October development news round-up

It's been another busy month for development news in the city. Let's catch up on five of the biggest stories from the past four weeks.

Picking up on last month's thread of sports-cum-development news, renderings were leaked this month that showed what the development of the former Tiger Stadium site could look like. The renderings belong to the Roxbury Group, one of two development teams vying for the rights to develop the historic site at Michigan and Trumbull. The renderings are somewhat generic, but they do show a plan to keep the playing field at the center of the development while constructing mixed-use buildings along the sidewalks of Michigan and Trumbull.

Another iconic Detroit site, the sprawling and famously decimated Packard Plant, saw the first of what developer Fernando Palazuelo promises to be many construction crews. Palazuelo acquired the 3.5-million-square foot complex in December of 2013 and has promised that he will develop the site, despite the naysaying of skeptics. MLive Detroit reports that the first Packard crews were there to remove loose pieces of concrete.

The development team behind the David Whitney Building rehab recently invited members of the press for a tour of the building. Photos from the Detroit Free Press reveal an impressive lobby renovation and glimpses of what the apartments will look like. The Whitney, featuring shops, dining, apartments, and the Aloft Hotel brand, is announced to open Dec. 15.

Earlier this summer, we broke the news of Lynne Savino's attempts to create a new identity for the neighborhood along Michigan Avenue immediately to the west of I-75/I-96 junction -- an area she's dubbed "West Corktown." Since then, she and her husband Mike have made an impressive rehab of their bank-turned-home. These photos from Curbed Detroit are definitely worth a look.

Rose Hackman argued in the Atlantic recently that plans to foreclose on Detroit homeowners is an unfair practice strongly tied to racist real estate practices of the 20th century. It's a timely piece as we're deep in Wayne County foreclosure auction season.

Writer: MJ Galbraith

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