Pontiac Phoenix Center: Infrastructure Amenity to Community Asset by Christopher Platt

PONTIAC PHOENIX CENTER: FULL TITLE OF YOUR INFASTRUCTURE AMENITY TO THESIS IN ALL CAPS COMMUNITY ASSET

_______________________________________ Thesis presented to the Faculty of the Department of Architecture & Design at SUNY Alfred State _______________________________________________________ In Partial FulÃ&#x17E;llment of the Requirements for the Degree Bachelor of Architecture _____________________________________________________ by CHRISTOPHER PLATT YOUR NAME Prof. Carli,Thesis ThesisChair Chair Prof.David Janet Doe, May20XX 2019 May

THESIS TITLE

P ONT I A C PHOE N I X CEN TE R : I N F A S T RUC TUR E A MENITY TO C OMMUNI T Y ASSET

CHRIS TOP HER

PL A T T

PHOENIX CENTER

Text and Graphics ÂŠ 2019 Christopher Platt. All rights reserved. Book design ÂŠ 2019 Christopher Platt. All rights reserved. Pontiac Phoenix Center: Infrastructure Amenity to Community Asset. This is a first and limited edition print run.

INTRODUCTION

PONTIAC PHOENIX CENTER:

INFRASTRUCTURE AMENITY TO COMMUNITY ASSET

CONTENTS

01 Introduction

02 Research

Abstract 08 Proposal

Methodology

History Pontiac

Urban Renewal

Parking Garages

Innovation Districts

Y.E.S.

Carmel Place

SCADpad

Peckham Levels

Remakery

Precedent Study

Old Park Haus

03 Analysis Regional

04 Design 38

Floor Plans

Rust Belt

Phasing

Innovation District Context

Post Mortem Reflection

State of Michigan

Oakland County

City of Pontiac

References

Local Downtown Pontiac

Phoenix Center Site

Program

PHOENIX CENTER

[This page is intentionally left blank.]

INTRODUCTION

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A SPECIAL THANKS TO: THESIS COMMITTEE MEMBERS David Carli, Associate Professor Architecture Department, Alfred State Dr. Daniel Hess, Urban and Regional Planning Department Chair, University at Buffalo Mike McGuiness, Community Outreach Coordinator at U.S. House of Representatives

PONTIAC CITY OFFICIALS Mayor Deirdre Waterman Vernon Gustafsson, Planning Manager

PHOENIX CENTER

ABSTRACT This architecture thesis is based on the idea that the most sustainable building is the one that already exists. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, the automobile industry has transformed the American landscape and culture. Parking garages are an infrastructure amenity that were once considered a necessity but will be obsolete in this century due to a rise in use of public transportation, cycling, walking, and ride sharing. Often constructed of concrete and reinforcing steel, the amount of carbon embodied in existing parking garages is high. Parking garages are typically built in or near urban centers and other areas of commercial activity. These two factors together, location near urban centers and a high amount of embodied carbon, make parking garages prime for adaptive reuse. Under utilized parking structures can be found across the United States, however; those in small, legacy rust belt cities are the focus of this research due to the economic need in places that are still struggling to transition from the industrial age to the information age. The question facing society today is what to do with highly under utilized parking structures in small rust belt cities. This research is based on addressing that question for the Pontiac Phoenix Center

in Pontiac, Michigan. Pontiac is small city in the south eastern Michigan, northwest of Detroit, located in Oakland County. Completed in 1980, the Phoenix Center complex was the result of an urban renewal plan drafted in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. “The Pontiac Plan” resulted in the demolition of 14 acres of downtown Pontiac, the construction of a fourlane, one directional, extension of Woodward Avenue into a loop around the central business district. The plan also called for “a city in the sky” an elevated plaza with high rise buildings on all sides that separated humans from the ground plane which was interpreted to be primarily for automobiles and therefore dangerous to pedestrians. Today, the complex is left unfinished, standing as a reminder of a different era on the southern tip of the Woodward Loop. The scope of this project is to research programmatic uses and means of architectural intervention that would promote a walkable, live/work, mixed-use community within part of the existing parking structure. The intervention is to respect the entrepreneurial spirit, demographics, economic, and social context of the city of Pontiac and Oakland County.

INTRODUCTION

PHOENIX CENTER

PROPOSAL Asymmetry of financial need and economic opportunity in Pontiac, Michigan is exemplified by the low percentage of people who both live and work in Pontiac and the even lower number of people who live and work in downtown Pontiac by choice. From 2004 to 2014, the percentage of people who both live and work in Pontiac decreased by a factor of nine. In 2004, of those employed in the city of Pontiac, 90% also lived in the city of Pontiac, compared to 2014 when only 10%, or about 1,900 people, lived in the city of Pontiac. (Demographic and Labor Market Profile: City of Pontiac, 2017). People in public spaces tend to attract more people. A low number of people both living and working in the city of Pontiac means that few people are supporting local restaurants, shops and businesses during the day, that Pontiac residents are supporting the growth of surrounding suburbs through working for companies elsewhere, and that many of the people who do work in Pontiac have to choose to get into a car to support businesses and attend events in downtown Pontiac in the evening. In 2014, the transfer of 23,000 commuters into the city and 17,000 commuters out of the city every week day demonstrates the transient nature of the employees and residents in Pontiac. Unemployment and poverty rates are relative to the percentage of people who both live

and work in the city of Pontiac. According to the Michigan Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives, the 2016 unemployment rate in Pontiac was 9.7%, nearly two times the national average of 4.9% (United States Census Bureau, 2016). The 2017 population estimate for the city of Pontiac was 59,792, suggesting about 5,800 people were without an earned income. Of the population that does earn income in Pontiac, the rate is significantly lower, only 59.3%, or $30,152, compared to the Michigan state median household income of $50,803 (United States Census Bureau, 2016). The decline of automotive manufacturing in southern Michigan caused structural unemployment which is, unemployment related to long term changes in market conditions. High unemployment is a societal problem that indicates some portion of the population is not contributing to society or the economy in a productive way. Poverty is often comorbid with unemployment. The Pontiac poverty rate is 34.4%, more than twice the 15.0% the poverty rate for the state of Michigan, and nearly three times the United States poverty rate of 12.7% (United States Census Bureau, 2016). As a result, population of people who do live and work in Pontiac do so primarily out of necessity, not choice. Choice residents and choice employees seek out a destination because they want to live and work there, despite having the means to live and work elsewhere. Choice is influenced by perception. A combination of qualitative, quantitative and design research methods will be used to study the asymmetry of financial need and economic opportunity in Pontiac. Qualitative methods will be used to research the history of the city of Pontiac and the Phoenix Center. Quantitative research will be used to analyze population, demographics, poverty levels, employment, income, commuting patterns and housing statistics from the United States Census Bureau, the United

INTRODUCTION States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and other data collecting government entities. Design research methods will be used to explore the urban context of downtown Pontiac, the construction methods of concrete parking garages, and the specific structural system of the Phoenix Center. Precedent studies will be used to analyze the adaptive reuse feasibility of other concrete parking structures, the typologies of business incubators, maker spaces, innovation districts and tactical urbanism. Although low a percentage of choice residents and workers is a societal problem, the proposed response is architectural. The proposed site for architectural intervention is the city owned Pontiac Phoenix Center on the southern end of downtown Pontiac. Constructed in 1982, the Phoenix Center is a three-story parking garage with an outdoor amphitheater, an elevated plaza connecting three high-rise buildings, and an adjacent, privately owned, sprawling surface parking lot on the north side of the building, all inside the Woodward Loop road. When viewed holistically, the conversion of an open air, concrete structure designed to shelter cars – machines – to an enclosed and conditioned building capable of supporting human activity, light and ventilation requirements is a complex, and expensive architectural challenge which requires an indepth knowledge of concrete beams, columns and slabs as well as an ability to define large volumes of space with shallow floor-ceiling heights. However, proof of concept can be proven by a series of small, inexpensive, and incremental architectural interventions. A series of small, temporary buildings designed on the module of a parking space are proposed outside the existing structure. Flexible, inexpensive, modular units would be rented to entrepreneurs who cannot afford to renovate and rent other storefront, office, or maker space in downtown Pontiac. If “popup architecture”

successfully brought more people to the site, then further incremental investment in the property is likely to be made. Both commercial and residential units could be added to the parking structure itself, creating a dense, urban, live/work environment. Low percentage of choice residents, high unemployment and high poverty rates are problems that cannot be completely solved with one building or site. However, the proposed incremental design solution could prove the feasibility of an economic catalyst in downtown Pontiac, Michigan through the adaptive reuse of the Phoenix Center into a live/work innovation district containing space for business incubation, shared fabrication (“maker” spaces) with affordable housing. The study and exploration of possible new uses for the Phoenix Center could also renew interest, attract investment to the building, and encourage those who live in the city of Pontiac, to work in the city of Pontiac. From September 2018 through May 2019, written and/or graphic content, relevant to this project, will be published weekly to the website www.cgplatt.com (domain subject to change) for any interested party to review and comment on. The final product of this project will be a cohesive, comprehensive document containing written research, infographics, and architectural drawings that support the proposed design solution for the Phoenix Center in Pontiac, Michigan. The document will be distributed digitally to Pontiac Mayor Dr. Deirdre Waterman, each member of the thesis advisory committee and to Architecture and Design Department Chair at Alfred State, Dr. Alex Bitterman. Proposed in addition to the written document is a verbal and graphic presentation of the problem statement, research, proposed design solution, analysis and conclusions to community members in Pontiac; location and date to be determined.

PHOENIX CENTER

SOCIETAL PROBLEM: ASYMMETRY IN FINANCIAL NEED AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY. 2004 90%

PONTIAC RESIDENTS WORK IN PONTIAC

2014 10% OF PONTIAC RESIDENTS WORK IN PONTIAC 2016 34% OF PONTIAC RESIDENTS LIVE IN POVERTY

PONTIAC, MI

9.7%

4.7%

NATIONAL AVERAGE

The architectural problem addressed in this proposal is how to adaptively reuse parking structures? There are 4.5 parking spaces for every registered vehicle in the United States - that is equivalent to 6,500 square miles or MI 9.7% the entire statePONTIAC, of Connecticut! In addition, the Urban Land Institute estimates that 40,000 parking garages in the United States operate at only 50% capacity!

