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Downtown is Officially A Theme Park For Bad Rebranding

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Downtown— Village Green, the company that owns and operates Detroit City Apartments (formerly known as Trolley Plaza) has pledged not to rest until their downtown residential building outdoes Dan Gilbert's holdings when it comes to kitsch. In addition to the fake grass facade header, there are now chandeliers in the driveway. When will it stop? These renderings suggest big signage, carpets, and mirrors to come. For the carport lobby. The Farmington Hills-based developer can be credited with other recent design oddities around the state, such as "sexy bathrooms" in Ann Arbor. [CurbedWire Inbox]

Downtown— Speaking of Motown Monopoly player Dan, word on the street is his people are reaching out to other development "influentials" to make sure they are all "on the same page," on his plans for redevelopment downtown.

Recent meetings covered the following proposals:

At the Chase Tower, they are planning a giant projector (mounted on the First National Building) to shine things like the Red Wings logo onto the facade. How Vegas-y.

The idea for the former Hudson's Department store site right now (currently an empty lot) includes construction of a twelve-story parking deck below the new building. Because Bedrock Real Estate doesn't think there is enough parking downtown. How redundant.

And lastly, this is not a "plan," so much as an off-the-cuff comment indicating the team might be a wee bit out-of-touch in matters of taste. When the topic of the Book Tower came up, one person on the Gilbert team suggested that they should "tear it down." Maybe the classical details would not have displayed projected logos proudly? How sad. [CurbedWire Inbox]