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OT: Detroit landmark, GAR Building, to get makeover

  • I have been following this building for over 10 years and I think it is safe to say, it has finally fallen into the right hands. A Detroit based media firm, Mindfield media production, finalized their plans to purchase the building earlier this week. It appears, according to recent reports, that renovations will begin immediately. Due to the inconsistent leadership within the city as well as what I like to call 'squating investors' the announcement that renovations will begin immediately shows great promise.

    I e-mailed the owners of Mindfield last night to see if they planned to blog about the restoration as it happens and I'm happy to say that in a response e-mail this morning they informed me that they had already planned on putting together some sort of media blog to document the process.

    I have attached a few photos of this magnificent building that has sat vacant for over two decades.

    Please don't use this thread to bash Detroit. I'd like to embrace what I see as great progress in the restoration of a city who will continue to prove its doubters wrong.

    This post was edited by theSpartan on 11/4/2011 at 2:23 PM

    Media production partners buy GAR building in Detroit

    It took six years, but the downtown Detroit�s castle-like building originally used by Union soldiers of the Civil War is now owned by a group of longtime believers in Detroit. The Grand Army of the Republic Hall, commonly known as the GAR building, at Cass and Grand River has been purchased by Tom and David Carleton and their partner Sean Emery from the city of Detroit for $220,000, the company�s officials confirmed Thursday.

    www.detnews.com
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    theSpartan

  • theSpartan said...

    I have been following this building for over 10 years and I think it is safe to say, it has finally fallen into the right hands. A Detroit based media firm, Mindfield media production, finalized their plans to purchase the building earlier this week. It appears, according to recent reports, that renovations will begin immediately. Due to the inconsistent leadership within the city as well as what I like to call 'squating investors' the announcement that renovations will begin immediately shows great promise.

    I e-mailed the owners of Mindfield last night to see if they planned to blog about the restoration as it happens and I'm happy to say that in a response e-mail this morning they informed me that they had already planned on putting together some sort of media blog to document the process.

    I have attached a few photos of this magnificent building that has sat vacant for over two decades.

    Please don't use this thread to bash Detroit. I'd like to embrace what I see as great progress in the restoration of a city who will continue to prove its doubters wrong.

    ...they're going to change it's name to the GWAR building though...rockon

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    RPMadMSU

  • I've had the pleasure of working with the great minds from Mindfield a couple times since starting my current job. That building looks awesome and now has a great tenant. Excited to see the finished product.

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    dubie7006 ●

  • theSpartan said...

    I have been following this building for over 10 years

    Did the building ever catch on that it was being tailed?

    Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read. - Groucho Marx

    tGreenWay ●

  • Nice looking building. I look forward to seeing what they do inside.

    PennSpartan

  • Good news, it seems like there is some momentum gathering in downtown/midtown Detroit these days. Hopefully we reach that tipping point that Dan Gilbert talks about.

    Victory4MSU

  • I pass that building every time I go downtown for a game and always think how cool it is. Nice to see it will be used.

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    There's a time and a place for everything and it's called college.

    277Gunson

  • Nice - one last blighted building to look at outside my window at work.

    BH Spartan

  • BH Spartan said...

    Nice - one last blighted building to look at outside my window at work.

    One at a time. It sounds like you'll also have another restaurant to check out as well. The article says that they plan to put a restaurant inside.

    theSpartan

  • Isn't this the building that that pathological liar that used to post here claimed he owned or something?

    Knibb High football rules

    WhiteBoyHatcher

  • I had thought the Ilitch family was going to buy it a few years ago.

    Edit to add: Just read the article. Nevermind. Either way, it's such a cool building, certainly glad to see it will be restored.

    This post was edited by TX Sparty on 11/4/2011 at 8:45 PM

    TX Sparty

  • Really glad to hear. Have always loved that building. Excited that it will finally be developed.

    Klevin Torborg

  • Thanks for the update. I actually tailgated right in the shadow of that building for Lion's MNF and was wondering what it's story was the whole time. It looks excellent and it's always great to hear of renewal in the D!