2016 UNEMPLOYMENT RATES United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016

4.7%

$57k

$50k

$30k

NATIONAL AVG

MICHIGAN AVG

PONTIAC

2016 MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME United States Census Bureau, 2016

This thesis project attempts to address a societal problem and an architectural problem through architectural intervention. The societal problem is an asymmetry in financial need and economic opportunity in Pontiac Michigan. In 2004, 90% of Pontiac residents also worked in Pontiac; 10 years later, in 2014, only 10% of Pontiac residents both lived and worked in the city of Pontiac. This transient population negatively impacts downtown social and economic activity. Pontiac is in a state of economic hardship which is represented by a median household income that is only $30k compared to $50k for the state of Michigan, a 34% poverty rate and an unemployment rate that nearly twice the national average. These statistics together indicate an asymmetry in financial need and economic opportunity. However, economic opportunity can be found in the most unlikely of places, including parking.

How these statistics are addressed will NATIONAL AVERAGE determine the future of Pontiac, other small rust belt cities, and parking garages across the country and world.

2016 UNEMPLOYMENT RATES United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016

INTRODUCTION

METHODOLOGY If the proposed architectural intervention at the Pontiac Phoenix Center were to occur, then more people would use the building. More people using the building would increase the number of “choice residents” people who have the financial means to live elsewhere but choose to live in a given city and “choice workers” - people who have the opportunity to work elsewhere but choose to work in a given city. Perception of a city or place is often determined by why someone is there. Perception influences choice. The primary, measurable factors of perception which impact choice residents and choice workers are economic opportunities, housing opportunities, mobility opportunities, and recreation opportunities. The city of Pontiac, Michigan, 25 miles northwest of Detroit, is lacking in each primary factor impacting perception, and therefore, has a low percentage of choice residents and workers. However, the in-commuter rate in the city of Pontiac is higher than the out-commuter rate which indicates that employment opportunities are available in the city of Pontiac. The development of existing assets in the city of Pontiac is expected to positively influence the primary measurable factors of perception and increase the percentage of choice residents and workers. The geography of employment opportunities is no longer dependent on proximity of natural resources as early twentieth century factories were, nor isolated,

as late twentieth century and early twentyfirst century suburban office parks are. Currently, the geography of employment opportunities is dependent on the proximity to human capital, the location of skilled people and their ideas. The previous hubs of employment in southeastern Michigan were automotive manufacturing and assembly plants. Innovation districts will be the new hubs of economic opportunity. An innovation district is the combination of entrepreneurs, educational institutions, private corporations, start-up business incubators, and mixed-use housing and commercial space development in a dense, urban center. The infrastructure for the physical, economic, and networking assets required for innovation districts to succeed is available in Pontiac. Oakland county has eight colleges and universities as well as several vocational training schools. There are three hospitals in the city of Pontiac, the largest of which is in downtown Pontiac. Hundreds of thousands of square feet of class A office space, as rated by the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA), for the highest standard in office space, is available in downtown Pontiac. Multiple third places, spaces outside the home and workplace for informal meeting such as restaurants, coffee shops and bars, already exist in downtown Pontiac. One, small, fully utilized business incubator currently addresses the needs of entertainers in Pontiac. In acknowledgment of these assets, wholesale mortgage buying company, United Shore, moved 2,600 employees into the newly renovated, former Hewlett Packard Enterprise office campus 2.5 miles south of downtown Pontiac in June of 2018. Innovation districts act as catalysts for economic development. The creation of one high-tech job, typically leads to the creation of multiple service industry jobs. Due to an often greater than market average salary, high tech employees typically have more disposable income to spend at third places. The location of one tech company in an urban

PHOENIX CENTER setting attracts more tech companies because of increased market demand. A transaction is easier to complete in a market with more buyers and sellers, sometimes referred to a “thick market.” Thick markets attract more buyers and sellers, or in this case companies and skilled employees. The majority of housing units in downtown Pontiac are occupied. No shortterm, daily or weekly housing options are available for visitors or extended stay hospital researchers in downtown Pontiac; the nearest hotel is in Auburn Hills, three miles east of downtown Pontiac. No collaborative housing option is available in the city of Pontiac. “Co-housing” refers to a method of typically privately-owned housing units which share resources and have a common building or space leading to a lower overall cost. A mixture of housing rates and options, including affordable housing, is necessary to meet the economic needs of the existing population and respond to the needs and desires of future residents. Any new housing unit must match the economic needs of the existing population. A mixture of uses including residential and commercial creates activity throughout the day and week. Downtown Pontiac is bounded on all sides by the Woodward Loop. The historic Woodward Avenue, otherwise known as M-1, originates in downtown Detroit, forms a oneway loop around downtown Pontiac, and returns to Detroit. The Woodward Loop is four lanes wide throughout, plus a fifth turning lane in some areas. There is an asymmetry in parking need and space allocated for parking in Downtown Pontiac. The proposal to remove some number of parking spaces from the Phoenix Center parking garage is balanced by the fact that half the garage is currently closed and most of the surface parking lots in downtown Pontiac are not at capacity a majority of the time. Vehicular mobility and automobile parking options in downtown

Pontiac are more than sufficient for the current traffic loads as well as the additional parking load caused by reopening the amphitheater, providing living space and working space in the Phoenix Center. The area inside the Woodward Loop, at the largest, is about one and a half miles long and half a mile wide, indicating that downtown Pontiac could become a very walkable area. Walkability is the extent to which the built environment is friendly to pedestrians. The conditions that determine walkability are sidewalk and crosswalk infrastructure, perceived safety, scale of surrounding buildings, and elements of visual interest. Distance from one point of interest, such as a housing unit, to another place of interest, such as a grocery store, restaurant, a place of employment, etc. Downtown Pontiac has relatively little change in elevation which promotes both walking and cycling, if the infrastructure for those modes of transportation is available. There are five, Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (S.M.A.R.T) bus stations located around downtown Pontiac. “S.M.A.R.T” services the greater Detroit metropolitan area including Pontiac. Amtrak trains currently run from the station on the southern end of downtown Pontiac to Detroit with limited service, but the service is expected to increase within the next several years. Recreational opportunities in an urban environment provide connection and identity to a place. The most iconic recreational opportunity in downtown Pontiac, the Phoenix Center Amphitheater, has not held a concert in the past nine years. The elevated plaza around the amphitheater has been closed to the public for an equal length of time. Recreation can be had for people of all ages in public green space, which downtown Pontiac lacks. A few small “pocket parks” are scattered around downtown on the sites of demolished buildings and in alleyways. Successful park spaces act as third places and contribute to the

INTRODUCTION overall social infrastructure of a given urban environment. The expected outcome of the proposed architectural intervention at the Pontiac Phoenix Center, is that more people would live and work at the building. The expected change in activity level from nothing, to many people coming and going all throughout the day, is likely to positively influence the perception of Phoenix Center and the city of Pontiac. If additional business incubator space, small manufacturing maker space, and an affordable co-housing community are added to downtown Pontiac, then the number of choice residents and choice workers is expected to increase. If a mixed-use building containing business incubator space, small manufacturing maker space, and housing is added to downtown Pontiac, the building be will become the center of the downtown Pontiac innovation district. More entrepreneurs working in downtown Pontiac, will lead to more people working service industry jobs in Pontiac. If companies in Pontiac generate more revenue and the value of their property increases, then the company will pay more property tax to the city of Pontiac. If the city of Pontiac generates more income through property tax, then more money can be spent on infrastructure improvements in the city of Pontiac such as street design, sidewalk improvements, bike lanes, bus station improvements, and parks which will encourage more people will travel to and around downtown Pontiac by foot, bicycle or bus. Regardless of the greater impact on the city of Pontiac, the Phoenix Center, with the proposed adaptive reuse, is capable of being a self-sufficient entity where people can live, work and play. The proposed mixed-use building will attempt to address all four primary, measurable factors of perception which impact choice residents and choice workers. The proposed reuse of the Phoenix Center into a mixed-use building is likely to increase

economic opportunity by providing space for business incubation and small manufacturing “maker space.” Business incubation space creates opportunities for entrepreneurs in need of assistance growing their company from idea to profitable business, which will eventually create jobs. Business incubators also create jobs for the people who manage the daily processes of the facility, the industry experts who provide business administration education to entrepreneurs, and the staff that maintains the facility. The business incubator also serves as a network facilitator meaning that it attracts outside experts, investors, and recent college graduates who are interested in particular companies in the incubator. These outsiders are likely to tour the rest of the facility, gain interest in the city of Pontiac, spend money at third places in Pontiac, and possibly move themselves, their expertise and their capital to Pontiac. Maker spaces provide common resources, at lower cost than the up front purchase price of the equipment, necessary to prototype products for the businesses in the business incubator. The ability to prototype products cheaply and quickly will reduce product development cycle times and increase profits for emerging companies. All these factors combined create additional economic opportunities and contribute to an increase in the workforce retention rate in Pontiac. The housing component of the proposed mixed-use reuse of the Pontiac Phoenix Center is expected to increase the number of choice residents and choice workers through the design of a collaborative live/work environment. The expectation is that people who want to develop their business in the proposed incubator component of the building will want to live near like-minded individuals using the principles of shared resources, diverse residents, and strong community connections of “co-housing”. The proposed location of a co-housing community in downtown Pontiac is anticipated to contribute to a greater sense

PHOENIX CENTER of community in the city of Pontiac. The proposed response will increase mobility opportunities indirectly through an expected increase in property value assessments. On top of the Phoenix Center, the proposed site for architectural intervention, is an elevated plaza space. Phoenix plaza is the site proposed for additional public green space which will increase the amount of recreational opportunities in downtown Pontiac. Increased mobility and recreational opportunities encourage people to stay in a place once they decide to live and or work there. If the proposed architectural intervention at the Pontiac Phoenix Center were to occur, then more people would use building. More people using the building would increase the number of “choice residents,” and “choice workers,” people living and working in the city of Pontiac because they want to. The perception of Pontiac is changing and the proposed reuse of the Phoenix Center is expected to influence that change to be more positive and determined by the people who live and work in the city by choice. In addition, more people living and working in downtown Pontiac will add more “eyes on the street”, people who are invested in the city watching out for the safety of Pontiac residents and guests, contributing to a perception of safety, and positivity.

