The Leland Lofts, formerly the Nellie Leland School for the Blind
Many of Detroit’s schools are structures worthy of redevelopment, irrespective of preservationist concerns. “They really are brilliantly designed,” says Landy. “These buildings were constructed with reinforced concrete and have a high fire rating. I can turn off the heat in dead of winter it’ll practically stay the same temperature for a week.”
Two-tiered loft living in the Leland Lofts
via How local real estate developers are giving new life to some of Detroit’s shuttered schools.
An artist’s rendering of preliminary plans for Urban Outfitters’ $100 million Devon Yard complex, as viewed from the northeast. (Image courtesy of Urban Outfitters)
Urban Outfitters has been a visionary retailer and would not be a cookie-cutter developer, Ziel promised.
“When you see a lifestyle center you often see a Chico’s, a J. Crew, a Cheesecake Factory. That’s not what we’re about,” he said. “We wanted to take this really unique environment and mix it with the right tenants to create a consistent experience, a place where people will want to come and stay for a while.”
He said his company would take its usual “reclaimed natural materials, found objects approach” to construction. The hotel will be made with Amish stonemasons. “Our attention to detail and authenticity is bar none. Everything will look like it’s been there a long time,” he promised.
via Urban Outfitters plans Devon Yard, a lifestyle village at former Waterloo Gardens’ Devon site – Main Line Times – Main Line Media News.
The notorious Spofford Juvenile Detention Center in Hunts Point will be redeveloped for a new use with input from the local community.
The shuttered lockup – a dismal jail made infamous by rap lyrics and detainee horror stories – will be the subject of a “revisioning and community outreach process” starting this summer, according to the Bloomberg administration.
The process will last up to 12 months and culminate with a public request for proposals. Local leaders and entrepreneurs such as Sustainable South Bronx founder Majora Carter have already shown interest, with housing, healthcare and a food market mentioned as potential options.
“We are starting a thorough process to determine the appropriate reuse of the site, which will include engaging the community, stakeholders, elected officials and others to help us create and refine a redevelopment plan,” said Eric Bederman, spokesman for the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development.
The juvenile jail held hundreds of youth in vermin-infested cells until 2011, when the city Administration for Children’s Services closed the detention center that ACS Commissioner John Mattingly called a “Dickensian building” unfit for modern times.
via City seeking community input , will solicit proposals for redevelopment of Spofford youth jail in the Bronx – NY Daily News.
Reclamation Administration: News and Research on Building Material Waste Prevention