Book Cadillac brings promise

Condo buyers say they will create work in downtown

Louis Aguilar / The Detroit News
May 27, 2008

The Westin Book Cadillac Detroit not only brings some old-fashioned style back to downtown when it opens, but many buyers of the hotel's upscale condos say they'll bring the city jobs, too.

At least half of the 55 buyers of the housing units at The Book own small- to midsize businesses and many are looking to set up shop or expand their business presence in Detroit, said Jon Grabowski, president of Esquire Properties, the company handling the sale of the Book Cadillac condominiums.

"It's one of the main motivations for many of them to relocate to the city," Grabowski said. Two other real estate brokers in the city said they are helping condo buyers from The Book find office and warehouse space for their companies, which include firms working in media, information technology and health care.

Many of the condo owners say it's too soon to talk publicly, since no deals are sealed yet, but the moves have the potential to create several hundred jobs in the city.

What's clear, though, is that The Book is drawing business executives who now see Detroit as a viable place to live and consider setting up shop here.

Take the Achatz Handmade Pie Co., a 15-year-old Chesterfield firm that sold $3.8 million in pies last year, distributed in suburban Detroit and through Chicago's Whole Foods, but with minimal presence in the city of Detroit.

"You really want to be in the state's major city and for us, it's always been kind of tough for us to figure out where and when to do that," said owner Dave Achatz.

But when his brother, Steven Achatz, moves to his 28th-floor Book Cadillac condo in October, they plan to open a store that will serve both pies and soup in downtown, possibly just down the street from The Book's location at Washington Boulevard and Michigan Avenue. The shop, which will also do some catering, will employ about 20 people full-time, Dave Achatz said.

Steven Achatz runs Achatz Soup from Scratzch in Casco. The 49-year-old bachelor lives in a former garage next to his soup shop.

"I was never sure if it was worth living in Detroit until I learned about The Book," he said. "Enough things are happening down here to give it a try."

Wes Wyatt, chairman and CEO of Cintron Beverage Group in Philadelphia who bought one of The Book's $1 million-plus penthouses, says he too thinks the Book was too good to pass up. Compared with Philadelphia real estate prices, Wyatt called the seven-figure price tag for his three-story penthouse "a bargain."

Once he moves in he may bring jobs to Detroit. "It's something that we're exploring, so it may be some marketing staff or some distribution," Wyatt said.

"I'm just a big fan of the city," added Wyatt, who has described Detroit's downtown revival as "raising the Titanic."

Cintron energy drink has sponsored events in town, including the Comerica Cityfest and a fashion show. "We have a great relationship with General Motors and Detroit is a good market for us," Wyatt said.

The 67 condo units are on the top eight floors of the 32-story hotel, and range from Wyatt's panoramic penthouse to more modest units priced in the mid-$200,000s.

Another penthouse buyer, Bob Bartlett, doesn't intend to move ReviewWorks, the insurance cost-containment firm he co-founded, from Farmington Hills to Detroit. "But so many people now want us to have meetings at The Book, I can see us benefiting the city," Bartlett said.

Bartlett lives in Birmingham, and when he mentioned that he was moving to Detroit, "A few people told me I was crazy," he said. "But as more details come out about The Book, some people now think I'm brilliant."

The Westin Book Cadillac Detroit opens Oct. 1 after a two-year, $200 million renovation.

When it was built in 1923, The Book was the tallest building in Detroit and the tallest hotel in the world. It was the city's premier hotel for decades, but closed in the 1980s and became a towering symbol of the city's blight.

Detroit condo project puts discarded containers to use

BY JOHN GALLAGHER • FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER • May 13, 2008

The idea of putting people in empty shipping containers hardly evokes images of stylish urban living.

But a Detroit-based group hopes to use empty shipping containers to build one of the most unusual -- and certainly one of the most innovative -- residential projects in southeast Michigan.

The project would stack empty containers four high, cut in windows and doors, install plumbing, stairways and heating, and add amenities such as balconies and landscaped patios.

If it wins city approvals, the 17-unit condominium project could break ground this fall and open near Wayne State University in 2009. Steven Flum, a Detroit-based architect who designed the project, said it solves several problems at once, including the need to build environmentally sensitive buildings cheaply. The project is going to cost about $1.8 million, about 25% less than a normal condo project of similar quality would run.