RESEARCH

HISTORY PONTIAC

To the casual observer, the Phoenix Center is a typical, concrete parking structure in an underpopulated, nondescript, Midwestern, American city. However, a nearly infinite number of factors impact the proposed architectural intervention of the Phoenix Center. The objective of this writing is not to turn the reader into an expert on the history of Pontiac, the Phoenix Center nor any of the myriad of other factors relevant to this research. Rather, the objective of this writing is to serve in support of the design proposal as an introduction and means of generating an intermediate level of understanding of the topics determined to be most relevant in describing the economic, historical, and physical context of the site. The American “Rust Belt” is comprised of dozens of cities, large and small, along the great lakes that grew in population and prosperity during the nineteenth century due to the concentration of industrial and manufacturing centers in that region. Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, and Pittsburg are large cities synonymous with the American rust belt; yet, many smaller cities, including Pontiac, Michigan, are overlooked but are equally significant to the revitalization of postindustrial America. Settled by Europeans in 1818, the city of Pontiac was named after the leader of the Ottawa Native American tribe, Chief Pontiac.

Pontiac was incorporated as a city in 1861. The Clinton river (named for the New York governor, DeWitt Clinton), originally flowed through downtown Pontiac and provided a source of power to operate mills which processed lumber and flour leading to economic prosperity for the city. Pontiac, like Detroit, rose and fell with the automotive industry and the story of Pontiac would be incomplete without a brief acknowledgment of the General Motors Company (GM). Pontiac Buggy Company, founded in 1893 by Edward M. Murphy, based in Pontiac, was the leading national carriage manufacturer in the late nineteenth century. In 1907, Murphy founded the Oakland Motor Car Company and became a leading “horseless carriage” and automobile manufacturer in the early twentieth century. In 1910, the company was purchased by General Motors. (City of Pontiac, History of the City) The Oakland brand of General Motors transitioned into the Pontiac brand in the 1920s and went on to become an iconic American brand until being discontinued in 2010. General Motors operated 41 assembly and manufacturing plants in Michigan, five of which were located around Pontiac from as early as 1908 through 2009. Thousands of middle-class, blue-collar workers produced engines, medium duty trucks, heavy duty trucks, buses, and cars just a few miles away from downtown Pontiac for a century. Only the Pontiac Metal Center - metal fabrication plant – and the General Propulsions Systems (formerly Pontiac Assembly) plant remains. Pontiac West Assembly, Pontiac East Assembly, and Pontiac Central Assembly have all been closed and demolished resulting in the loss of tens of millions of square feet of manufacturing space and tens of thousands of jobs. Former General Motors CEO Charles Wilson famously stated that, “What is good for General Motors is good for the country and vice versa.”

PHOENIX CENTER

Urban Renewal Following a similar trend to the rest of the United States, the modernist urban planning ideal of “urban renewal” was prevalent in Pontiac in the late 1950s through the early 1980s. The 1957 Pontiac Highway Plan included a proposal for the “central business district loop” – a wide, one-way road around downtown Pontiac to increase traffic capacity to meet the anticipated population growth of Pontiac and Oakland County. The Pontiac Highway Plan initiated an Urban Renewal Project on the southern end of downtown Pontiac which resulted in the demolition of 27 acres worth of homes, shops, theaters, and other businesses as well as the burial of the Clinton River. In 1969, “The Pontiac Plan” was officially adopted as the plan to rebuild downtown land left vacant by “The Pontiac Highway Plan” of 1957. Pontiac native and urban designer, C. Don Davidson partnered with Bruno Leon, Dean of the department of architecture at the University of Detroit, to create an “urban renewal” plan designed to revitalize downtown

Pontiac as an architecture senior class project. Sometimes referred to as “The Platform Plan,” the Pontiac Plan called for a city within the city, a series of office towers, apartment towers, retail, an art museum, a hotel, a theater, and a sports arena all elevated from the ground plane by a three-story parking structure. Only part of the first of three phases was completed resulting in three office towers, a senior living tower, and irregularly shaped parking garage with a road underneath it. Davidson and Leon believed Main Street retail was the way of the past and that humans and automobiles should no longer exist on the same plane, a claim justified by the large pedestrian-only plaza space at the center of the complex. The site for the sports arena was moved outside of downtown Pontiac to a 155-acre lot, owned by the Pontiac School district, at the intersection of north-south arterial, Interstate-75, and east-west route M-59. The Pontiac Silverdome was completed in 1975 and was the home stadium of the Detroit Lions football team until 2001. Super Bowl XVI was played in the Pontiac Silverdome. Iconic musical artists including, The Who (1975),

RESEARCH

Elvis Presley (1975), Elton John (1976), Led Zeppelin (1977), Boston (1978), The Rolling Stones (‘81, ‘89, ‘94, ‘97), U2 (1987), Paul McCartney (1993), and many, many more performed at the Silverdome. The 80,000seat stadium was closed in 2008, started to deteriorate, and was demolished in 2017. Both the Silver Dome and the Phoenix center were projects funded by private and public partners. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been paid for the municipal bonds sold to finance those two urban renewal projects. Both projects were big bets, gambled with tax payer money, that did not create the economic revitalization promised by urban planning visionaries Don Davidson and Bruno Leon. The Phoenix Center Amphitheater is central to the positive, collective experience for people in Pontiac. Many locals recall going to the annual Arts, Beats, and Eats festival on the Phoenix Plaza or going to a concert, sometimes for free, at the amphitheater. A multitude of musical artists have performed at the Phoenix Center including Aretha Franklin (1991), Don McLean (1991), Beastie Boys (1992), Mountain, Stone Temple Pilots, Smashing Pumpkins (1993), Eddie Money (1994), Weezer (1994), The Ramones (1995),

Black Eyed Peas, Eminem, Blink-182 (1999), LL Cool J (2002), Blake Shelton (2007), Wiz Khalifa and Big Sean (2011), and many more. Following the relocation of the Detroit Lions back to Detroit in 2001, a monetary donation was made by the Lion’s team owner to city of Pontiac, and in 2005, the Teflon-coated fiberglass amphitheater roof, supporting metal structure, and exit stairs were added as a part of a $22 million-dollar renovation to the Phoenix Center. Following the 2008 financial crisis, the City of Pontiac filed for bankruptcy and was under emergency financial management from 2009-2013. The third and final emergency manager, Louis Schimmel, mandated in 2012 that the Phoenix Center be demolished to reduce the tax burden on the impoverished city. Owners of the adjacent Ottawa Tower office buildings sued the city, which owned the parking structure, over potential damages to the buildings due to demolition and loss of property value due to a lack of parking. In the fall of 2018, as litigation over the Phoenix Center draws to a close, the fate of the facility is still a mystery to residents and businesses alike. In June of 2018, mortgage

PHOENIX CENTER UNTED STATES MANUFACTURING EMPLOYMENT,

POPULATION OF PONTIAC, MICHIGAN

IN MILLIONS

1970 85,279

19.4M (8.6% of U.S. population)

15 2017 59,792

12.4M

(3.9% of U.S. population

10 05 0 ‘77 ‘80

‘85

‘90

‘95

‘00

‘05

‘10

‘15 ‘17

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics PEW RESEARCH CENTER

brokerage company, United Shore, relocated 2,600 employees and $40 million worth of renovation to the former Hewitt Packard Enterprise office park just two and a half miles south of downtown Pontiac. United Shore reviewed the Ottawa towers and Phoenix Center complex as a possible site for relocation, but ultimately decided against the location due to the uncertainty of parking availability. However, United Shore did return $1.9 million worth of brown field remediation credits to the city of Pontiac because the city, county and state did not require more remediation than the original budget anticipated (Broda, 2018). Revitalization of Small, American, Legacy Cities Torey Hollingsworth and Alison Goebel, in partnership with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, studied 24 Midwestern and north eastern cities with 30,000 to 200,000 residents and traditional economies built on manufacturing. Based on analysis of geography, demographics, income, employment and other indicators, the cities were grouped into three categories: High performing, medium performing, and low performing. Pontiac is categorized as medium performing in 2000 and 2009, but low performing in 2015. Hollingsworth and Goebel claim that a common factor influencing the revitalization of America’s smaller rust belt cities is percentage of residents employed within their city of residence. Cities with a decrease in percentage of employed residents also had a decrease in overall population.

Geography is possibly the most impactful indicator; Midwestern cities performed worse in almost every category compared to Northeastern cities as did small cities further away from large cities. “… smaller cities near strong markets do see some quantifiable economic benefits. But their analysis also found that place luck is not determinative: local public policies related to crime, education, and public services are the most important factors in shaping cities’ economic health.” (Hollingsworth and Goebel, 2017) “To reverse decline, every small or midsize legacy city must assess its current situation, taking into account not just data and facts but also residents’ perceptions, both positive and negative, about how the city is faring. By starting with a realistic picture, the city’s leaders can make informed decisions about the future.” (Hollingsworth and Goebel, 2017)

Typology of the Parking Garage Multistorey car park, multistorey, parkade, parking structure, parking ramp, parking building, parking deck, and parking garage all mean essentially the same thing and describe a vertically stacked parking lot. Parking garages are an architectural typology that is only about a century old. Henry Ford’s Model T first rolled off the assembly line in 1908; however, the first parking garage was not in the United States. The first parking garage in the world was opened in May 1901 by City & Suburban

RESEARCH

40,000 PARKING GARAGES IN THE UNITED STATES OPERATE AT 50% CAPACITY - URBAN LAND INSTITUE

Electric Carriage Company at 6 Denman Street, London. The company sold, stored, and delivered on demand electric vehicles that could travel about 40 miles and had a top speed of 20 miles per hour. The facility was seven stories tall, 19,000 square feet, could store 100 vehicles, and had an electric elevator to transport cars between floors. The facility was not a commercial parking garage common around the world today (British Parking Association). The first parking garage in the United States was built in 1918 for the 22-story, luxury Hotel LaSalle at 215 West Washington Street in the West Loop area of downtown Chicago, Illinois. The garage was designed by Holabird and Roche, a prominent architecture firm that designed several other iconic early twentieth buildings in Chicago such as the Chicago Savings Bank building (1904), City Hall (1910), and Riverside Plaza/Chicago Daily News building (1929). The five-story Hotel LaSalle garage was designed to blend in with the surrounding office buildings, had a bright red terra-cotta faรงade with a wide black border, and had high windows sills to prevent pedestrians from seeing cars headlights inside (Francisco, 2005). Inside the structure was space for 350 cars, a steep, one-way, helical ramp and an elevator to transport cars back down to the ground floor. The garage was valet parking only. Over the course of nearly a century, the LaSalle

Hotel parking garage became obsolete and no longer met market standards for modern automobiles. The building deteriorated beyond reasonable repair, was an eyesore to nearby residents, was considered for local landmark status in 2002, but was ultimately demolished in 2005. Hotel LaSalle was demolished in 1976. Located two blocks from the hotel, space to park an automobile was originally seen as an amenity for the wealthy hotel patrons, not a right as the establishment of minimum parking requirements after World War II indicated. In contrast to the monolithic concrete parking garages that have become the standard in the United States, the LaSalle garage faรงade had variation and architectural delineation. Parking garage types can be categorized by structural material, method of vertical circulation, and by intended customer. Steel and concrete are the two most common structural materials used for parking garages. Variations of vertical automobile circulation used in parking garages include flat decks with straight internal ramps, flat decks with helical internal ramps, flat decks with external ramps, straight or helical, sloped decks, and mechanical lifts. Structural material and vertical automobile circulation methods used are determined by available land, desired parking density, and cost.

