  Rhymeswithrawk Member Username: Rhymeswithrawk Post Number: 41 Registered: 11-2005 |
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 |
I noticed that too...the dumpster seemed new to me... | ||
Messykitty Member Username: Messykitty Post Number: 152 Registered: 03-2006 |
A dumpster. My goodness! You heard it here first, folks! | ||
Rhymeswithrawk Member Username: Rhymeswithrawk Post Number: 42 Registered: 11-2005 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
Rhymes, I agree, at a project like the Fort-Shelby, a dumpster means something. | ||
Eric Member Username: Eric Post Number: 546 Registered: 11-2004 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
That blog post is full of errors:
The name of the bar was Shelby's. The Anchor Bar is located around the corner.
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?
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 |
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 |
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 |
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. |
