This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Are the present gateway proposals isolating or connecting?

I was the first to comment at the last DDA meeting on the 696 issue where I made this point and added others that were more accusatory of the process.  I heard later as the meeting progressed well intentioned hesitations to rush to judgement which resulted  in a postponement of any decision as well as one recusal which was a pleasant surprise. (see the video). I was pleasantly surprised at the number of concerned retailers who spoke but was disappointed at the short sighted comments that came from the chamber of commerce.
Returning to the issue I believe that all the proposals made valid points,  however it is my strong opinion that while these projects would be healthy for the tax roles and tenants the DDA largely ignored what I feel are hidden damages to both OUR zoo and OUR downtown by a failure to connect to both.
We are all well aware that our zoo which is RO's largest adjunct attraction to our downtown ( a fact which all may not be aware of) depends on using a portion of the gateway property for overflow parking. If they were to lose it they may be forced to shrink their grounds by adding additional parking internally at their own expense. None of the proposals offered any recognition of their problem,  no less any solution.
Regarding isolation: while we are told the city needs additional office space to compete with other cities with FREE parking, or more residential homes or condos in an area close but far enough removed from our parking starved noisy bar saturated CBD all three proposals cannot say theirs will bring any additional foot traffic to our CBD. One exception is the case of Singh luxury condos. Singh realizes his proposal could serve as a bedroom for increasing high tech and white collar companies in Detroit.  Regarding local traffic we have already heard from long time surrounding residents that many deign to bring their families downtown anymore. That our downtown now belongs to a younger crowd seeking only the bars as evidenced by the number of surrounding former family homes now being rented and shared like college frat houses due to the high downtown rents.
If the parcel was confined to offices alone as in the case of Tata Technologies one would think that the convenience to 696 would encourage workers with family to avoid the rush hours and get on the highway as soon as possible. Realistically half hour lunches are not conducive to a downtown search for parking, or shopping. This is why the first proposal is for mixed use to service its tenants on the premises.
None of the present proposals address the bottleneck single lane right hand turn onto the 696 service drive by offering to add another lane similar to the allowed Woodward double right turn by the Zoo.
We all know how expanding outward suburbs can isolate cities just as Detroit was isolated albeit all these proposals would benefit the nearby Holiday Market and Olde Saloon. But is that enough? 
What this location is perfect for is a twelve to sixteen story major brand hotel with deck parking and upscale office space benefiting from a major hotel servicing Metro Airport on the same property. A major hotel would see the need to fix the Main/ 696 bottleneck and could be more cooperative with our Zoo which can then attract more vacationers from all over the state to Royal Oak. The hotel, or the zoo could provide shuttle buses and maybe our DDA could convince the hotel to provide a shuttle to our CBD. Many of you are aware that Beaumont provides shuttles to its expanded parking.
In any case to cram a small hotel with mixed use onto 400 Main would only add to an already existing parking problem, soon to be exacerbated by an expanded Hamlin Pub All at a location including an E-Magine already offering catering and conference space a hotel would naturally offer.
I conclude that a city planner can bypass opportunistic developers with no track record of hotel management mentioned to my knowledge even if they are able to get a major hotel brand to give them a franchise. This is city property so there should be no rush to judgement. A hotel at the desirable 696 location, I reiterate, would serve both as a connector to the zoo, both downtown Royal Oak, Detroit, and all those in our state wishing to visit the zoo or the Detroit riverfront.  
400 Main is better suited for apartments designed for young professionals and medical/law students, as well as for an additional parking deck to stem the growing problems of congestion caused by cars circling downtown searching for non-existent parking and tying up our city's most congested eleven/Main gateway intersection. A revision of the plan for the 400 Main property shifting the now larger hotel to the 696 gateway could provide badly needed parking at 400 Main for presently vacant downtown office space and our shrinking downtown retail.

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