Accident Fund Headquarters (Ottawa Street Station Redevelopment)

RandyH

jwswrites, once again, there will be retail on the ground floor of the ramp. Plenty of room for a cafe or two.

hood

Randy you seem to have some inside knowledge with the city, I realize that you can't disclose any info on projects but could you at least say when we may hear about the next sizable project? Also, any info as to whether the mysterious "Association Building" is moving forward?

cliffordzang

One positive about the current Accident Fund building is that it SHOULD be much easier to get that building reused than the Ottawa St Station. ;-)

mindbender

There's a good read on the story behind this whole process over at the City Pulse. Of interesting note: apparently they're moving the big chillers to "Allegan and Pine", which I assume means they're going to put new (smaller) chillers on one of the three big state office buildings at that corner.

hood

Their probably going in a parking lot there. The old chiller building is still there too as far as I know, I just can't remember exactly where.

sabatoa

Great article mindbender, thanks for the link.

MichMatters

EDIT

Yes, the chillers at Allegan and Pine are most definitely still there. I assume they will just build around them and expand the site a bit.

Randy, I meant to ask, did you guys ever try and lure Auto Owners Insurance downtown? I can't imagine that you guys would have been left in the dark on their potentional move.

Also, coming back to the Ottawa Street Station, will the 1,000 space parking garage be built north of south of the new addition? I'm trying to place it's location on the site. Also, what exactly of the current North Grand Parking Structure and Annex will be coming down? Will the entire eastern portion (the annex) be torn down, or just the few levels above Grand Avenue?

jwswrites

Here's a conceptual rendering of the site, from Accident Fund's press kit. Apologies for the poor quality. I used my digital camera to snap a photo of it since I don't have ready access to a scanner right now.

jwswrites

Also, city officials are saying the entire portion of the parking ramp that goes over Grand Avenue would be taken down. That parking ramp is built in two sections - the older part, which is on the corner parcel, and the newer part that is taller and crosses over the street.

The newer part - more than 900 parking spaces - would come down. The older part - also just over 900 spaces - would stay.

hood

I would really like a taller building for that new office space, but I suppose even one like that one shown would be alright if it ends up with a nice design. Of course this is a very preliminary rendering. It will probably be at least a year before we see a finalized design. And I really think it's stupid to keep the old part of the parking ramp, it is already on the edge of it's lifespan, having been built in the 60's.