Chinese company neglects another art deco gem in downtown Detroit as skyscraper floods

The towering art deco David Stott Building in downtown Detroit was submerged in two stories of water Wednesday after pipes burst in what looks like yet another cautionary tale of abandonment.

Crews were draining 2 million gallons of water from the 38-story building bought by Chinese developer, DDI Group, in late 2013 for $9.4 million. According to two sources familiar with the flood, the company failed to properly protect the building from the cold and didn’t know pipes burst until the second floor was under water. generic levaquin

It’s not yet clear how extensive the damage is. An engineer is expected to look at the building after the water is drained.

In November, we revealed that DDI Group neglected another vacant art deco gem, the historic Free Press building, which is now covered in black mold after pipes burst. DDI Group paid $4.2 million for the Albert Kahn-designed building but has been slow to secure it from trespassers. generic nexium

DDI acquired the buildings in an online auction in late 2013. At the time, the company pledged to spend $50 million to begin transforming the Free Press building into apartments with retail space in the fall of 2014. It never happened, despite historic tax credits worth about $22 million. generic plavix

When DDI Group bought the David Stott, one big tenant was left – the Sky Bar. But the company left after saying DDI Group was neglecting the building and failing to maintain the elevators, which often malfunctioned with customers inside.

DDI Group, which is baed in Shangai, didn’t return calls for comment.

The David Stott opened in 1929 and has been predominately vacant since 2010.

  Abandoned Buildings, Architecture, Building, China, Chinese, David Stott, ddi group, detroit, developers, skyscraper

Steve Neavling

Steve Neavling lives and works in Detroit as an investigative journalist. His stories have uncovered corruption, led to arrests and reforms and prompted FBI investigations.

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