Detroit celebrated the reopening of the Book Cadillac hotel on Monday. The 84-year old property, vacant since 1984, was renovated at a cost of $190 million. What was once a symbol of the city’s decline, is now a symbol of hope and rebirth. The Westin Book Cadillac Hotel and Residences features 453 rooms and 64 upper-floor condos, 50 of which are sold.
Author: westcoastperspective
Construction is winding down at 95 Perry Street. Savarino Cos. and Avalon Development are converting the circa 1930’s Benlin Distribution Services warehouse into a mix of office, retail and apartment space. Empire State Development Corporation is taking the top two floors of the building. Watts Architecture & Engineering P.C. on Thursday finalized a lease to take the balance of the building’s office space on the third and half of the second floor.
The metamorphosis of the former Dulski federal building, rechristened Avant, continues as the final pieces of glass façade are going up on the 15-story structure. The $80 million conversion of the building into a mix of office, hotel and residential space is expected to be complete early next year. UniQuest, a joint venture consisting of Uniland Development Company and Acquest Development is project developer.
A large chunk of Buffalo’s industrial past has a new owner. East Delevan Property LLC, a subsidiary of Ontario Specialty Contracting, purchased the empty, 1.275 million sq.ft. American Axle plant located at 1001 E. Delevan Avenue near Bailey Avenue. Buffalo-based Ontario Specialty Contracting paid $1.26 million for the property. According to City tax records, the property was assessed at slightly over $2.9 million.
The collective cheering you hear? Downtown boosters celebrating the start of construction on the Genesee Block. Genesee Gateway LLC has begun preliminary work on its $12 million plan to convert the string of vacant 19th Century at 99-125 Genesee Street into a mix of retail and office space. CityView Properties is teaming with the Wendt Foundation to revitalize the properties. Flynn Battaglia Architects is architect.
After a brief lull, steel is once again rising at the Federal Courthouse project. Pittsburgh-based Mascaro Construction is building the $123 million, 10-story glass structure. It represents the first new building on Niagara Square since the City Court Building opened in 1974. Court personnel are expected to move into the new facility by mid-2010.
The ground-floor of the Elsinghorst Building, 136 Broadway at Elm, is ready for commercial tenants. Jane Munro of Hunt Commercial Real Estate is listing the 5,000 sq.ft. of loft-like space in the renovated building. Owner Jean Elsinghorst painstakingly renovated the circa-1866 property into three contemporary loft apartments and first-level business space. Parking is available in an adjacent lot.
Plans for redeveloping the former AM&A’s warehouses on Washington Street are apparently moving forward. The City Planning Board will kick-off the project’s environmental review at its meeting next Tuesday. Signature Development is proposing to convert the three historic warehouse buildings into a mix of about 40 loft apartments and commercial space. Reuse plans are being prepared by Carmina Wood Morris, PC. The AM&A’s propsoal is one of several projects to be considered at the Planning Board meeting.
Work on several construction and facility upgrades at Medaille College’s Agassiz Circle campus will be underway by the end of the year. The projects, which total $2.65 million, will include new science labs, student lounge space, and construction of a new student success center. Along with improvements at McCarthy Park, the campus upgrades are designed to continue to meet the growing needs of Medaille’s undergraduate population.
The first fifteen homes in the Sycamore Village development are nearing completion and eleven are sold. The subdivision at the corner of Sycamore Street and Jefferson Avenue will ultimately include four subsidized and 20 market-rate units. First move-ins are scheduled for the third week of October.