Inside the Park View Inn

[Sportmotor]

It will take more then 1.5million to fix that place up.

[Charles Hunter]

An empty lot would be better than the eyesore that is there now.  Maybe another Springfield garden?

[Sigma]

haha 

We'll get right on it Charles!

[thelakelander]

As long as the structure is structurally sound, I'll take the garage and street level retail over an empty lot anyday.  Strip it down to its structural bones and throw a new facade on it and it can look completely different.  All it needs is an Architect who knows what they are doing.  Maybe the city should take that $1.5 million it was going to use to demolish it and instead invest it on helping to restore the property?

[thelakelander]

If they can turn the old Book Cadillac Hotel building from this:



to this:


Then we should be able to make something decent out of the Park View Inn.

DETROIT â€" Prepare to be wowed.

The 84-year-old Westin Book Cadillac Detroit Hotel will open its doors without fanfare on Oct. 1. Once the jewel of the city’s retail shopping district, developers hope the 33-story hotel will return some iconic charm to long-neglected Washington Boulevard. 

The hotel has been shuttered since the mid-1980s and several attempts were made since that time to raise the nearly $200 million it has cost developers to complete the project. The Cleveland-based Ferchill Group launched the latest attempt at salvaging the building in 2006.

The developer has teamed up with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, parent company of Westin, to operate nearly 500 hotel rooms and a ring of grand ballrooms, restaurants, bars and storefronts that encircle the ground level of the building.

Full article: http://www.candgnews.com/Homepage-Articles/2008/9-3-08/XF-BOOK.asp

[Miss Fixit]

^ Fabulous results but a $200 million price tag.  Still a good example - thanks for posting.

[thelakelander]

^Don't get sticker shock.  That was a 33 story building that has more square footage than just about every highrise in Jacksonville.  My reason for showing this as an example was the state of the structure's condition before renovation.  Many people called for its demolition during the decades it was vacant as well.  Nevertheless, finally a plan came together to bring the thing back to life and DT Detroit is a better place today because of it.  Relating that to the Park View, I'm just making the case that the structure is salvageable and could be an asset to the community if the right plan comes together.

[Timkin]

If they make the Parkview inn into ANYTHING that even remotely resembles a renovation such as the Cadillac building you display , I will gladly stand corrected... The Parkview had an extensive fire, did it not??  would an extensive hot fire like that weaken that structure, especially for reuse as a parking garage?   OR is the Hotel portion being torn down and the remainder being renovated? 

[thelakelander]

The new proposal calls for only the taller hotel portion to be demolished.  If the building's structural system is unsound, then the proposed plan would not make sense.  Parking garages are expensive to build so the since one is already there, so there should be a huge financial incentive to keep it as a part of a retail plan. 

[Timkin]

The extensive fire in that hotel has me questioning its structural integrity.  although I am obviously not a building inspector, THAT is my chief concern about the 4 story hotel. So that it is coming down , to me seems sensible.  I am certain , however that no one would knowingly drop mega-money into that project, to save the Hotel if the structure itself were compromised too badly by fire.

[Sportmotor]

The extensive fire in that hotel has me questioning its structural integrity.  although I am obviously not a building inspector, THAT is my chief concern about the 4 story hotel. So that it is coming down , to me seems sensible.  I am certain , however that no one would knowingly drop mega-money into that project, to save the Hotel if the structure itself were compromised too badly by fire.

It only got like 1/4 of the side of the building it looks like. I didnt like going near that area tbh, felt like bad mojo.

[Timkin]

Bad indeed.. but something fresh and new in its place will help to turn the area around.

I wonder what is going to become of the old Funeral home...another historic building ...across the street in the next block southwest of the Hotel.. Is it finally coming down?

[thelakelander]

The funeral home on Union Street?   I'm not aware of any plans to demolish that structure.  However, there are plans for a gas station/restaurant to go in on the vacant property next to it.

[Timkin]

hmm.....what to do with a historic funeral home ??

[Sportmotor]

if it is haunted, turn it into something related