Designs for the upper levels of the skyscraper from Dan Gilbert’s long-awaited Hudson site project have been granted an exception by the City of Detroit to standard building requirements.
The skyscraper, now under construction at 1208 Woodward Ave.downtown, is set to contain luxury residences on top of a luxury “five-star” hotel.
As the building’s floor slabs will become increasingly smaller at upper floor levels, the project’s developer, Gilbert’s Bedrock Real Estate, sought a variation Wednesday from the city to normal Michigan building code rules.
Architects from Kendall Heaton Associates told members of the city’s Buildings Appeal Board, Department of Safety and Environmental Engineering, that slender tall buildings in cities like Austin, Texas, have similar designs and are safe.
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The Hudson Site skyscraper will be 49 stories tall and 680 feet tall, according to building permits. Early on, the tower was planned to be 912 feet tall – superior to the Renaissance Center’s 727 feet – but plans were scaled back.
The skyscraper is one of two buildings that form on the Hudson site. The other is an 11-story mid-rise building containing nearly 400,000 square feet of office and exhibition space.
The entire Hudson site project began in December 2017 and has a completion date set for 2022. However, the expected opening of the mid-rise has been reduced to late 2023, and the skyscraper to 2024, according to Bedrock’s latest announcements.
Bedrock’s website says the skyscraper will house 100 to 120 condominiums and apartments and a 227-room “luxury five-star hotel.”
Bedrock has yet to announce the hotel brand. Free Press was the first to report last fall that there could be an ultra-luxury Edition hotel filling the place. Crain’s Detroit, citing an anonymous source, recently reported that Edition Hotels last year signed an agreement to go to the skyscraper.
During Wednesday’s meeting, Kendall Heaton engineers and accompanying Bedrock representatives mostly discussed the technical aspects of the building code and did not provide any project overview. However, they said the skyscraper residence floors will start on the 26th floor, and the hotel will head down. (Floor 24 will contain the mechanics).
Updated designs for the skyscraper and its floorboards were shown briefly during a public appeals board meeting. The designs appear to appear higher up a residential floor such as the 46th floor.
Raymond Scott, president of the Appeals Board and deputy director of the Buildings Administration, declined to share the skyscraper designs with Free Press. Bedrock’s representative at the meeting declined to comment.
ContactJC Rendell at313-378-5460 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @jcreindl. Read more about the business and sign up for our Business Newsletter.