Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space

"A community’s physical form, rather than its land uses, is its most intrinsic and enduring characteristic." [Katz, EPA] This blog focuses on place and placemaking and all that makes it work--historic preservation, urban design, transportation, asset-based community development, arts & cultural development, commercial district revitalization, tourism & destination development, and quality of life advocacy--along with doses of civic engagement and good governance watchdogging.

Thursday, April 07, 2022

Demolition isn't always the solution

As a revitalization planner, I am always hesitant to recommend demolition of a property, because it's not really a solution, especially in a weak real estate market.  When you demolish a building, it's merely replaced with a vacant lot that can be even harder to redevelop.  

It cures the nuisance, but doesn't cure "disinvestment."  The cure to disinvestment is investment.

Big old buildings, even derelict ones, are still opportunities, while big empty lots are just empty and require even more money to redevelop.

Detroit Free Press photo.

The old Packard car manufacturing plant in Detroit has been vacant since 1959, longer than my entire life.  The latest owner's plans for redevelopment stalled, and he is now marketing the property for sale.

Detroit newspapers report ("Judge: Demolish Packard Plant 'immediately'; backup plan set up if owner fails," Detroit News; "Judge orders Packard Plant owner to demolish plant immediately," Detroit Free Press) registration required) that the city, tired of the inaction, just won a lawsuit calling for demolition.

While the city has "won" the battle, likely they lost the war because the property will remain vacant for many more decades.

La Friche arts center utilizes the former Seita Tobacco Factory.

By contrast, there are a number of amazing revitalization initiatives in places like Dublin, Helsinki (Cabelfactory), Toronto (Evergreen Works), and Marseille (La Friche), and in the US, such as the Bethlehem Steel Works in Allentown, Pennsylvania, or MassMOCA in North Adams, Massachusetts ("RANSITION DECADE OF DECISION, 1989-1999 SPRAGUE ELECTRIC >> MASS MOCA"), where large factory complexes have ended up being redeveloped as multi-function arts and culture complexes.  

And plenty of examples of manufacturing buildings being reused in every state in the US for new business development ventures, incubators, business and light industrial research parks, etc. 

Most of these buildings and campuses were equally derelict at one time.

This idea of reuse rather than demolition is why I proposed instead of a "boring" housing and retail redevelopment at the Walter Reed Hospital campus in Northwest DC, that the city should instead of saved the Walter Reed Hospital building, which was 1.5 million square feet, and use it to support a biotechnology graduate education, research and business development initiative ("Ordinary versus Extraordinary Planning around the rebuilding of the United Medical Center in Southeast Washington DC | Part Two: Creating a graduate health and biotechnology research initiative on the St. Elizabeths campus," 2018).

But it's hard to be patient, especially with a building that has sat empty for more than 60 years.


Photos: Andy Morrison, Detroit News.

But I can guarantee a large site like this, newly cleared, in a city with dozens of square miles that are already empty, will remain empty for decades more.

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8 Comments:

At 3:14 PM, Blogger Richard Layman said...

https://chicago.suntimes.com/2022/4/8/23015351/josephines-cooking-josephine-wade-victor-love-cook-county-land-bank-authority-property-taxes?_amp=true

 
At 6:10 PM, Blogger Richard Layman said...

ArchDaily: Rehabilitation of Can Luna Industrial Complex / Nil Brullet Arquitectura.
https://www.archdaily.com/979736/rehabilitation-of-can-luna-industrial-complex-nil-brullet-arquitectura

 
At 6:37 PM, Blogger Richard Layman said...

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Former UPMC executive tapped to oversee redevelopment of massive Mylan plant.
https://www.post-gazette.com/business/healthcare-business/2022/04/08/upmc-mylan-viatris-west-virginia-university-medicine-armstrong-wvuic-incubator/stories/202204080109

 
At 11:22 PM, Blogger Richard Layman said...

https://comeheretome.com/2013/10/24/the-failed-central-bus-station-temple-bar/

 
At 1:20 PM, Blogger Richard Layman said...

Times Union : Central Warehouse owner wants to keep property until he can sell.
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Central-Warehouse-owner-wants-to-keep-property-17077679.php

 
At 9:40 PM, Blogger Richard Layman said...

Detroit Free Press: Packard Plant owner misses key deadline for demolition permit.
https://www.freep.com/story/money/business/michigan/2022/04/21/packard-plant-owner-misses-demolition-deadline/7394785001/

 
At 5:25 PM, Blogger Richard Layman said...

South Bend Tribune: South Bend investor on hook for demo fees of at least 60 times what he paid for historic building.
https://www.southbendtribune.com/story/news/local/2022/04/25/brewing-association-south-bend-business-building-demolished/7369389001/

 
At 7:20 PM, Blogger Richard Layman said...

wnbf.com: Endicott Mayor: Demolition of IBM Buildings Expected "Very Soon".
https://wnbf.com/ibm-endicott-buildings-demolition-very-soon/

In bug cities, empty buildings are potentially opportunities. Not necessarily in the suburbs.

 

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