Concrete Concrete

everywhere

the

built

PHOENIX CENTER environment from sidewalks, to stairs, to floor slabs, beams, and columns. “Concrete is by far the most pervasive and resource-intensive man-made material on the planet. It is therefore the single biggest form of evidence of our species existence.” (Bell, Buckley, 2010, pg 7) Yet, despite the widespread use of concrete, the amount of embodied carbon, or carbon dioxide emitted during the manufacture, transportation, construction, and demolition of a material, in concrete, is often overlooked. Concrete is comprised of three components: aggregate, cement, and water. “The production of each ton of Portland cement releases almost 1 ton of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Worldwide the cement industry is estimated to be responsible for about 7 percent of all generated carbon dioxide.” (Christian Meyer, 2010 pg 187) “The concrete industry uses more than one trillion liters of water each year worldwide, not including wash water and curing water. “(Meyer, 2010, pg 188) The most common aggregate used in the production of concrete is sand. 7.5 – 10 billion tons of sand, worldwide, is used to produce concrete (Tweedie, 2018). Sand is often perceived as an infinite resource; however, the sand best fit for concrete production does not come from deserts, rather river and marine sources – rocks than have been eroded by moving water over thousands of years. Production of concrete is not sustainable. The reuse of concrete structures is an opportunity to prevent embodied carbon from being wasted and more concrete being produced.

Adaptive Reuse of a Concrete Parking Garage The challenges in the reuse of a concrete parking garage are many, but not insurmountable. Cost, inflexibility of concrete structure, low floor to ceiling heights, limited natural light, long distances between elements

of vertical circulation, and unenclosed building envelope are some of the most challenging characteristics for parking structures with flat parking decks. The Pontiac Phoenix Center parking garage can be used to demonstrate these challenges. Parking garage consulting specialist firm Desman Associates completed a condition survey report which detailed the conditions of the Phoenix Center parking garage in 2012, repair recommendations and costs. The report indicated that the parking garage has four flat levels, three structurally supported, one on grade, connected by two sets of internal ramps. The structurally supported floors consist of a two-way, cast-in-place, un-bonded post-tensioned concrete slab with drop panels at the columns. The slabs are supported by conventionally reinforced concrete columns. The Desman report conclude that the overall condition of the structure was fair – “Component exhibits minor deterioration, and is performing its function as intended, but the component’s rate of deterioration has begun to accelerate.”

Innovation Districts Technological innovation of the early twentieth century happened in factories located based on proximity to natural resources. Isolated, suburban office parks were the innovation centers of the ladder half of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first century. The next era of innovation districts will be located in dense, urban areas, not dependent on proximity to natural resources, but rather proximity to human capital – people. Enrico Moretti, professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley and Fulbright fellow, explores the idea of innovation districts and where employment opportunities will be in the twenty-first century in his 2012 book, “The New Geography of Jobs.”

RESEARCH

STAGGERED FLOORS ONE-WAY CIRCULATION

STAGGERED FLOORS - TWO-WAY CENTER RAMP

SLOPING FLOORS - ONE-WAY CIRCULATION

SLOPING FLOORS - CROSS CONNECTED ONE-WAY CIRCULATION

FLAT FLOORS - STRAIGHT, ONE-WAY RAMPS

SLOPING FLOORS - TWO-WAY CIRCULATION

SLOPING FLOOR WITH EXPRESS HELICAL DOWN RAMP

CONNECTING OPPOSED PLANE HELICAL RAMPS 23

PHOENIX CENTER The Brookings Institute defines innovation as an instance â&#x20AC;&#x153;when new or improved ideas, products, services, technologies, or processes create new market demand or cutting-edge solutions to economic, social and environmental challengesâ&#x20AC;? (Katz & Wagner, 2014). An innovation district is the combination of entrepreneurs, educational institutions, medical institutions, and mixeduse development connected by sustainable transit methods. The three essential assets each innovation district must contain to be successful are: economic assets, physical assets, and networking assets. The combination of these three assets creates a symbiotic relationship between businesses, people, and

the physical place of the district to expedite idea generation and commercialization. Economic assets of an innovation district are the businesses, institutions, and organizations that support and advance creative, innovationcentered environments. Physical assets of an innovation district are publicly and privately-owned buildings, streets, and spaces that promote connectivity, collaboration, and discovery. Networking assets are the relationships between individuals, businesses, organizations and institutions that create, expedite, and/or improve the development of ideas.

EGG

CHICKEN

ENTREPRENEURS CREATE FIRMS.

? ENTREPRENEUR FIRMS

RURAL FACTORY

WORKERS

SUBURBAN OFFICE PARK

URBAN ENVIORNMENT

GEOGRAPHY OF INNOVATION

The creation of one factory job supports two service industry jobs

The creation of one high tech job supports five service industry jobs

RESEARCH

PRECEDENTS Precedent study typologies include parking garage adaptive reuse projects, co-working facilities, micro apartments, and modular buildings. Several common themes emerged and are listed below. ADAPTIVE REUSE

$ MODULARITY

COMMUNITY

ENTREPRENEUR FO-

CO-HOUSING

AFFORDABILITY

CO-WORKING 25

PHOENIX CENTER

Y.E.S. Business Incubator, Pontiac, MI 7 North Saginaw Street is a prominent location on the main north-south thoroughfare of downtown Pontiac, Michigan. Although now renovated as office space, the three-story, 35,500 square foot building, built in 1920, was a night club called, Venue D4, before being converted to office space. Flanking the building on both sides are breweries: Pontiac Exferimentation and Fillmore 13 Brewery. Y.E.S – Your Emerging Space/Young Entrepreneurs Squad – is a business incubation space and educational space for children. The business incubation space has individual desks, private offices, and a conference room available for rent you emerging entrepreneurs for hourly, daily, and weekly rates. Although the space does not officially open until midOctober of 2018, six events have already been held at Y.E.S., raising awareness and creating a presence in downtown Pontiac. Therefore, verdict on the success of the business model and impact on adult entrepreneurs is still undetermined. A casual interview with Y.E.S. owner, Mary Evans, revealed despite the fact that her facility was not open at the time, that she envisions a need for expanded space and additional types of spaces to complement her current business. The proposed architectural intervention at the Phoenix Center includes expanded business incubation space, co-working space, and small manufacturing “maker space” to meet the growing demand of entrepreneurs in Pontiac. Y.E.S serves as a proof of concept and representation of the architectural typology of

Photo by Author

business incubator space to reference in the proposed design. The primary lesson learned from this precedent study, and visiting the space in person, is that business incubators are physical spaces, but the impact and success is greatly determined by the leadership of those mentoring emerging entrepreneurs. Ms. Evans leads by example, using her own successes and struggles in business to educate adults and children alike. The physical space was open, flexible, and allowed for events. Another important lesson learned from Ms. Evans and Y.E.S. is the significance of family and youth in the city of Pontiac. According to the United States Census, 26.4%, or 15,743 people, of the population in Pontiac was 18 years old or younger. Many families moved away from Pontiac after auto plants started shutting down in 2008, increasing the significance of those who are still in Pontiac. If the youth are drawn in, then their parents and their parent’s money follows.

RESEARCH

Photo by Author Photo by Author

PHOENIX CENTER

CARMEL PLACE Prefab, Modular, Micro Apartments New York, NY Carmel Place was the winning proposal for former New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg’s “adAPT NYC” initiative to challenge the density and typology of housing in New York City. Located at 335 East 27th Street, Carmel Place is part of the historic Kips Bay neighborhood in Manhattan along the East River. Completed in 2016, nARCHITECTS, in collaboration with Monadnock Development, not only designed the first micro-unit apartment building in New York City, but also the tallest modular building in Manhattan, at nine stories tall, at the time of construction. The steel frame modular units were constructed and assembled in a Brooklyn Navy Yard factory then transported across the Brooklyn Bridge in the middle of the night to be stacked on site. All 55 units were stacked and connected on site in one month The 65 modular units used in 35,000 square foot Carmel Place apartment building are 11’ wide, have ceilings at 9’-8” and range from 260 square feet to 360 square feet. The minimum size for New York City studio apartments, as determined by Quality Housing Regulations, is 400 square feet; an exemption was made to allow the construction of Carmel Place as a prototype for micro-unit living in New York City. In addition to being a new building typology, and modular in construction, the pricing structure of Carmel Place is also innovative. 22 out of the 55 residential units, 40%, are allocated as affordable housing and eight of those units are dedicated to formerly homeless US veterans. The remaining 33 units are rented at market rate, approximately $3,000 per month, or $8.33 per square foot

Photo by nARCHITECTS

(for a 360 square foot unit). The other 10, nonresidential units, are used for core building functions and amenities. The modular design of a parking garage can be related to the modular design of micro housing units at Carmel Place. The typical parking space in the United States nine feet wide by eighteen feet long and 162 square feet. To compensate for smaller than average unit sizes, nARCHITECTS included various public amenities including a green roof, community room, roof terrace, fitness center, laundry facilities, and a study room. The steel structure and brick exterior materials represent an ideological shift affordable housing from temporary to durable. The Phoenix Center in Pontiac, Michigan already

RESEARCH has a green space plaza on top and each level of the parking deck has a sufficient amount of space to accommodate all of those amenities while still achieving a similar density of units. Carmel Place is a residential building with a

few units for retail at the ground floor, but the idea of modular units is not limited to only residential use but also as business, office and small manufacturing space.

