The old Free Press building
In the past few years, a lot has happened in downtown Detroit, with buildings being snapped up and renovated.
But John Gallagher of the Detroit Free Press writes that there's still quite a few big, empty buildings and high-rises "in need of saviors." He lists 10 and refers to them as "dinosaur buildings."
Some of the bigger ones cited by Gallagher include: The Old Wayne Courthouse, the Book Tower, the Executive Plaza Building, construction of the Wayne County Jail project and the Detroit Free Press building.
He goes on to report:
The collection of largely vacant buildings -- well over 1 million square feet of idle or waiting-to-be-redeveloped space -- threatens to stymie the ultimate recovery of the city's central core. Some have been sitting idle for decades.
"The market I think is right there for smaller mid-sized projects," said Brian Holdwick, executive vice president of the Detroit Economic Growth Corp (DEGC). "It's the large dinosaur buildings that there's (no financial tools) there to address."
Gallagher reports that nothing seems imminent for these site, though investors often say they have renovation plans but aren't yet ready to disclose them.