    Pic = brother throwing football in the shadow of the GAR

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    El_duderino

  • Might sound dumb (especially coming from a Southwest Michigan native), but reading that article has put me in a great mood. I've taken an interest in the re-development efforts going on in Detroit, and ever since I first read about the GAR building, I've been hoping that someone would buy it and restore it. Detroit is starting to gain some momentum, which is good for the city, and great for the state. I'm grateful for people like Dan Gilbert who are leading the charge on this. Can't wait to see more buildings start to get a facelift soon! thumbsup

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    CuyahogaSpartan

  • Detroit's castleI

    Always liked that building. Always wished I had the capital in invest in buying it and restoring it to some practical use... not necessarily a strict historic preservation, but a historic renovation with adaptive measures for modern use, preserving of course the remarkable exterior architecture.

    *sigh*

    Glad someone viable has it now and plans on doing something constructive with it. Just wish some of the other owners downtown would do something constructive. Like that moron that owns the Wurlitzer Building on Broadway... I'm sure you've heard... the one that keeps crumbling and has recently been cited for neglect as parts of it feel through some local business owner's roof. Or "Matty's" train depot. He's got Wallside (or some other company out there) "replacing" windows after puttering away on the depot for 20+ years.

    Dammit! I know my stuff. I've been in historic work for 20+ years. I can help. I have vision, and know how to have that vision within a budget. But all too often these dorks in the city just let these beauties rot away until they have to be torn down... like the Lafayette building across from the Book Cadillac.

    *sigh*

    Okay, I'm done with my mini rant. Gotta go to bed soon if I'm gonna make it to the TG tomorrow. Glad the "castle" is in good hands. Happy to see a thread here about it.

    Go Green!

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    FREE YOUR BREASTS! FREE YOUR MIND!

    Archangel

  • Archangel said...

    Detroit's castleI

    Always liked that building. Always wished I had the capital in invest in buying it and restoring it to some practical use... not necessarily a strict historic preservation, but a historic renovation with adaptive measures for modern use, preserving of course the remarkable exterior architecture.

    *sigh*

    Glad someone viable has it now and plans on doing something constructive with it. Just wish some of the other owners downtown would do something constructive. Like that moron that owns the Wurlitzer Building on Broadway... I'm sure you've heard... the one that keeps crumbling and has recently been cited for neglect as parts of it feel through some local business owner's roof. Or "Matty's" train depot. He's got Wallside (or some other company out there) "replacing" windows after puttering away on the depot for 20+ years.

    Dammit! I know my stuff. I've been in historic work for 20+ years. I can help. I have vision, and know how to have that vision within a budget. But all too often these dorks in the city just let these beauties rot away until they have to be torn down... like the Lafayette building across from the Book Cadillac.

    *sigh*

    Okay, I'm done with my mini rant. Gotta go to bed soon if I'm gonna make it to the TG tomorrow. Glad the "castle" is in good hands. Happy to see a thread here about it.

    Go Green!

    http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Detroit-Stories-Behind-Majestic/dp/1596299401/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320464418&sr=8-1

    You might enjoy this book. It's a bit of a downer, seeing all the great history that is just rotting in Detroit, but it also provides a bit of brain food. I'm in the same boat as you (though without the historic work experience). Nothing would make me happier than to have the money to invest in buildings and houses in Detroit and be a part of the restoration of the city.

    signature image signature image signature image

    CuyahogaSpartan

  • Archangel said...

    Detroit's castleI

    Always liked that building. Always wished I had the capital in invest in buying it and restoring it to some practical use... not necessarily a strict historic preservation, but a historic renovation with adaptive measures for modern use, preserving of course the remarkable exterior architecture.

    *sigh*

    Glad someone viable has it now and plans on doing something constructive with it. Just wish some of the other owners downtown would do something constructive. Like that moron that owns the Wurlitzer Building on Broadway... I'm sure you've heard... the one that keeps crumbling and has recently been cited for neglect as parts of it feel through some local business owner's roof. Or "Matty's" train depot. He's got Wallside (or some other company out there) "replacing" windows after puttering away on the depot for 20+ years.