(Above) Modular units being fabricated off site - Photo by nARCHITECTS (Below) Carmel Place construction time line - Photo by nARCHITECTS

PHOENIX CENTER

SCADpad Modular, Micro Units, Savannah Georgia A team of 75 students, both undergraduate and graduate, from 12 disciplines, worked with 12 professors together during summer sessions and the fall semester to research, design, and build three prototype SCADpad micro apartments. Each unit is 153 square feet (9’ x17’), contains a full bathroom, kitchen and flexible living, working, or sleeping space as well as an outdoor living space. Motivation behind this project came from two sources: observation of under utilized parking structures and increased number of millennials moving to cities. SCADpad successfully proved the possibility of designing and building an apartment in the footprint of a standard parking space. The use of a standard parking space as a module allows the design to be transferrable any flat deck parking structure in the world.

Unit Exterior, Photo by SCAD

The failure of the experiment was the target resident and resulting cost. SCADpads were design for and by millennials, but the need for low cost housing in urban centers is equal if not greater than the need for additional millennial housing. Instead of designing three different aesthetic styles for three different continents – North America, Europe, and Asia – the team’s resources may have been better spent developing three different models based on price. Another exclusive design feature of the SCADpad is the two-step entry. Although the plausibility of designing a fully wheelchair accessible micro-apartment is low, the presence of steps creates a challenge for some elderly residents and any resident with some form of mobility impairment.

RESEARCH

Common Space, Photo by SCAD Unit Interior, Photo by SCAD

Exterior gardens, Photo by SCAD

PHOENIX CENTER

PECKHAM LEVELS Parking garage adaptive reuse London, England Peckham Levels is the short-term adaptive reuse of a multi-storey car park, (parking garage for American readers), in Peckham district south east of London. Make Shift, was invited to draft a proposal for an under utilized parking garage with the intention of supporting small, local businesses, creative artists, and the community. Make Shift is a design thinking, building and management firm, that specializes in turning under utilized and vacant sites into hubs of social and economic activity. Make Shift started with the inception of “Pop Brixton,” an arrangement of colorful shipping containers on a previously vacant parking lot that now has over 50 small, local, independent businesses, a community garden, and over a million visitors each year. Members of Make Shift and Carl Turner Architects started the Peckham Levels experiment with the same goal outlined in this proposal for the Phoenix Center in Pontiac, Michigan: through architectural intervention, how can the number of people using a nearly abandoned parking garage be increased? Instead of designing a complete and expensive renovation of the building, Make Shift and Carl Turner Architects first proposed a temporary intervention to test the market demand and feasibility of reusing the structure. Temporary in this case means five years (2017-2021) and the interventions included dimensional lumber and plywood walls, exposed electrical raceways, aluminum windows to enclose the building envelope, a fresh coat of white paint, and rudimentary mechanical air moving systems. Essential to the success of Peckham Levels is, Bold Tendencies, the community improvement focused, not-for-profit group

that commissioned several art exhibits and architectural additions at Peckham Levels. Bold Tendencies also operates a series of workshops for children in the multistorey. The program element of Peckham Levels that encourages visitors to stay the longest is Frank’s Cafe, the rooftop restaurant and bar, covered in a tensile fabric structure, from which the London skyline is visible. The connection between the workspaces, Bold Tendencies, and Frank’s is what makes each of them more successful. The vision and implementation of the Peckham Levels project is completely applicable to the adaptive reuse of the Phoenix Center. Make Shift worked with community members for two years to develop a design that would respond to their unique taWlents and interests – an essential component to the proposed reuse of the Phoenix Center. Public economic resources in Pontiac are limited and therefore a temporary approach to parking garage reuse, as proven by Peckham Levels, can be a successful means of assessing market conditions. Although, a temporary and incremental intervention may better suite the economic needs of Pontiac. Entrepreneurship and creativity are present in both Peckham and Pontiac, therefore the addition of art studios, maker spaces, and small office spaces at affordable prices are logical in both places. Attention to the variation in times of activity throughout the day, and space for different groups including children (0-18), entrepreneurs, and visitors is applicable in Peckham and Pontiac.

RESEARCH

Building Exterior, Photo by Make Shift

Restaurant, Photo by Make Shift

Wood working space, Photo by Make Shift

Flexible circulation space, Photo by Make Shift

Large group workspace, Photo by Make Shift

Small group workspace, Photo by Make Shift

Small office space, Photo by Make Shift

PHOENIX CENTER

REMAKERY Parking garage adaptive reuse, Brixton London, England Architecture for Humanity, UK was commissioned to design the layout of, The Remakery. The facility is located in a densely populated, residential neighborhood south of London, not an urban center. Completed in 2016, 10,700 square feet of former underground car parking was converted into creative workshops focused on repurposing material that otherwise would have ended up in a land fill. The renovations were completed by volunteers using mostly recycled materials. The goal of The Remakery organization is to support the local community through skills training, workshops, and recycling. Materials, workspaces, and tools are provided to â&#x20AC;&#x153;makers,â&#x20AC;? people who rent space and use the recycled material to generate business.

The Remakery Lobby, phot by Jim Garfield and Isabel Hankart

Any profit made by the organization is used to subsidize rents at the Remakery and sponsor social programs for community members. The project has received financing through a ÂŁ100,000 award from the Lambeth Council in addition to grants from several other entities. The success of The Remakery is base on the grassroots, do-it-your-self mentality. The use of volunteer work and recycled material promotes sense of community, sustainability and empowerment. Socially responsible management has garnered the attention and funding to keep the organizations goals in focus without being distracted by money. Both, The Remakery, and the proposed architectural intervention of the Phoenix Center take place in former, parking structures. Ethos of community empowerment, affordability and sustainability are essential to The Remakery and in Pontiac. The use of recycled material for entrepreneurial

RESEARCH

Remakery street presence, photo by Jim Garfield and Isabel Hankart

endeavors and sustainability matches the economic needs of the Pontiac community and theme of sustainability generated by reusing an existing structure made from concrete, a highly unstainable material. Minimal architectural intervention was done to create the work space; however, the street presence and entry condition were significantly altered to draw attention to the facility and develop an emphasis on human scale.

PHOENIX CENTER

OLD PARK HAUS Parking garage adaptive reuse, Münster Germany

German architecture firm, Fritzen + MüllerGiebeler, were awarded the 2010 BDA Award for Good Buildings with recognition of the Stubengasse parking garage in Münster Germany. The 6,000 square meter, or approximately 60,000 square foot, three-story, concrete parking structure built in 1964, was converted into a mixed-use building. New program spaces include an art gallery, a bicycle storage facility, commercial retail space, upper story loft apartments and common living space. Portions of the original floor slab were removed to increase the volume of space in the common areas for residents of the old, or “altes”, parking garage. A new facade was added to match the pedestrian focused street and surrounding urban context. Although the new brick and glass facade replaces the former parking garage aesthetic on the exterior, on the interior, massive concrete structural elements remain and are painted white to reduce the amount typically dark, grey, interior atmosphere of parking structures. The foremost success of this precedent study is the reuse of an existing, reinforced concrete parking structure that was not designed for any other purpose besides housing automobiles. Reinforced concrete has a notoriously large amount of embodied carbon indicating that reusing existing reinforced concrete structures is more sustainable than demolishing them and constructing new

buildings on the same site. Other successes include the removal of part of the floor slab and the addition of a new facade onto a parking structure. Both renovations contribute physically and figuratively to the change of focus from machines to people. The failure of the Stubengasse parking structure renovation is that construction had to be completed in one phase to meet feasibility expectations. This method works well for private developers with many capital resources, but not financially challenged municipalities or developers that are unsure of market demand/response. These concepts can be applied directly to the Phoenix Center parking structure. In contrast to the “Altes Parhahus” method, small, modular units could be used to test feasibility of residential, commercial, and entrepreneurial responses. If feasibility was proven successfully, the Phoenix Center parking structure could become the support system for many smaller units and major structural alterations could be justified. The addition of new material outside the existing structure draws attention and curious people to explore a space previously overlooked. However, a full brick and glass façade is likely to be costlier than placing a few “pop-up shops” along the existing façade, but could achieve a similar effect.

RESEARCH

(Above) New facade and streetscape, photo by Fritzen + Müller-Giebeler (Left) Original parking structure facade, photo by Hans Hild

New common space, photo by Fritzen + Müller-Giebeler

PHOENIX CENTER

SITE ANALYSIS

CANADA ME

VT NH

LOWELL WORCESTER SPRINGFIELD

ALBANY

TORONTO

SYRACUSE BUFFALO

BINGHAMTON

MI FLINT GRAND RAPIDS PONTIAC KALAMAZOO

DETROIT

CHICAGO

SOUTH BEND

GARY

YOUNGSTOWN

CLEVELAND LIMA

IN IL

INDIANAPOLIS

MUNCIE

AKRON

PITTSBURGH

SCRANTON BETHLEHEM ALLENTOWN LANCASTER YORK

DAYTON HAMILTON

COLUMBUS

WV VA

RUST BELT 38

MA CT

CAMDEN

ANALYSIS Pontiac is one of two dozen small rust belt cities that grew and shrank along side their larger, and more well known, rust belt neighbor cities. At the base of the thumb in the mitten shape that the state of Michigan forms is Oakland County. Oakland County is home to many wealthy suburbs between Detroit and Pontiac and has a median household income over twice that of it’s county seat - Pontiac. Pontiac is a small city with a population of only 60,000 people.

