Is long-vacant Moose Lodge building inching toward renovation? – Crain’s Detroit Business (blog)

Signs are pointing toward an upcoming renovation of the long-vacant Loyal Order of the Moose Lodge building at 2115 Cass Ave. in downtown Detroit.

A document that the Ilitch family's Olympia Development of Michigan filed with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality last week shows some asbestos cleanup is scheduled to take place over a few days next week, with Detroit-based Qualified Abatement Services Inc. as the contractor.

In addition, there has been parking lot work around the building at Cass Avenue and Elizabeth Street across from Bookie's Bar and Grill recently, as well as some painting done on plywood on window coverings.

Seems to me that historic renovation is in the works. But Olympia is remaining mum to me about any details of a renovation.

I asked Ed Saenz, director of communications for the Detroit-based company, for information Thursday about what's in store for the property, but he only said Olympia has "not announced future plans yet."

The DEQ document lists Detroit-based Olympia as the owner and says the building is 30,000 square feet (although Washington, D.C.-based real estate information service CoStar Group Inc. says it's about 45,000 square feet).

Olympia is spearheading the 45- to 50-block District Detroit project anchored by Little Caesars Arena for the Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Pistons that is set to open next month.

In May, the company announced plans to renovate four other long-vacant buildings around the arena for residential use:

Historic Detroit, which tracks the city's buildings and architecture history, says the Moose Lodge building opened in 1922 and was designed by Baxter, O'Dell & Halpin. Curbed Detroit reported on some minor repair work taking place there in 2013.

There were plans as far back as 1994 to turn the vacant building into a nightclub, Crain's reported at the time.

Olympia paid $1.5 million for it in February 2007, according to city records.

Link:
Is long-vacant Moose Lodge building inching toward renovation? - Crain's Detroit Business (blog)