This would be the first major highrise to have been built in Detroit since the Greektown Casino Hotel in 2008. It's also considerably less dramatic than the proposed Cadillac Centre which was proposed during 2008 and would have been built on the same site.
The shimmering new office building proposed for Campus Martius is the desire of Meridian Health Plan to expand its Detroit presence and create a state-of-the art facility in the heart of downtown, said the developer of the project Thursday.
The $111 million, 16-story office building is a rarity for a downtown that still struggles with multiple big empty buildings, but Detroit-based Meridian wants to proudly display its “commitment to the city,” said David Schostak, CEO of Schostak Brothers & Co, the project’s developer.
Meridian would move up to 1,200 workers into the new building in 2017, making the firm the sole tenant in the 320,000-square-foot-space, Schostak said. Meridian currently has about 600 workers in two downtown buildings. The proposed building would be built in what’s now a city-owned parking lot on Monroe and Bates streets.
Renderings of the plan were revealed Thurdsay morning during a public hearing at the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. The images showed a glass-walled office building with what appears to be a rooftop patio. There will be a 10-story parking garage with an ivy wall above the ground-floor retail space.
Looking good! That area is already the best looking part of Detroit, this will only enhance the experience and bring more high paying jobs to downtown!
I tried writing Schostak, today, about the height of the building, and they told me they can't (or wouldn't) release such information. In one of the renderings, it looks around the same height as Compuware, which is 230 feet or something. But, in the picture with the First National, it looks way taller, and the First National is significantly taller than Compuware (307ft to main roof), so who knows. I'm not sure who the architect it, either, so I can't email them.
Anyway, with the retail on the first floor of both the tower and the garage, the fountain at the corner of the site, and the "hanging" ivy screen along Monroe really make this thing better than it could have been. They could have put up another One Kennedy, but went with something a bit more significant.
I really wish to see more before making my final judgement. First impression is I like it, but I want to see more of the massing, doesn't seem to fit well on such an interesting site.
Surprised they won't share the info on this. Don't they have to share elevations and site plans with the public at some point?
Yes, when they go before the city council for approval, they'll have to provide technical information. But, given that the city is rather behind the times as it concerns online information, you'd probably have to be physically in Detroit at the time of the meeting to get an info packet on the project. They introduced this to the DDA/DEGC the other day, but all that body is looking at are the financials of the project, of course.
Yeah, it is a rather conventional building for an uncoventional site. They could have done something a bit more daring, something that would have hugged the corners of the awkward block, better. It would have been difficult given the tiny direct frontage the block has on the park, though. I guess on the corner they could have left a triangular-shaped plaza, and then had the entrance facing this plaza and thus facing the park.
Rumor has it that Meridan Health might not pursue building their own building. Corporate drama across the street seemingly may cause a change of plans.
Over the past couple of years, a New York investment group has made attempts to take over Compuware. Compuware fought off the takeover and instead is deciding to split the company in half sometime within the next year.
This could possibly mean Compuware would shrink, the other company might move out of Detroit and to NYC, and it might open up office space within the Compuware headquarters. At which point, Meridan Health might pursue filling that space instead of building their own tower.
However, this is all just rumor, but something to take note of if anyone's wondering about the progress of this development. The only thing confirmed so far is that Compuware is splitting up.
The proposed size of the new Meridian Health Plan building in downtown Detroit has increased by more than 60 percent.
According to sources, the Detroit-based company needs up to 200,000 square feet more than the 320,000 square feet originally planned.
Increasing the building size is a result of faster than expected employee growth at Meridian, which has office space in One Kennedy Square and the Dan Gilbert-owned building at 1001 Woodward Ave.
At 16 stories — with an average floor size of 20,000 square feet — the construction would cost $111 million, or $347 per square foot.
With the revised plans for up to 520,000 square feet, the building would be 26 stories and likely cost more than $180 million.
Depending on if they keep the same building shape or not, the new height would be between 350 and 450 feet tall. That just might make it around the same height as the next door Cadillac Tower.
9/12 edit: Turns out the story was false and Meridian has decided to lease in an unspecified building.
450 feet would mean over 17-foot tall floors I'm guessing this is going to be more 375 feet if they keep the same footprint. Either way, this is going to be a significant building on the skyline in that area. It'll definitely be visible on the skyline from the north.
I hope with the increase in size comes a better design. Not that this was horrible, but 10 extra floors on this design wouldn't look right. They are up to a height where you want a signature tower, and not some design you could drop down on Big Beaver.
EDIT: Crain's has completely retracted the stort citing a shoddy source. This is weird. Either this is something real that wasn't supposed to get out, our they were punked.