WI MI PONTIAC

OAKLAND COUNTY

§ ¨¦

ADDISON TOWNSHIP

OXFORD TOWNSHIP

BRANDON TOWNSHIP

GROVELAND TOWNSHIP

INDEPENDENCE TOWNSHIP ROSE TOWNSHIP

OAKLAND TOWNSHIP

ORION TOWNSHIP

SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP VILLAGE OF CLARKSTON

AUBURN HILLS WHITE LAKE TOWNSHIP

HIGHLAND TOWNSHIP

WATERFORD TOWNSHIP

ROCHESTER

§ ¨¦

PONTIAC

ROCHESTER HILLS

£ ¤24

WEST BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP

§ ¨¦

NOVI

§ ¨¦

OAK PLACE

£ ¤24

102

CITY OF PONTIAC

ROYAL OAK

MADISON HEIGHTS HUNTINGTON WOODS 696 PLEASANT RIDGE

§ ¨¦

SOUTHFIELD

NORTHVILLE

§ ¨¦

LATHRUP VILLAGE BERKLEY

696

FARMINGTON

SOUTH LYON

FARMINGTON HILLS

CLAWSON

SOUTHFIELD TOWNSHIP

BIRMINGHAM

WIXOM

LYON TOWNSHIP

TROY

HAZE FERNDALEPARK

ROYAL . OAK 10 TOWNSHIP

§ ¨¦

MILFORD TOWNSHIP

BLOOMFIELD BLOOMFIELD HILLS TOWNSHIP

ORCHARD LAKE

COMMERCE TOWNSHIP

PHOENIX CENTER

DOWNTOWN PONTIAC

920

IVER

ON R

CLINT

930

910

950

15 MIN WALK

ANALYSIS

SITE PHOTOS 1. (Left to right) Exferimentation Brewing Company, Y.E.S. - Your Emerging Space business incubator and co-working space, and Fillmore 13 Brewery 2. View across Lot 9 toward Saginaw Street showing typical low rise urban context, the Pontiac State Bank Building (far left), and the AT&T tower 3. View looking south on North Saginaw Street (the primary northsouth arterial road in downtown Pontiac) toward the Phoenix Center

PHOENIX CENTER

PHOENIX CENTER Downtown Pontiac is surrounded by the Woodward Loop, a vestige of urban renewal planning. It is possible to walk from one end to the other of downtown Pontiac in only 15 minutes, although the current street conditions are not very inviting to pedestrians. Many of the buildings downtown are low rise, 2-4 story mixed use buildings, with the most notable exception being the Phoenix Center Complex - a white elephant in the built environment. It is three, 12-story high rise buildings adjacent to an elevated, threestory, 2,500 space parking garage with road running through it and a rooftop plaza and

outdoor amphitheater that can be seen from the majority of the downtown area!

Existing Phoenix Center complex site plan

North west corner, Photo by Author

The parking garage was built to handle the capacity of three more towers, which were never built, so the facility has been under utilized since its inception but the north half of the garage has been closed since 2013 due to a lawsuit, which ended last year. Due to the current lack of use, size of the entire structure, and proximity to the rest of downtown Pontiac, the author chose to limit the proposed intervention to just the northwest corner of the building.

ANALYSIS

North east corner of Phoenix Center parking garage, Photo by Author The amphitheater and corresponding staircases were constructed after the

Detroit Lions football team left the Pontiac Silverdome

Rooftop ampitheater, Photo by Author

Rooftop plaza, Photo by Nada Broder

PHOENIX CENTER

SITE ASSETS PROXIMITY TO TRANSIT

SUSTAINABILITY

A bus stop is located on the site. Pontiac station, which provides Amtrack and Greyhound services is only a short walk away.

The most sustainable building is the one already built, such as the Pontiac Phoenix Center.

WALKABILITY

INTERNET INFRASTRUC-

All of downtown Pontiac can be reached in a 15 minute walk, although, pedestrian infrastructure is lacking.

A substantial fiber optic infrastructure is available thanks to GMâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s former OnStar headquarters in the Ottawa Towers.

SITE OPPORTUNITIES UNDER UTILIZATION Most of the Phoenix Center parking garage is unused and available for new program spaces besides parking.

PROXIMITY TO LOT 9

UNDERGROUND RIVER

Lot 9 is a 5 acre surface parking lot adjacent to the Phoenix Center and could be developed into low rise mixed use buildings.

The Clinton River runs right under the Phoenix Center and could generate hydroelectric power for the facility.

SITE CHALLENGES

BUSY VEHICULAR ROADS

ACOUSTICS

Woodward Ave. and Orchard Lake Rd. are busy roads that reduce pedestrian safety around the Phoenix Center.

The rooftop amphitheater and near by roads create substantial noise and reverberations which could disturb residents & workers

NATURAL LIGHT

ELEVATED PLAZA SPACE

The proposed intervention is on the north side of the building which gets no direct sunlight.

There is currently a disconnect between the street and rooftop green space on top of the Phoenix Center parking garage.

ANALYSIS PHOENIX CENTER PAR IN PHOENIX CENTER AMPITHEATER PHOENIX P ACE ENIOR AP ARTMENT

ARA E OTTA A TO ER O ICE I IN TRAN IT H

TOP PONTIAC P IC I RA R

PHOENIX CENTER COMP EX PHOENIX CENTER AMPITHEATER

COPE O OR

PAR IN

REEN P ACE

EHIC AR CIRC A

PE E TRIAN CIRC A

TION

PHOENIX CENTER

PROGRAM

FLOOR 3 - CO-WORKING FLOOR 2 - CO-LIVING

FLOOR 1 - COMMERCIAL

ANALYSIS Architectural programming is the description of what activities and spaces are planned for a building and site. The programming for the Pontiac Phoenix Center, and surrounding site, in this proposal is performance based. Performance based programming means the success of the plan is determined by whether or not a broad criterion is achieved using any method. Conversely, prescriptive programming is based on meeting highly specific criteria and square footages. The performance-based programming approach supports the flexible design of an incremental, modular approach described in this proposal. Project Type: Mixed Use, live/work, adaptive reuse Organizational goals As of October 31, 2018, the city of Pontiac retains ownership of the Phoenix Center parking garage and rooftop plaza. The fundamental goal of city management is to draw people and money to Pontiac. Return on investment is also an important consideration. Pontiac tax payer paid millions of dollars to help build the structure in the late 1970s and will pay millions more to repair the structure of the building. Charging people to park in the garage and selling event tickets for the rooftop plaza space are existing income sources. Additional income could be generated through renting commercial and residential space. An increase in workers and residents would have positive economic ripple effects throughout the rest of downtown Pontiac through activity on the street, support of downtown businesses and overall improvement of image for Pontiac. Site Program â&#x20AC;&#x201C; What is going on outside the building? (includes plaza space) Uses and Spaces: - Outdoor amphitheater - Rooftop plaza and greenspace

- Parking - Future development - Pop-up commercial - Bus Stop Rationale and spatial definition: Outdoor Amphitheater Justification: There is an existing outdoor, covered, amphitheater which seats 6,000 people in both stationary chairs and lawn seating. This is an amenity that used to draw outsiders and Pontiac residents alike to concerts several times throughout the summer. A music venue does generate noise which can be heard inside the parking structure below and the surrounding area of downtown Pontiac. Disturbance caused by the noise of a concert several times in a year is worth the money and people drawn to downtown Pontiac who support local businesses and restaurants. Exterior, Rooftop Plaza Justification: On the roof of Phoenix Center parking garage is an open, hardscaped plaza space with elevated plant beds. This space currently serves the two, office building adjacent to the parking structure and is closed to the public except when an event is held. Opening the plaza space to the public is a simple method of drawing people to the Phoenix Center daily. Parking Justification: When the Phoenix Center complex was originally completed in 1980, General Motors, the first tenants of Ottawa Towers, were granted perpetual easement rights to parking in the Phoenix Center parking garage. This means that as long as the parking structure remains standing, some portion of the parking spaces must remain, particularly on the south side of Orchard Lake Road. In addition to satisfying that legal requirement,

PHOENIX CENTER the Pontiac Zoning Ordinance states that, “1 space per 3 persons permitted or anticipated at maximum occupancy” of recreational areas and buildings, including the Phoenix Center amphitheater. The maximum occupancy of the Phoenix Center amphitheater and plaza is 6,000 people meaning that 2,000 parking spaces are required. Adjacent Lot 9 contains 612 parking spaces. Bus Stop Justification: The SMART (Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation) has a bus stop on Water Street, in front of the Phoenix Center. This station connects Pontiac residents to neighboring suburbs and the city of Detroit as well as preventing people from having to cross four lanes of traffic on the Woodward Loop to reach the transit hub on the west side of the Loop. Variations of space: Based on my observation of the covered bench being full and people sitting on concrete barriers, waiting for the bus, the shelter is currently undersized and should be expanded to increase the amount of covered area. Building Program – What is going on inside the building? Principles of Modularity: The structural bays of the Phoenix Center parking garage are 32’x34’ which contain parking spaces and vehicular circulation. The standard parking space in the United States is 9’x18’, or 162 sq. ft. Based on this module, unit typologies will be designed to both fit into the existing parking garage as well as standalone buildings outside the parking structure. The space defined by each module is not necessarily one, complete, prefabricated unit. The space can be also be defined by independent, partition walls. Program within the existing Phoenix Center parking garage is designed to be flexible

enough to change with the needs of Pontiac residents. Therefore, the proposed program is only one option of a potentially limitless number of configurations. Spaces (modules): - Residential - Commercial Retail - Maker Space - Office - Support: Toilets, storage, mechanical - Common space (enclosed and open) - Parking - Security/administration Which Modules fit best on which floor: Ground Floor - Parking - Maker Space - Security/admin - Support (electrical, mechanical, data, plumbing) - Commercial retail Second Floor - Residential - Office/co-working - Common Space Locating residential units on the second floor of the structure results in the furthest distance from the rooftop amphitheater and Orchard lake road, two sources of noise generation. Third Floor - Office/co-working - Common Space Method of space separation that best fits each module (open, discreet unit, or open with mobile partitions) - Residential: Discreet Unit - Commercial Retail: Discreet Unit - Maker Space: Open - Office: Open with mobile partitions - Support: Toilets, storage, mechanical: Discreet Unit

ANALYSIS - Common space (enclosed and open): Open - Parking: Open - Security/administration: Discreet Unit Rationale and spatial definition: Residential According to Mike McGuiness, the majority of the housing units within the Woodward Loop are occupied and a higher density of residents is desired to increase pedestrian activity on the streets of downtown Pontiac. (Can be a credible source through interview format) Increasing the number of people living in the Pontiac Phoenix Center will increase the number of people using the building and site daily. Micro-housing: The typical studio apartment is 400 square feet or greater. Similar accommodations can be provided in microapartments, 200 square feet or less, in the footprint of a typical parking space, as proven by SCADpad. Housing of this size and modularity allows for a higher density, lower cost, and greater flexibility than typical rental housing units. Variations of space: Single Unit – 1/3 bay or 1/2 bay Double Unit – 1/2 bay Communal/co-housing – 1/3 bay arranged in proximity to a central, common area and kitchen.

