Sunday, March 1, 2015

BURST PIPE CAUSES 2 MILLION GALLON FLOOD AT DAVID STOTT BUILDING




FEBRUARY 25, 2015

DETROIT, MICHIGAN

Water from a burst pipe is being blamed for flooding the lower levels of the mostly vacant 38-story David Stott building in downtown Detroit.

Authorities have pumped about 2 million gallons of water from the building as cleanup crews work at the site.

The pipe burst earlier this week, WDIV-TV and WWJ-AM reported. The flooding happened during bitterly cold temperatures in the city, leaving icicles hanging from portions of the interior of the building.

The extent of the damage to the 1929 building wasn't immediately known. Kenneth M. Creighton, senior vice president of DDI Asset Management LLC, said in a statement that the flood happened sometime between Sunday morning and Monday morning. He said an insurance investigation is underway to determine the cause, but it is likely the result of a frozen pipe during the recent record-cold temperatures.

A Chinese developer, DDI Group, purchased the 210,000-square-foot David Stott Building on Griswold Street for $9.4 million and the 302,000-square-foot Free Press building on West Lafayette for $4.2 million in September.  

In March 2014, Crain's reported that the broker who sold the building at auction to Shanghai-based DDI Group and one of the main tenants in the Stott building were concerned the investors wouldn't spend what's needed to maintain and lease them out, let alone renovate them. The building has been mostly vacant since the sale.

There also were issues with the maintenance of the elevator that services Skybar, which took up the entire 33rd floor of the Stott building. Detroit Yoga, which occupied 2,500 square feet, left its space citing landlord concerns.

DDI has two tenants in the David Stott Building, Creighton said in a statement: One is a local creative agency that it is helping to relocate while the flood damage is being assessed and repaired. The other tenant, Skybar, is the subject of a previous court-ordered eviction action, but has been granted temporary tenancy pending an appeal.

"The majority of the leases inherited upon purchasing the building have expired, and we have elected not to renew them as we study the feasibility of redevelopment or resale of the building," he said.