phi Epsilon house which sat on the hill at the NE corner of Hill and State (733 S.State to be exact),and which lost its charter and was eventually torn down after it suffered a fire? Sig Eps regrouped,and now occupy the former Sigma Chi house next to The Union. If you are, you are in for a scoulding. But I am still curious. Maybe mackinaw can help. | ||
Dan Member Username: Dan Post Number: 1208 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 69.47.194.247 |
I agree Kathleen, I have also think a statue of JFK and RFK would be cool. | ||
The_aram Member Username: The_aram Post Number: 4834 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 68.41.124.8 |
Hold that thought. No. the Ford School building is on the corner of State and Hill. don't know why I wrote Packard up there. | ||
The_rock Member Username: The_rock Post Number: 1175 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 68.42.251.225 |
aram----too late to hold that thought. Obviously, Jt1 was ,in fact, referring to the time-honored, studious Sigm Phi Epsilon fraternity which he referred to as that "meat-head frat." We did not have meat-heads in the pledge class of 1954. And it was a beautiful house, classic architecture, with a rear addition later done by architect Bill Hobbs, a fraternity brother ( Hobbs and Black of AA-NE corner of Huron and State in the converted church) before a few fraternity rats in the early 90's decided to try to get away with hazing that nearly cost a pledge his life. Being objective, I guess you could say that at the time of that incident, they were a bunch of meat-heads. So all is forgiven, the Sig Eps are back on campus doing good things, the Ford School is going strong and apparently is an architect's dream, and all we have to do now is get some tenants to fill One Kennedy Square. | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 1446 Registered: 02-2005 Posted From: 68.248.8.186 |
Yeah good point further up, Aram...the new Ford school is very nice looking, and plays off of that little hilltop perch very nice. Npw that public policy is out of Lorch Hall, I'm just gonna start calling Lorch the School of Economics. | ||
The_rock Member Username: The_rock Post Number: 1177 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 68.42.251.225 |
NOTHING looked better on that "little hilltop than the Sig Ep house in the Fall of 1954 when we won the best fraternity Homecoming display with our rendition of Mr. McGoo cheering the Blue while sitting in old Ferry Field while the game was being played in The Big House. Get it? "Those were the days my friends....." | ||
Nellonfury Member Username: Nellonfury Post Number: 141 Registered: 03-2005 Posted From: 68.43.156.135 |
Did anyone read this part of the article at the freepress site? "Good public spaces need good edges, and Campus Martius benefits from having One Kennedy Square to the west. If only a new building would rise on the empty Cadillac Square parcel east of the park, then Campus Martius would be tightly enclosed within a ring of buildings that would focus and sharpen the visual appeal of the site." The empty Cadillac Square parcel east of the park he's talking about is the Monroe Block. YES there will be a building in the near future. The Cadillac Sq. Park is now in progress and the One Kennedy Sq. will having a grand opening soon. It doesn't make sense to leave the Monroe block empty. | ||
Lmichigan Member Username: Lmichigan Post Number: 3612 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 67.172.95.197 |
Actually, it does. It's called building when the market supports a new building. There need not be a rush to develop anything until the sites can have their potential maximized. I'd much rather them wait, or we could very easily see another underwhelming building on C-Mart. It makes a lot of sense. To build just to build is what does not make sense. | ||
Detroitplanner Member Username: Detroitplanner Post Number: 38 Registered: 04-2006 Posted From: 152.163.100.8 |
I personally wanted to see the land turned into a companion space for Campus Martius, with maybe another small cafe building, and lots of outdoor seating. I would have rather seen the money that went into developing that greenspace be used to restore the Layfayette Building. | ||
Lmichigan Member Username: Lmichigan Post Number: 3613 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 67.172.95.197 |
Are you talking about what will be Cadillac Square Park? Because, it is being turned into an extention. We're (and the article was) talking about the Monroe Block. | ||
Nellonfury Member Username: Nellonfury Post Number: 142 Registered: 03-2005 Posted From: 68.43.156.135 |
The Monroe Block IS part of the Campus Martius Master Plan..but I do agree with you about "rushing to develop" Lmichigan.The city needs to have an idea for the area before starting on it.Since CMP open in Nov 2004,the city quickly build up the One Kennedy Sq. in coming months after the park's grand opening. I had an feeling that the city may have plans for it in coming months. I also agree with Detroitplanner about the a small cafe. That will be an great idea as a part of the Monroe Block. It would even more cool if the plan is including add a high definition plasma screen at the side of the building facing C-Mart area.Cities like New York has one so why can't we??(Hockeytown cafe already has one that we already know)But that,it may not happen. We all had to wait and see what's the city's plans for it. | ||
