The Dirt: Dan Gilbert poised to buy RenCen, demolish most of it

It’s looking more and more like a large portion of the Renaissance Center will be demolished. General Motors and Bedrock are figuring out what to do with the building once the carmaker’s employees move out. Elsewhere along the river, the Moroun family has halted plans for a concrete crushing facility that would be in the path of a RiverWalk expansion. And community activists saved a building attached to a unique museum on the westside from demolition for the moment. Its fate is expected to be decided this week.

RenCen’s uncertain fate

The Renaissance Center, the most recognizable skyscraper on Detroit’s skyline, could change dramatically in the coming years.

General Motors Co. and Bedrock Detroit have been in discussions about the future of the RenCen since April, when the auto company announced it would relocate its employees to Hudson’s Detroit, owned by Dan Gilbert’s development firm.

Bedrock now has an option to buy the RenCen (paywalled) — its five main towers plus two adjacent smaller ones — which doesn’t guarantee a sale but makes it more likely. Unnamed sources privy to the discussions told the Detroit Free Press that the complex’s future leans toward demolition of most of the towers (paywalled), though talks are still in the early stages. Some potential scenarios involve keeping the central and tallest tower, which currently houses a Marriott hotel.

Keeping the RenCen as mostly office space doesn’t make sense in today’s real estate market. The companies’ options are either to demolish and build something new, or convert the towers to residential or hospitality uses. Demolition would be complicated and expensive, but still more affordable than rehabbing the existing towers because the inefficient, all-glass facade would need to be replaced. Sources said the companies would likely seek hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies from the city and state to pay for the project. (Outlier Media, Crain’s Detroit Business, Detroit Free Press)

Crushing concrete plans

The Moroun family, owner of the Ambassador Bridge, says it halted plans to build a concrete mixing facility (paywalled) on the last stretch of riverfront between the Detroit RiverWalk and the bridge.

Community members criticized the plans last year when the Morouns’ company, Hercules Materials Holdings, applied for a permanent permit to mix and crush concrete on the site. Community members objected to the pollution the plant would raise near their homes and the greenway. The facility would have sat between the under-construction Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park and the Ambassador Bridge.

The Morouns now say they are negotiating with the city and Detroit RiverFront Conservancy to move the concrete plant to a new location west of the bridge. None of those involved would provide details of the new location or when construction of the last three-quarter-mile stretch of the RiverWalk might begin. (Detroit News)

Eviction gone wrong

A 36th District Court bailiff shot and killed a resident near Palmer Park while conducting an eviction with the assistance of the Detroit Police Department.

Capt. Philip Rodriguez told reporters the bailiff and officers forcefully entered the building after knocking and not getting a response. They found a man who the building manager described as being in mental distress. Police said the resident was holding a weapon, but did not say what kind. Rodriguez said officers called the department’s mental health team, but the resident “became more aggressive” while the unit was en route. The officers deployed Tasers, which made the man “even more aggressive.” The man charged at the officers, and the bailiff then shot and killed him, according to Rodriguez.

Bailiffs, who are independent contractors and not court employees, are allowed to carry a licensed and concealed firearm. Rodriguez said the department and 36th District Court have launched an investigation into the shooting. (BridgeDetroit, WDIV, 7 News Detroit)

Stay of demolition

Activists have saved a building that’s part of the Dabls Mbad African Bead Museum from demolition — for now.

Detroit’s buildings department issued an emergency demolition order for the building last month after the museum’s owner, Olayami Dabls, launched a fundraiser to renovate the building. Crews came to the site on July 9 to carry out the order, but were met by supporters who demanded its preservation . The city then put the demolition on hold.

Dabls and city officials made their cases at a hearing on Wednesday at the city’s Department of Appeals and Hearings. City inspectors found that the building had a collapsed roof, exposed wall and leaning facade that could be dangerous to pedestrians. Fellow artist Bryce Detroit, who assisted Dabls at the hearing, said the museum had a redevelopment plan to save it.

The department is expected to make a decision about the building this week. (Detroit News, Outlier)

Development news quick-hitters

The Michigan Strategic Fund approved a loan of up to $8.2 million and an approximately $3.5 million tax break for the Broadway Lofts development. The nearly $38 million mixed-use project will create 80 units across three existing buildings downtown. Earlier this year, the development also got a “gap financing” grant from the state. (Detroit News, Freep, Outlier)

The city is seeking a developer (paywalled) to work with the nonprofit Heritage Works on an “economic empowerment” center on the site of a former elementary school in Corktown. It’s one of several neighborhood projects supported by a $30 million grant from the U.S. Department Housing and Urban Development. (Crain’s)

The city said its Housing Resource HelpLine received more than 155,000 calls since launching in May last year. It also hired more staff, reducing wait times to just seven minutes for callers seeking emergency shelter. People who called in to the previous system complained of hours-long wait times . (City of Detroit, Outlier)

The Dirt: Dan Gilbert poised to buy RenCen, demolish most of it · Outlier Media