The owner of the Detroit Saturday Night Building — 550 W. Fort — applied for a demolition permit for the property Friday morning, once again raising questions around the historic building's future.

While the permit was approved, according to Arthur Jemison, Detroit's chief of services and infrastructure, no permit was issued because 21st Century Salvage, the demolition contractor, failed to provide information to renew its wrecking license.

"The city is continuing to work with the owner of the property to identify potential alternatives to the demolition of the building," Jemison said. "In the event that the demolition contractor’s wrecking license is renewed, it is our understanding that the owner will delay demolition until that process is completed."

The Free Press left a voicemail and sent several texts to building owner Emmett Moten to learn more about demolition plans. We had not heard back by late Friday afternoon.

Since July, when 21st Century Salvage originally attempted to obtain a demolition permit, 550 W. Fort has been a flashpoint in a battle over the future character of downtown Detroit.

On one side of the debate is Moten, who contends he must demolish the building and create a surface parking lot because without accessible parking he is struggling to rent out condominiums at his adjacent property, the Fort Shelby Hotel. He needs 22 spots, he has said, and filling the condos is crucial because he must pay back a loan to the General Retirement Systems of the City of Detroit

On the other side, are preservationists who maintain the building, which was completed in 1914 to house the newspaper Detroit Saturday Night, is an important piece of publishing history. They also argue that Detroit does not need more parking lots.

While the two sides have remained steadfast in their views, for nearly six months the building has more or less been in limbo. This is because when 21st Century Salvage, the demolition company hired by Moten, attempted to pull the demo permit over the summer, the request was flagged because of the building's proximity to the Fort Shelby Hotel. Alterations to properties adjacent to historic districts must go first before the Historic District Commission.

When the commission finally met on Dec. 15, it voted unanimously with one abstention that the demolition would have a negative impact on the Fort Shelby historic district.

Merely advisory

Ultimately, however, the vote was "advisory," according to Tim Carroll, a spokesman for the city.

"The commission's recommendation is strictly advisory and speaks only to the demolition's potential to affect the adjacent designated local historic district (the Fort Shelby hotel)," Carroll wrote in a statement the day of the vote.

He added the following day: "The City has no legal basis for denying a building or demolition permit for 550 W. Fort, since the property is adjacent to, and not located within a historic district. However, following the advisory recommendation of the Historic District Commission, the City will work closely with the owner to encourage alternatives to demolition, including adaptive reuse of the structure."

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At the commission meeting, Jennifer Ross, a staffer for the Historic District Commission, gave a brief presentation where she discussed some of the alternatives that Maurice Cox, the city planning director, had presented to Moten. One was a partial demolition concept. The other was an adaptive reuse concept, where a multi-tiered parking garage would be created in the middle of the building.

Moten, at the meeting, said he did not have money to pursue any of these options.

Moten, who has a long history working on development in both the public and private sector, moved to Detroit in 1978. He served as former Mayor Coleman Young's development czar from 1979-88 and was vice president of development for the Ilitch family's Little Caesar Enterprises from 1988-96.

He bought 550 W. Fort in 2007 along with two other nearby properties — the Fort Shelby (525 W. Lafayette) and a surface parking lot at 500 W. Fort.

The trio was purchased with a loan from the General Retirement Systems of the City of Detroit — a $17-million construction and permanent mortgage loan to Fort Shelby LLC (the hotel borrower) and a $14.65-million construction and permanent mortgage loan to Fort Shelby Residential LLC (the residential borrower).

Obligation to lender

According to Moten, the three properties were all a part of his overarching vision for the Fort Shelby development — a fact he stressed at the December Historic District Commission meeting, trying to make the point that his rehab of the hotel should prove his commitment to historic preservation.

"I don't go around knocking buildings down, that's not my character. My character is trying to fulfill an obligation to a lender. I live up to that. We live up to that. And making sure that the residents that buy those units are properly protected in that specific space," he said. "We can yell and scream about 'Save! Save! Save!' but this was what was presented to City Council in 2007," he added later.

The General Retirement System of City of Detroit supported Moten's claim that parking was always his plan for the building.

"It was the General Retirement System of City of Detroit's understanding that the building at 550 would become parking," Rachel Partain, spokeswoman for the fund, said in a statement last month. She added that the board did not have the original 2007 pitch at this time.

According to Partain, on Sept. 30 the current principal balance on the Fort Shelby Residential LLC loan was $5,875,548. The interest rate was 6.5 percent.

"The lender is current on its terms," she said. "As each condo is sold, the borrower is making a significant payment toward the principal."

The Free Press reached out to Partain on the current status of the Fort Shelby LLC loan, she said she was still working to get the figures.

According to Eric Kehoe, the president of Preservation Detroit, Moten's decision to pull the permit is not surprising. At the Historic District Commission meeting last month, Kehoe and his colleagues implored Moten to try to settle on some compromise and even met with him following the vote to discuss alternatives.

Ultimately, however, there was no real traction.

"After the meeting, he didn't seem very interested in hearing other ideas," said Kehoe, who has hope Detroit's City Council may intervene in the situation.

Following Moten's summer attempt to pull the demolition permit, activists — anticipating a fight — attempted to secure protections for the building. In August, resident Francis Grunow sent a letter to City Clerk Janice Winfrey and City Council requesting a historic review of the building and a temporary historic designation to stop a possible demolition. The council has yet to take up the request but it returns from recess on Monday.

"It's ridiculous someone would tear this down for parking when there are already hundreds of spaces nearby," Kehoe said. "This shows that it's time for a moratorium on new parking lots in greater downtown."

Allie Gross focuses on development, housing affordability, and income inequality. Contact Allie Gross at AEGross@freepress.com. Connect with her on Twitter @Allie_Elisabeth