"It's like building blocks," he said. "From the architect's point of view, the containers allow for creative urban design. They are innovative and modern, but also affordable."

The partners plan to build their prototype on the southeast corner of Rosa Parks and Warren, on lots now vacant or containing burned-out homes. They call their project "Exceptional Green Living on Rosa Parks."

The project will offer condominium units measuring 960 to 1,920 square feet. Prices will range from about $100,000 to around $190,000.

Any doubts might be dispelled by Flum's renderings of the project.

"People think they're going to be cubbyholes," Flum said. "They're going to be quite large and open."

The developer, Leslie Horn, chief executive of the Detroit-based Power of Green Housing organization, said using empty shipping containers is not a new idea.

"It's been done in Europe and, to a limited extent, in this country. But no one has looked at organizing the process on a larger scale incorporating a range of recycled materials and efficiencies that could save a homeowner as much as 60% annually in energy costs," she said.

Horn and Flum said they would use special insulating paint inside and out, high-efficiency water heaters and other energy-saving methods. But by far, the most environmentally friendly aspect of the project is the use of discarded shipping containers.

They estimate there are 700,000 empty shipping containers piling up near U.S. ports around the country, including at a yard near Fort and I-75 in Detroit. The containers tend to be cheaper to build new than to return to their country of origin, so once delivered here and emptied, they pile up by the thousands.

If successful, the prototype project could lead to widespread other uses of empty containers, Horn said, including student or emergency housing, temporary construction offices and infill houses in urban neighborhoods.

Want a preview? To see some of the innovative uses to which containers have been put in Europe, visit www.containercity.com.

Meanwhile, a small version of one converted shipping container is featured in the exhibit Considering Architecture: Sustainable Designs from Detroit, running through July 28 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit in Detroit.

Detroit condo project puts discarded containers to use

BY JOHN GALLAGHER • FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER • May 13, 2008

The idea of putting people in empty shipping containers hardly evokes images of stylish urban living.

But a Detroit-based group hopes to use empty shipping containers to build one of the most unusual -- and certainly one of the most innovative -- residential projects in southeast Michigan.

The project would stack empty containers four high, cut in windows and doors, install plumbing, stairways and heating, and add amenities such as balconies and landscaped patios.

If it wins city approvals, the 17-unit condominium project could break ground this fall and open near Wayne State University in 2009. Steven Flum, a Detroit-based architect who designed the project, said it solves several problems at once, including the need to build environmentally sensitive buildings cheaply. The project is going to cost about $1.8 million, about 25% less than a normal condo project of similar quality would run.

"It's like building blocks," he said. "From the architect's point of view, the containers allow for creative urban design. They are innovative and modern, but also affordable."

The partners plan to build their prototype on the southeast corner of Rosa Parks and Warren, on lots now vacant or containing burned-out homes. They call their project "Exceptional Green Living on Rosa Parks."

The project will offer condominium units measuring 960 to 1,920 square feet. Prices will range from about $100,000 to around $190,000.

Any doubts might be dispelled by Flum's renderings of the project.

"People think they're going to be cubbyholes," Flum said. "They're going to be quite large and open."

The developer, Leslie Horn, chief executive of the Detroit-based Power of Green Housing organization, said using empty shipping containers is not a new idea.

"It's been done in Europe and, to a limited extent, in this country. But no one has looked at organizing the process on a larger scale incorporating a range of recycled materials and efficiencies that could save a homeowner as much as 60% annually in energy costs," she said.

Horn and Flum said they would use special insulating paint inside and out, high-efficiency water heaters and other energy-saving methods. But by far, the most environmentally friendly aspect of the project is the use of discarded shipping containers.

They estimate there are 700,000 empty shipping containers piling up near U.S. ports around the country, including at a yard near Fort and I-75 in Detroit. The containers tend to be cheaper to build new than to return to their country of origin, so once delivered here and emptied, they pile up by the thousands.

If successful, the prototype project could lead to widespread other uses of empty containers, Horn said, including student or emergency housing, temporary construction offices and infill houses in urban neighborhoods.

Want a preview? To see some of the innovative uses to which containers have been put in Europe, visit www.containercity.com.

Meanwhile, a small version of one converted shipping container is featured in the exhibit Considering Architecture: Sustainable Designs from Detroit, running through July 28 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit in Detroit.

