One would assume the mystery could be solved through city permit records, but according to Todd, there are no permits, even though there should be. "For that kind of work and the dollar amount that would come with it, yes, permits would be required," says Todd.
Wow, you need a permit in Detroit to put glass into a window?
I live in a 10 story condo building in San Francisco, and had a window crack during a Giants fireworks show. After speaking to our building manager I found out the cost to replace a window above the 3rd floor is about $10k. You need all sorts of specialized permits, a contractor, and a paramedic on site during the work.
On a historic building 100+ feet off the ground? Yes, permits are generally required wherever you are. It's not quickly replacing a ground floor window in the suburbs.
Simplest explanation: The owners had them installed to test different contractors, designs, and/or materials. Wouldn't you have someone put a few in before you signed a contract to put them all up?
Typically no, you wouldn't. Building contractors aren't teenage web designers, they don't put up with that sort of nonsense. Either you give them the whole job, or they walk away.
Maybe not in Detroit, but most places, yeah. If a customer signals that they're going to be a pain in the ass, the contractor will bail. There's no shortage of work for builders.
There are hundreds of windows to be added. The owner is a billionaire. The contractor will do whatever he asks.
Also, maybe they're testing window designs and not checking out the contractors work. "Does it fit?" "Let's order 3 and try." It's not hard to imagine why someone would want to install a few windows in a big abandoned building before installing all of them.
Quality contractors are not hard to come by anywhere in Michigan. Because most new construction dried up, you can usually find quality contractors for good prices willing to start right away.
If you're going to renovate the building into something like apartments or offices, wouldn't you want to create a model unit to photograph (from the inside) and use for later?
Will be interesting to see if anything starts moving with this. I drive by it everyday (our office is downtown Detroit) and it never ceases to amaze me how you can practically 'see-through' the building with all the windows missing.
The funny thing is that according to Freshwater Railway's fictitious "history of Michigan Central Station" page [1], 2013 is the year that the Marouns sold the station to Freshwater Railway Corporation to begin constructing a commuter rail depot.
> Michigan Central Station stopped serving trains in 1988 with multiple plans to redevelop the building falling through since. The Morouns have owned the building since 2001.
Wow, you need a permit in Detroit to put glass into a window?