Variations of space: Single Unit – 2 parking spaces, 1 enclosed, 1 open Double Unit – 3 parking spaces, 2 enclosed, 1 open Co-working – Units in 3 or 4 bays arranged around a central, common, meeting area. Maker Space Justification: No space in downtown Pontiac is dedicated to small manufacturing and prototyping for emerging entrepreneurs. Requirements of space: Large, open work space with work tables, high-tech and lowtech machines. Parking Justification: See justification for parking in site program. Common Space Centralized locations that do not belong to one particular person serve as gathering space and help create a sense of community amongst residents, workers, and the public. Common space can take many forms. A comfortable atmosphere with natural light, ample seating, plants, and flexibility of space are all attributes of good common space.

Office In downtown Pontiac, currently, there are only one, small business incubation and co-working space. Providing space for entrepreneurs and emerging professionals to work will increase the number of people using the Phoenix Center daily.

PHOENIX CENTER A

A1 B

1 2

GROCERY/ CAFE

RESTURANT 1

RESTURANT 2

WOOD ARTIST

POTTERY STUDIO

METAL ARTIST

1150 SF

MECH

2000 SF

POLITICIANS OFFICE

DAY CARE 2000 SF

SOME OF THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE

RETAIL 1

2000 SF

700 SF

TOILET ROOM

MAKER 1

MAKER 3

MAKER 4

TOILET ROOM

1000 SF 1000 SF 1000 SF

1000 SF

MAKER 2

MAKER SPACE 1750 SF

1450 SF

7 PARKING

FLOOR 1 - COMMERCIAL

MICRO RESTURANTS, RETAIL, LIGHT INDUSTRIAL “MAKER SPACE”

SINGLE RESTURANT TENANT 50

INDOOR/OUTDOOR SEATING, TOILET ROOM

DESIGN

SMALL COMMERCIAL TENANTS FOUR UNITS, STOREFRONT & WORKSHOP

ARTIST STUDIO OUTDOOR DISPLAY AREA, STOREFRONT, WORSHOP

PHOENIX CENTER A

COMMON LIVING AREA

1 2

OUTDOOR LOUNGE

COMMON KITCHEN AREA

3 INDOOR LOUNGE

5 COMMON LIVING AREA

FLOOR 2 - CO-LIVING

RESIDENTIAL UNITS, COMMON KITCHEN, INDOOR AND OUTDOOR LOUNGES

SHORT TERM RENTAL 52

FOUR BEDS & CLOSETS PER UNIT

DESIGN

LONG TERM RENTAL

DOUBLE BED, BATH, KITCHENETTE, BALCONY

MONTH TO MONTH RENTAL DOUBLE BED, PRIVATE BATH

PHOENIX CENTER A

FLEXIBLE MEETING SPACE

1 2 3

DISCRETE OFFICE 4

DISCRETE OFFICE 3

2000 SF

1000 SF

LOUNGE SPACE

DISCRETE OFFICE 3 850 SF

1800 SF

DISCRETE OFFICE 5

DISCRETE OFFICE 1

BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

850 SF

3500 SF

DISCRETE OFFICE 6

FLEXIBLE CONF 1

TOILET ROOM

SMALL CONF 2

OPEN OFFICE

OPEN OFFICE STORAGE

TOILET ROOM

(EXISTING) OUTDOOR LOUNGE

PARKING

FLOOR 3 - CO-WORKING

DISCRETE AND OPEN OFFICE, INDOOR AND OUTDOOR LOUNGE SPACE

OPEN OFFICE OPTION 1 54

DESKS FOR INDIVIDUALS, PHONE BOOTHS

DESIGN

DISCRETE OFFICE OPTION 1 MEDIUM TO LARGE TEAMS

OPEN OFFICE OPTION 2 DESKS FOR SMALL TEAMS, PHONE BOOTHS

PHOENIX CENTER

PHASING

PHASE 1: TEMPORARY

PHASE 1.1 A - OPEN ROOFTOP PLAZA TO THE PUBLIC DURING DAYLIGHT HOURS

B - ALLOW FOOD TRUCKS IN NORTH SURFACE LOT 56

DURATION

COST

SOCIETAL RETURN

MONETARY RETURN

DESIGN

PHASE 1.2 A - INSTALL 2 “POP UP” STORE FRONT MODULES IN EXISTING VEHICULAR ENTRANCE OPENINGS

DURATION

COST

SOCIETAL RETURN

MONETARY RETURN

PHOENIX CENTER

PHASE 1.3 A - DEMOLISH NORTHWEST STAIR B - INSTALL ADDITIONAL STOREFRONT MODULES ON NORTH FACADE

DURATION

COST

SOCIETAL RETURN

C - INSTALL TEMPORARY STREETSCAPE ON NORTH FACADE 58

MONETARY RETURN

DESIGN

PHASE 1.4 A - INSTALL RESIDENTIAL MODULES ON SECOND FLOOR OF NORTHERN FACADE B - INSTALL OFFICE MODULES ON THE NORTHERN FACADE OF THIRD FLOOR

DURATION

COST

SOCIETAL RETURN

MONETARY RETURN

PHOENIX CENTER

PHASE 2: PERMANENT

DESIGN

PHASE 2.1 A - DEMOLISH WESTERN STAIR B - CONSTRUCT NEW STAIR TOWER C - INSTALL COMMERCIAL, RESIDENTIAL, AND OFFICE MODULES ON WESTERN FACADE

DURATION

COST

SOCIETAL RETURN

MONETARY RETURN

PHOENIX CENTER

PHASE 2.2 A - CREATE CENTER ATRIUM B - INSTALL NEW INTERIOR VERTICAL CIRCULATION CORE C - BUILD OUT REMAINDER OF INTERIOR PROGRAM SPACES 62

DURATION

COST

SOCIETAL RETURN

MONETARY RETURN

DESIGN

PHASE 2.3 A - USE EMINENT DOMAIN TO ACQUIRE LAND FOR WATER AND WAYNE STREET EXTENSIONS

PHASE 2.4 A - DEVELOP LOW RISE, MIXED USE BUILDINGS AND GREEN SPACE IN LOT 9

N. SAGINAW ST.

PHOENIX CENTER

WAYNE ST.

WATER ST.

SITE PLAN The Phoenix Center creates a dead end on the southern end of Saginaw St., which is the main street in Pontiac, contributing to a lack of street level activity which this design addresses with the creation of active, pedestrian scale facades

and a linear promenade along the north and west sides of the building in addition to other streetscape improvements on Saginaw and Water Streets.

DESIGN

STREETSCAPE RENDER

PHOENIX CENTER

BIRDS EYE VIEW 66

DESIGN

PHOENIX CENTER

CENTER ATRIUM 68

DESIGN

PHOENIX CENTER

COMMON KITCHEN COMMON LIVING AREA OUTDOOR LOUNGE

INDOOR LOUNGE

COMMON KITCHEN AREA

COMMON LIVING AREA

DESIGN

CO-WORKING SPACE FLEXIBLE MEETING SPACE DISCRETE OFFICE 4

LOUNGE SPACE

DISCRETE OFFICE 3

DISCRETE OFFICE 1

DISCRETE OFFICE 5

BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

DISCRETE OFFICE 6

FLEXIBLE CONF 1 TOILET ROOM

SMALL CONF 2

OPEN OFFICE

OPEN OFFICE STORAGE

TOILET ROOM

(EXISTING) OUTDOOR LOUNGE

PARKING

PHOENIX CENTER

AV E

ST. HURON

3 E ST.

LAWRENC

ST. NAW AGI N. S

E. PIKE

ST. YNE WA

ST.

ST. WATER

WOO

VE. RD A

GIN

DWA

ST.

AR DW

W .

E AV

DOWNTOWN PONTIAC

NORTH

IMAGE SOURCE: GOOGLE EARTH (2019)

ENTREPRENEURIAL SPACE 1 1 WATER ST.

2 3 4

48 W. HURON ST.*

Y.E.S - YOUR EMERGING SPACE / YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS SOCIETY

71 W. HURON ST.* 100 N. SAGINAW ST.

101 E. PIKE ST. **

SOFTWARE OFFICE SPACE 7 OTTAWA TOWERS* 8

140 S. SAGINAW ST.

FABRICATION SPACE 9 118 W. LAWRENCE

CIVIC ASSETS

10 97 N. CASS AVE.

