Business

Gallery: Team Gilbert Breaks Ground on Tower Raising Downtown's Profile

December 14, 2017, 12:50 PM by  Alan Stamm

This rendering shows how lower Woodward Avenue could look by 2022. (Drawings by SHoP Architects)

Work on an ambitious project in the heart of downtown now moves from planning and  financing to diggingand building.

A groundbreaking ceremony took place at the former Hudson's department store site on lower Woodward Avenue, where companies run by Dan Gilbert will erect offices, stores and an 800-foot residential tower that'll be the tallest building in Detroit. 

Update: "Today we are breaking ground at the historic Hudson’s site," Mayor Mike Duggan said at the event. "I remember coming here the last Christmas Eve that they were open and I’m proud to see development here today."

A new media release about the project is here.

The $909-million project will have 330 apartments in the tower and a separate mid-rise building with event, conference and exhibition spaces, Kirk Pinho writes at Crain's Detroit Business. There also will be a street-level market and 700-spot underground garage.


Mayor Mike Duggan at Thursday's ceremony.
(City of Detroit photo)

If all goes smoothly, construction could  finish by summer 2022.

The 52-story building, topped by a futuristic residential tower, will be the tallest in height.

The plan includes 1.2 million square feet of above-ground real estate, 250 residential units and 700 below-ground parking spaces.

Bedrock Detroit, Gilbert's real estate management and development division, has more details here. A construction timeline is here.

These illustrations from SHoP Architects of New York City show concepts of the impressive project, envisioned as a downtown anchor.

Bedrock Detroit and Rock Ventures are behind the not-yet-named buildings, designed by Hamilton Anderson Associates of Detroit and SHoP Architects of New York. Barton Malow Co. of Southfield is the general contractor.

Hudson's 32-floor flagship store was on the site from 1911-83. An implosion brought it down in 1998. 


The proposed lobby atrium design.

A below-ground marketplace also is part of the bold vision for a mixed-use gathering spot.

An overview of Detroit's central business core, from Bedrock Detroit.


Read more:  Crain's Detroit Business


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