This isn’t like a leak from your second floor bathtub. Reports and sources on the scene say a water main nine stories up that burst and was not found for days, flooding the basement with approximately 1.7 million gallons of water. Now icicles damage what were amazing architectural details that were in decent shape before, not to mention puts the future of a downtown landmark in peril.
The two-story basement (reportedly also attractive – we talked to a nearby shop owner who called the flooding “horrible”) was filled with water. Earlier, Curbed reported that ice was forming on the streets outside. We stopped by this morning and found giant propane heaters hard at work (see photo above).
Also, the once partially occupied tower, after being bought by Chinese-based DDI Group, has lost all of its tenants. The Sky Bar Detroit has been unable to operate due to broken elevators; sources we talked to on the ground say everyone else has left due to a variety of issues.
“I got here yesterday and was told the building was flooded and uninhabitable,” said former owner and now owner of the Sky Bar, Lynn Kassotis Uralli to ClickOnDetroit (they have a video worth checking out). “They don’t want SkyBar in the building. They’ve made that clear. They’ve evicted all the tenants that we initially put in when we owned the building. All the tenants are gone.”
It’s a frustrating development. While Dan Gilbert and some others have made much progress with the properties they purchase (the buildings across the street from the Stott is now gleaming with new windows), it seems that the Stott is returning to the neglectful tradition of downtown’s past.
Speaking of the past, the building opened in 1929 for the Detroit flour magnate (who knew?) and features the work of famed artist Corrado Parducci. More on the history here.
WWJ Reports that the future of the building is uncertain.