16 McLAREN OAKLAND HOSPITAL

GREYFIELD DEVELOPMENT SITES 11 LOT 9 12 36 W. LAWRENCE 13 10 W. HURON 14 68 W. HURON

15 PONTIAC CITY HALL

17 PONTIAC STATION 18 PONTIAC CREATIVE ARTS CENTER 19 THE ART EXPERIENCE

DESIGN

INNOVATION DISTRICT BUILDING TYPOLOGIES Interface Studio_Detroit Innovation District

GREYFIELD DEVELOPMENT SITES

FABRICATION SPACE

CIVIC ASSETS

ENTREPRENEURIAL SPACE

HIGH BAY SPACE

SOFTWARE OFFICE SPACE 73

PHOENIX CENTER

ECONOMIC ASSETS

PHYSICAL ASSETS

INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM

NETWORKING ASSETS

Source: Brookings Institute

OAKLAND COUNTY

§ ¨¦

BRANDON TOWNSHIP

GROVELAND TOWNSHIP

ADDISON TOWNSHIP

OXFORD TOWNSHIP

INDEPENDENCE TOWNSHIP ROSE TOWNSHIP

OAKLAND TOWNSHIP

ORION TOWNSHIP

SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP VILLAGE OF CLARKSTON

AUBURN HILLS WHITE LAKE TOWNSHIP

HIGHLAND TOWNSHIP

WATERFORD TOWNSHIP

ROCHESTER

§ ¨¦

PONTIAC

ROCHESTER HILLS

£ ¤24

BLOOMFIELD BLOOMFIELD HILLS TOWNSHIP

WEST BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP

§ ¨¦

NOVI

FARMINGTON HILLS

§ ¨¦

ROYAL OAK

MADISON HEIGHTS HUNTINGTON WOODS 696 PLEASANT RIDGE

LATHRUP VILLAGE BERKLEY

696

§ ¨¦

SOUTHFIELD OAK PLACE

£ ¤24

102

NORTHVILLE

§ ¨¦

FARMINGTON

SOUTH LYON

CLAWSON

SOUTHFIELD TOWNSHIP

BIRMINGHAM

WIXOM

LYON TOWNSHIP

TROY

ROYAL . OAK TOWNSHIP

§ ¨¦

HAZE FERNDALEPARK

ORCHARD LAKE

MILFORD TOWNSHIP

COMMERCE TOWNSHIP

RESEARCH HOSPITAL

SMALL AIRPORT

COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY

RESEARCH CORPORATION

DESIGN are relevant to other projects in Pontiac, small rust belt cities, and other parking garage adaptive reuse projects.

THESIS POSTMORTEM REFLECTION

The objective of my proposal is not to detail a solution to the problems that plague the Pontiac, but rather start the conversation about reimagining a socially and environmentally sustainable future for small Midwestern cities that uses the Pontiac Phoenix Center, a relic of the industrial era to demonstrate how similar cities can propel their communities into the information age. The intended audience for this project includes architecture faculty, an urban planning professor, a politician, City Officials, and Pontiac residents. That is a very diverse audience with a variety of goals, ability to understand architectural drawings, ability to understand the complex site and issues addressed in this project. With that in mind, the author stove to simplify all written and graphic communication to be clearly understood by any audience member who reviews this work. The intended circulation material is the comprehensive document you are reading now. This document will serve as a reference, publicly available online to anyone interested. Some key stakeholders regarding the Pontiac Phoenix Center will be given a physical copy of this document. This proposal for the adaptive reuse of the Pontiac Phoenix Center Parking garage is a unique project; however, the ideas presented

Many successes were achieved with this project. The macro scale approach to the project which addressed a little bit of economic development, urban planning, and urban design in addition to architectural design and programming was essential to addressing many of the variables in the problems addressed in this project. Specifically, the “bite-sized” phasing of this project is a key to achieving success beyond the theoretical realm of academia. Pontiac city officials have a history of making big bets with taxpayer dollars on mega projects that haven’t worked out - the Pontiac Silverdome, where the Detroit Lions football team used to play - demolished in 2017, incentives for General Motors which used to have five plants in Pontiac but now has one, and the Phoenix Center complex was built as a public-private partnership, but was never finished and left the city with an oversized and slowly deteriorating parking garage. My professional adviser and local politician, Mike McGuiness, informed me the city is not looking to repeat those mistakes. With that in mind, and an understanding of the economic climate of the region, I split this proposal into two large phases, temporary and permanent, and each of those into smaller, manageable phases that could be realistically achieved as interest and investment increase. Proposing a complete shift in ideology compared to Pontiac’s past was also a success because it created a vision for a new reality, a brighter future. This was achieved by highlighting a series of binary concepts: emphasis on the car vs emphasis on the human scale, demolition and new high-rise construction vs adaptive reuse, incentivizing large corporations vs startup entrepreneurial ventures, density vs sparsity, urban vs suburban.

PHOENIX CENTER Although successful in seeing the bigger picture, this proposal lacks some of the details required to make this project a reality, a shortcoming for this project. Other challenges included limited access to the physical building, having to become familiar with a region that foreign to me prior to this project, and managing the large amount of information relevant to this project. Communication was also a challenge with this project. The authorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s thesis committee consisted of three experts in their respective fields which makes them excellent resources, but also very hard to meet and communicate with. Fortunately, Dave was eventually able to set aside an hour a week to meet with the author in person to discuss thesis progress and answer questions. The author did consult the other committee members, and they were helpful, but due to the authorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s busy schedule, and a respect for their time, the author maybe did not make the best use of his other thesis committee members. At the end of the Spring 2018 semester, Dr. Alex Bitterman told students to select a thesis project that studies a research topic that is narrow and deep. The biggest lesson the author learned is to listen to that advice. Although researching the Phoenix Center allowed Mr. Platt to explore his interest in urban planning while in an architecture studio and explore a geographic region that the author would otherwise never research in depth, the result was a thesis that is shallow and broad opposed to narrow and deep. At first, studying a site too far to easily travel to was challenging for the author, but as the academic year progressed, this distance actually became an asset as it was good practice for future consulting work where the author may not always be able to make regular site visits. One of the authorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s primary selection criteria when selecting a thesis project and

problem was an element of realism. At the start of this project, the litigation involving the Phoenix center was coming to a close, ended in the Fall of 2018 with a verdict that the building would not be demolished, and now the development of the Phoenix Center is both legally an option and a high priority for Pontiac City Officials. This element of realism, including the memories of the people Mr. Platt talked to in Pontiac in September, kept the author motivated throughout the academic year to produce something helpful to those people. Although we cannot change the mistakes of the past, we can choose to turn them into opportunities for the future. There are ample physical, economic, and networking assets around the city of Pontiac and Oakland County that already exist from which an innovation district can develop - the Phoenix Center could be the spark that ignites the rest of downtown.

DESIGN

PHOENIX CENTER

REFERENCES Introduction Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives (2017, May). Demographic and Labor Market Profile: City of Pontiac. Retrieved from http://milmi.org/Portals/137/publications/ Pontiac_City_Demographic_and_Labor_Mkt_Profile.pdf U.S. Census Bureau. (2010, April 1). Quickfacts: Pontiac City, Michigan, United States. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/mi,US,pontiaccitymichigan/POP010210 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2018, February 27). Unemployment Rates for States, 2016 Annual Averages. Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/lau/lastrk16.htm Detroit Innovation District. (2018, September 18). Interface Studio. Retrieved from http://interface-studio.com/projects/detroit-innovation-district Jacobs, J. (1992) The death and life of great American Cities. New York: Vintage Books. Moretti, E. (2012) The New Geography of Jobs. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Rise of Innovation Districts: A New Geography of Innovation in America. (2014, May). Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/essay/rise-ofinnovation-districts/

Research Lydon, M., Garcia, A. Tactical Urbanism: Short-term Action for Long-term Change. (2015) Washington D.C: Island Press. Boone, A. (2017, September 5). The Overlooked Cities of the Rust Belt. Citylab. https://www. citylab.com/life/2017/09/the-overlooked-cities-of-the-rust-belt/538479/ “Bouquinistes of Paris,” French Moments, https://frenchmoments.eu/bouquinistes-of-paris/ Bell, M., Buckley, C. Solid State: Concrete in Transition.(2010) New York: Princton Architectural Press. Broda, N. (2018, September 20). United Shore returns$1.9M in Brownfield Financing: ‘We’re not taking handouts.’ Oakland Press. https://www.theoaklandpress.com/news/local/united-shorereturns-m-in-brownfield-financing-we-re-not/article_9d5c2cca-bc31-11e8-bfa6-f346d845cac6. html Don, Babwin, “Chicago Food Trucks: City Council Overwhelmingly Approves Mayor’s Ordinance,” Huffington Post, July 25, 2012,

DESIGN

Enrico, M. The New Geography of Jobs. (2012) Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Florida, R. (2017, August 31). Returning to the Rust Belt. Citylab. https://www.citylab.com/ life/2017/08/returning-to-the-rust-belt/538572/ Francisco, J. (2005, April 10). Hailed for its innovation, but razed as out of date. Chicago Tribune. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2005-04-01-0504010258-story.html Gehl, J. Cities for People. (2010) Washington D.C: Island Press. Hollingsworth, T., Goebel, A. (2017). Revitalizing Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Smaller Legacy Cities: Strategies for Postindustrial Success from Gary to Lowell. Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Laskow, S. (2016, June 10) How a Hotel in Chicago Convinced Drivers They Needed Parking Garages. Atlas Obscura. Retrieved from https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-a-hotel-inchicago-convinced-drivers-they-needed-parking-garages Leavitt, S. (2010, January 7). Inside the Lines: Parking and Social Stratification. National Building Museum. https://www.nbm.org/inside-lines-parking-social-stratification/ N.A., N.D. Earliest Surviving Multi-storeys. British Parking Association. https://www.britishparking.co.uk/Our-History/first-uk-multi-storey-car-park N.A., N.D. City History. City of Pontiac Michigan. http://www.pontiac.mi.us/about/history/ city_history.php N.A. (2018, August 21). GM Takes an Interest in Oakland Motor Car Corp. History. https://www. history.com/this-day-in-history/gm-takes-an-interest-in-oakland-motor-car-corp Meisen, N. V. (2012) A Short Description of the History of Parking Garages. Parking Network. Retrieved from http://www.parking-net.com/parking-industry-blog/a-short-description-of-thehistory-of-parking-garages Tweedie, N. (2018, July 1) Is the World Running out of Sand? The Truth behind Stolen beaches and Dredged Islands. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/global/2018/jul/01/riddle-ofthe-sands-the-truth-behind-stolen-beaches-and-dredged-islands Whyte, W. H. (1980). The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces Ann Arbor, Michigan: Edward Brothers, Inc.

PHOENIX CENTER Precedent Study Dixon, A. N.D. The Remakery. Architecture for Humanity UK. http://www.afhuk.co.uk/ N.A. N.D. Peckham Levels. Carl Turner Architects. http://www.ct-architects.co.uk/peckhamlevels/ N.A. (2017). Peckham Levels. Make Shift. https://www.makeshift.org/new-index N.A., N.D. SCADpad North America. SCADPAD. http://www.scadpad.com/tour-pads/northamerica Hild, Hans. (2019).. LWL Media Center for Westphalia. Stadt Munster 1950-1980. https://www.lwl.org/marsLWL/de/instance/picture/Stadt-Muenster-1950er---1980er-Jahre. xhtml?oid=22192

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