TO MARK its 75th anniversary the J. L. Hudson Co. rigged up a horse-drawn delivery wagon used long ago. Soon streetcars will also disappear.

Billionaire Dan Gilbert, author of major changes in downtown Detroit, hired an architectural dream team to design an iconic new structure on the Hudson’s site in hopes of recapturing energy on that part of Woodward from decades ago when it teemed with pedestrians, holiday shoppers and commercial life.

Gilbert, chairman and founder of Rock Ventures, said the project “is an opportunity of a lifetime, and we are committed to getting it right. ... Our goal is that this project will become not only a symbol of Detroit’s past and present, but more importantly, highlight the high-tech potential, creative future of opportunities for Detroiters and visitors from around the world.”

Jeff Cohen, founder of Rock Companies, part of Gilbert’s business network, said New York-based SHoP architects will spend the next several months brainstorming how to achieve the biggest impact for the city.

“We told these folks that they had a white canvas,” he said. “We didn’t want them predisposed to anything.”

The possibilities are almost endless — a soaring modernist tower to rival the Renaissance Center as Detroit’s postcard image. Or something closer to the ground, like SHoP’s low-rise, swirling and innovative Barclays Center arena in Brooklyn. Or something like their work on the glass-and-steel Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. The footprint is big enough that the only limits height-wise would be human engineering.

Certainly the building will include residences and most likely commercial space. But Cohen said everything else is open — including the question of public space like plazas or an auditorium, or whether General Motors, Ford Motor and other big Detroit names will participate in the planning.

Of key importance is to capture or recapture a sense of street-level excitement. The Hudson’s store and its stretch of Woodward Avenue used to draw tens of thousands of visitors at peak times. Visiting Santa Claus in the downtown Hudson’s was a rite of passage.

Gregg Pasquarelli, a principal with SHoP, said the design team was excited to be working on such an open-ended project.

“When you’ve got a city that’s going through some really interesting times, and you’ve got an open program, and you’ve got a fantastic client, that’s the best combination you can have,” he said.

> via Detroit Free Press