The new owner of the State Savings bank building downtown is considering tearing down the historic building for downtown parking.
Triple Properties chairman and CEO Andreas Apostolopoulos said Thursday there’s no way the city can flourish without more parking to attract retail stores and shoppers.
“People are not coming to downtown Detroit (or) bringing their business to downtown Detroit because there is no parking. We’re losing business and Detroit is losing, too,” Apostolopoulos said Thursday afternoon.
“We want to bring the people here. It would be good for everybody: retail, offices and Detroit. I think it’s a good idea.”
Apostolopous bought the building a few weeks ago. He said he’ll consult architects, put something on paper and then meet with city officials.
“Right now, I just want to see everybody working together to bring Detroit back up to standard. It would be good for Detroit to come up again,” Apostolopoulos said.
Triple Properties also owns the 47-story Penobscot building. Earlier this year, it said it intended to lower rent to as low as $10 per square foot to bring the building’s occupancy to 90 percent by next year. The Penobscot was nearly half-vacant as of June.
The group also purchased the Pontiac Silverdome for $583,000.
Darren A. Nichols, Detroit News