The_rock Member Username: The_rock Post Number: 1181 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 68.42.251.225 |
I agree with you detroitplanner. Give me grass any day over a glitzy building, one that will have difficulty even filling with tenants, and will result with other downtown buildings being sucked of their own tenants. A park in honor of JFK would have been nice. I pushed for that two years ago, but got slammed big-time. Oh well, some say this is progress. | ||
Huggybear Member Username: Huggybear Post Number: 206 Registered: 08-2005 Posted From: 68.252.127.120 |
Why all this bitching about One Kennedy Square? I examined it pretty carefully in person yesterday - if you are looking at it in person, the materials look fine. And the building looks fine. You might now like the design, but it is the correct scale, doesn't clash too badly with its surroundings, and contrary to the griping, it makes pretty solid use of the site (there is a fairly minimal setback facing CM park - is your contention that people should be forced to walk around the building by walking in the traffic circle?) Glass is always a little bit wavy, but there is nothing abnormal about the glass in that building. If you don't like opaque green, that's fine - but it doesn't look cheap. If you want cheap, take a look at the seafoam green buildings in Troy (the clones) right along I-75 south of Big Beaver. One Kennedy Square does not immediately raise the question of "was there an architect here?" (By the way, was Troy slapped together so quickly that no one gave a thought to what anything looked like? It makes Southfield look like a place with a lot of enduring character. Somebody should have taken away the Lego expansion pack in the 1980s). The interior that is going into One Kennedy Square right now is white veined marble with aluminum accents, very reminiscent of One Woodward Avenue and Chase Tower (whether they put in a really huge formed metal ceiling like in Chase has yet to be seen). | ||
Dougw Member Username: Dougw Post Number: 1104 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 69.220.224.184 |
Pardon my ignorance, but where/what exactly is "Cadillac Square Park"? Is it a proposed section of the Monroe block, or something else? (I know the Monroe block is the large parking lot east of Campus Martius park.) As for One Kennedy Square, I'm still lukewarm on it, but it's not all that bad, and it's grown on me a bit. The spire looks pretty good now that it's done. And the height and setback of the building are just right. For the feel of the park, it's actually a good thing for the buildings right next to the park to not be quite as tall as the buildings further away, so a larger sort of canyon forms where you can see all of the buildings. E.g. you can see the Penobscot & Dime buildings behind One Kennedy Square. (I'm glad it wasn't *too* short, though... a 4-story building would've sucked.) Also, Mackinaw, maybe the picture is fooling you, but One Kennedy Square has very little setback from the street... just the sidewalk. Don't forget that the street zigs around the park there. | ||
Hornwrecker Member Username: Hornwrecker Post Number: 1097 Registered: 04-2005 Posted From: 63.41.8.187 |
Hell, we're still bitching about them tearing down Old City Hall. | ||
The_rock Member Username: The_rock Post Number: 1184 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 68.42.251.225 |
The late Judge John Wise ( who started his career as a traffic court referee) of the WCCC was assigned the law suit when attempts were made to save old City Hall. He had a lock and chain in his closet which he claimed was used by a protestor when he had locked himself to the front door. The good Judge, known as "the settling judge" threatened to place lawyers in that "lockup" when they would not resolve their cases in chambers and thus avoid furthur litigation. "You don't wanna incur the wrath of the jury" he would tell us. We didn't want to incur the wrath of the judge. The failure to save City Hall still goes down as one of Detroit's biggest mistakes. The mistake was compounded when Kennedy Square was built. What a dog that design was. | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 1447 Registered: 02-2005 Posted From: 69.221.66.56 |
Yeah I just drove by it today, Dougw. It doesn't have too much of a presence. Nonetheless I've settled on what we have, and all in all CMP is a great urban "room"--terminology that has been thrown around by a couple posters here--and the heart of downtown is just so much more vibrant and filled-in than it was 5 years ago. So no complaints. And yes, re: the Monroe Block, the longer we wait the big and glitzier the end product will be. Imagine how the market for downtown space might expand over 10 years as compared to 5. Perhaps by then the downtown development dynamic will have changed. Perhaps residential demand will be exceeding office space demand, and with most feasible, existing spaces already converted to lofts around lower Woodward, the Monroe block may be perfect for high rise apartment/condos. I'd also keep an eye on Cadillac Tower and Cadillac Square Apts. as being primed for some gentrification (perhaps new ownership/investment). To those of you in the know--how would you rate the current quality of rentable space in these two buildings? |
