Flint makes play for Genesee Towers

[RustTown]

I'm surprise no one caught this. It looks like the city is making a push to aquire the towers...

Flint makes play for Genesee Towers

City wants to acquire building through emminent domain

FLINT (WJRT) - (12/17/06)--Flint's Genesee Towers has sat vacant for more than four years because of issues with the city.

Now there are indications that the city is looking to acquire downtown Flint's tallest building

http://abclocal.go.com/wjrt/story?section=...&id=4860169

[VeeFan]

I heard about this a few weeks ago, I think if the city acquires it all that'll happen is that it will be torn down. That's ultimately what The Don has been wanting anyway.

[dtown]

I dont want it to get torn down, unless they have plans for the site, anyway.

I actually would kind of miss it, but it does look like crap, so i can see why they would tear it down. It cant be strucurally stable.

[RustTown]

Well, if its' truly unsound, they'd have no choice but to tear it down. If that's not the case, I think the city should aquire it, and give it so many months on the market. If no one buys it up, than it should probably be demolished. They shouldn't put the price of the tower dirt cheap, though, unless they want to attract other developers like the current one that owns the tower, and by that I mean developers without the wherewithal to update the building. In other words, if they even can aquire the tower, the city needs to put out and RFP (Request For Proposal) with the stipulation that whoever buys the tower must have the means to update and maintain the tower. If they can't find anyone like that with interest in the tower, they need to tear it down.

[wolverine]

I love that tower for the fact that it's so incredibly ugly, and that it ecompasses everything bad in architecture.

[TwLloyd]

TV 5 must be paying attention to this thread because as I was reading this here last night WNEM TV5 News on FOX 66 at 10:00 (which I have yet to figure out that confusion) had the same story, with no new information.

Way to stay on top of things TV5!!

Tear it down, fix it up, do SOMETHING with it!!! From what I hear second hand from an administrator that worked at NBD in that building and someone that worked maintenance in the building YEARS ago, its pretty scary in there. The word on the street is its cheaper to renovate the old buildings in downtown than to raize and rebuild, but I'm not sure sure about the tower. None of the other sidewalks are barricaded from falling concrete from our "century old" buildings.

[RustTown]

It's almost always cheaper (in the long run) to renovate than to tear down, and it would seem, generally, to be cheaper to renovate a modern building like this as opposed to a more complicated historic building. But, I wondering just how far Genesee Towers is gone? I've heard of everything from the crumbling exterior, which is something that could be easily fixed with a simple recladding, to things much more serious like completely dysfunctional plumbing and electrical.

I'd really like to see the thing renovated and reclad. Has the current owner, who's name I can not even begin to hope to spell, put this thing on the market looking to sell it, or has he been stubbornly holding on to it just so he can use it to leverage other parts of his business? I ask because if it's been on the market, I couldn't imagine no one in the region showing interest in the structure. The current owner obviously doesn't have the wherewithal to properly keep up this structue.

[dtown]

I dont think its on the market now.

[RustTown]

Interesting. To tell you the truth, I've seen buildings in much better shape and with much more competent owners taken over by cities using imminent domain. In fact, the City of Lansing almost shuttered a downtown hotels a few days ago because of it being a public nusiance (crime). And, it's not in disrepair or anything. In this case, I think I'd actually support the city trying to get this one back if they plan to market it.

[BillyChilly]

For as much as I love this city, the prevailing attitude here is to tear everything down. I think that would happen with the Towers. I think it's a cool building. Ugly? Yes. Then again, a lot of Flint is, and I totally dig it. I remember being there with my mom back in the day when she won a CD from CK105. It's amazing how quickly a building can get like that...

J.L.

[wolverine]

I remember when CK 105 was planning a stunt to drop water balloons on Mayor Stanley. Oh those days of broadcasting "high atop the Genesee Towers Building"

But seriously, from what I remember that place was disgusting. It smelled of mildew and carpeting was coming up in places. The building isn't hopeless though. What's good of it is steel and concrete (to some extent). I remember ages ago, I posted my idea for a reclad of the building. Nothing extreme, but that's the point. It has to be affordable.

[dtown]

Thats not bad, better than what we got now.