Bing gets loan to keep the Watermark afloat

BY JOHN GALLAGHER • FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER • May 1, 2008

The Detroit Economic Development Corp., a quasi-public arm of the city, approved a $700,000 loan Wednesday for the Watermark, the east riverfront condominium project being built by civic and business leader Dave Bing.

Like most proposed residential projects in Detroit and elsewhere, Bing's project, announced in 2006, has been stymied by poor market conditions. The loan is meant to help him carry the project's costs through this year until the market recovers enough for Bing to break ground.

"We believe this is a good use of our funds to keep this project moving forward," Brian Holdwick, vice president of the Detroit Economic Growth Corp., told the DEDC board.

Ed Tinsley, Bing's top development aide, said Wednesday that the Watermark's senior lenders are requiring that Bing sell about 65% of his 112 units before releasing construction money. As of this week, the Watermark has sold 22 units and has another 12 sales "in flow," Tinsley said.

Bing and his partners, who include a roster of Detroit sports and civic leaders, have invested more than $3 million in the project and face another $3.9 million in costs this year for design, engineering and marketing.

Detroit group to woo workers in creative jobs

It plans Web site, aid for small firms

BY JOHN GALLAGHER • FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER • May 4, 2008

In their efforts to attract more workers to the so-called creative economy, metro Detroit's business leaders are getting, well, creative.

The corporate leadership group Detroit Renaissance expects to launch a Web site in early June devoted to the region's creative economy. A marketing campaign to highlight the region's creative assets should go public at the same time.

And, looking ahead, Detroit Renaissance hopes to open a creative incubator in a downtown building on Woodward Avenue in a year to nurture small but promising creative businesses.

"This is really a very important initiative for the community," said Doug Rothwell, president of Detroit Renaissance. "It really builds off of the desire to retain talent, to attract a younger work force. This is a way to enable us to achieve those goals that other people have been talking about."

The term creative economy refers to those industries whose output is deemed to require some special talent or creativity, including advertising, software design, film production and architecture.

Such industries are considered attractive today by economic development officials. An analysis done for Detroit Renaissance by Angelou Economics, an Austin, Texas-based consultant firm, noted that creative industries are estimated to account for more than 7% of the world's total economic output, and that the annual growth of creative industries is twice that of service industries and four times that of manufacturing industries.

Moreover, salaries in creative industries tend to run above the national average. And creatives, as some people call workers in such fields, are more likely to cluster in urban areas, bringing a trendy vitality to downtown centers.

For all those reasons, the goal of establishing a creative corridor in metro Detroit makes sense, Rothwell said.

"It really is a chance to rebrand the image of the region," he said. "What better sector of the economy to gravitate to than this one, which would really have us viewed in a whole different light than we are today?"

Creative industries' impact

This attempt to boost the region's creative assets grew out of the Road to Renaissance plan, a multi-pronged effort by Detroit Renaissance to rebuild and reenergize the local economy as the region's automotive base declines.

Angelou Economics studied six creative industries for their possible impact on southeast Michigan's economy. The six industries were advertising, marketing and public relations; architecture and design; film production and distribution; digital and traditional media; music, and performing and visual arts.

Three of those industries stood out as recommended areas of concentration because of their large current employment base in metro Detroit and their likely growth rates. Those three were advertising, marketing and public relations; digital and traditional media, and architecture and design.

Taking advantage of Woodward

With the new Web site and marketing campaign coming in June, establishing the creative incubator will take a bit longer. Among other things, Rothwell said, Detroit Renaissance needs to get commitments from foundations to help bankroll the concept.

Then, an existing building must be identified on Woodward Avenue downtown to provide up to 50,000 square feet for the incubator. The incubator would offer office space, conference rooms and other facilities designed to nurture small creative firms.

Rothwell said locating the incubator on Woodward in the heart of downtown makes sense.

It's "a way to use Woodward Avenue to connect the dots in Detroit in a way we haven't done before," he said. "Woodward is the main street in Detroit, and the more we can build up Woodward Avenue to really be the connection between downtown, Midtown, New Center, the medical facilities, the educational center up at Wayne State, the more we can do that, that's a good thing, and this creative corridor might be the first time we've had a plan to really do that."