    Dammit! I know my stuff. I've been in historic work for 20+ years. I can help. I have vision, and know how to have that vision within a budget. But all too often these dorks in the city just let these beauties rot away until they have to be torn down... like the Lafayette building across from the Book Cadillac.

    *sigh*

    Okay, I'm done with my mini rant. Gotta go to bed soon if I'm gonna make it to the TG tomorrow. Glad the "castle" is in good hands. Happy to see a thread here about it.

    Go Green!

    It's easy to focus on a few high-profile examples of neglect and make yourself depressed, but if you look at the number of recent acquisitions and renovations currently underway downtown it paints a pretty optimistic picture.

    Very glad to hear the GAR building is going to be used once again. The main reason it became vacant was a very specific clause in the deed that requires the building to be used for veterans of the American Civil War. It sounds like "small Civil War memorial" will serve to satisfy that requirement.

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    tRCMB's resident Wayne State Warrior and Sam's Club Spartan fan.

    fishrose

  • Detroit is becoming a success story, slowly but surely. Still, there is a lot of history down there that is just screaming to be restored. I'm happy that Dan Gilbert seems to be leading the charge of investors and business owners investing in downtown Detroit. Each time I go down there, I'm impressed at how much better it looks than the last time. Once people start moving back into the city and developing some of the vacant land into nice residential space, it will be hard for the rest of the country to ignore the good things happening.

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    CuyahogaSpartan

  • CuyahogaSpartan said...

    http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Detroit-Stories-Behind-Majestic/dp/1596299401/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320464418&sr=8-1

    You might enjoy this book. It's a bit of a downer, seeing all the great history that is just rotting in Detroit, but it also provides a bit of brain food. I'm in the same boat as you (though without the historic work experience). Nothing would make me happier than to have the money to invest in buildings and houses in Detroit and be a part of the restoration of the city.

    Neat book. Definitely going to order it. Thanks for the linkthumbsup

    Sparla tVet

  • Are they going to have armed security to protect the tenants? Looks like its surrounded by vacant buildings and high high high crime. Wouldn't want to drive through the war zone to get to my office.

    Keeping the sunshiners in check since 2000.

    Tanfan

  • WhiteBoyHatcher said...

    Isn't this the building that that pathological liar that used to post here claimed he owned or something?

    Yeah. He lived upstairs and ran a nonprofit downstairs or something.

    Sparty is our mascot, we are Spartans.

    ConQueso

  • Tanfan said...

    Are they going to have armed security to protect the tenants? Looks like its surrounded by vacant buildings and high high high crime. Wouldn't want to drive through the war zone to get to my office.

    This area is very safe, DTE Energy headquarters and MGM immediately to the west, government building to the south, the new Cass Tech to the north, and Ford Field and Comerica to the east. Not a bad area.

    signature image signature image signature image

    Sparts

  • CuyahogaSpartan said...

    Detroit is becoming a success story, slowly but surely. Still, there is a lot of history down there that is just screaming to be restored. I'm happy that Dan Gilbert seems to be leading the charge of investors and business owners investing in downtown Detroit. Each time I go down there, I'm impressed at how much better it looks than the last time. Once people start moving back into the city and developing some of the vacant land into nice residential space, it will be hard for the rest of the country to ignore the good things happening.

    lol

    Keeping the sunshiners in check since 2000.

    Tanfan

  • Tanfan said...

    Are they going to have armed security to protect the tenants? Looks like its surrounded by vacant buildings and high high high crime. Wouldn't want to drive through the war zone to get to my office.

    Please stay down south.

    Klevin Torborg

  • Small update. This picture was taken Dec. 2, 2011. Looks like they're working on the interior and structure first. I am going to follow up with the owners this week.

    GAR Building Detroit (@GARDetroit) on Twitter

    Sign up for Twitter to follow GAR Building Detroit (@GARDetroit). The GAR Building in Detroit, also known as the Grand Army of the Republic building, was recently purchased by owners of Mindfield a media production company.

    twitter.com
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    theSpartan

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