Development Notes: One Campus Martius, Lee Plaza, and more

Compuware Addition

Earlier this month, Dan Gilbert chatted with Crain’s and when asked about building an addition to One Campus Martius, or the Compuware Building, he said, “I'd say you're on the right path on that.” The building is 15 stories tall, but has that back section with three stories that could be built on. The article hints that an additional 250,000 square feet could be added to the building.

Earlier this year, Microsoft announced that they’d be moving a Microsoft Technology Center into the building in early 2018. Gilbert has often said over the past six months that downtown is running out of office space. He has a number of large scale renovations in the works (including the David Stott Building, Book Tower, and the Detroit Free Press Building) and plans for new construction, including 400+ residential units in Brush Park, hopes for snagging the fail jail site and building a soccer stadium, building office and residential towers on the Monroe block, and the Hudson’s site.

Also to note: the “transformational” legislation that didn’t go anywhere last year has now made it to Rick Snyder’s desk. This legislation would help developers capture tax revenue on brownfield sites for large-scale (i.e. Hudson’s site) development projects.

Lee Plaza Rehab

Lee Plaza could finally start moving forward on a plan. According to the Free Press, the city announced a plan to “transfer nearly 400 vacant public housing units, including the historic Lee Plaza high-rise, from the Detroit Housing Commission to the City of Detroit.” Both Lee Plaza and the nearby Woodland Apartments would be redeveloped for low-income apartments.

The long-vacant building stands about a mile west of the Fisher Building on West Grand Boulevard near Grand River. A developer had plans to convert the building to apartments, but funding never came through.

Residential on the horizon

We should see a few developments finish up in the coming months. 28 Grand, the building of micro-apartments, will be opening this summer in Capitol Park. The Selden, a high-end condo development, should also be coming soon in Midtown. Also to note, apartments have been converted to condos at Fort Shelby. A sneak peek event is scheduled in June.