An external examination Monday by Detroit city inspectors leads them to believe the Alden Apartments building that is facing demolition in the Cass Corridor is not "in imminent danger of collapse."

However, David Bell, director of the Building, Safety Engineering and Environmental Department, also said in a statement to Crain's yesterday that "an interior assessment has not been conducted nor formally requested at this time and may reveal otherwise."

Crain's reported Friday that the Ilitch family's Olympia Development of Michigan is seeking approval to tear down the 26,000-square-foot building it owns at 145 Temple St. in the shadow of Little Caesars Arena with an excavator.

Bell said Olympia has not yet submitted a demolition application to the city.

"If the owner chooses to move forward with that application, it will be subject to Historic District Commission approval, as the building does not require an emergency demolition and it is located within the boundaries of the Cass Park Historic District."

The company has drawn criticism from the historic preservation community and others for years for tearing down buildings it owns in the Cass Corridor and elsewhere in the city, often paving over the sites for surface parking or building new parking decks.

"I urge you to not grant an emergency demolition permit for Alden, as there is no evidence of imminent structural failure or risk to public safety — the Alden was occupied prior to the Ilitch family's purchase," Francis Grunow, chair of the Neighborhood Advisory Committee for the Arena District, wrote to Bell and other city officials on Sunday.

"Other similar structures in the neighborhood have been in far worse shape, and successfully rehabbed and integrated into Detroit's development landscape. There is a market for these types of buildings in Detroit's future. If the Ilitch Family cannot make them work, then they should sell them to other groups that can."

Olympia declined comment Wednesday, instead referring to a statement issued last week.

Olympia, which owns the the Alden building through a subsidiary, said then that the building is structurally unsound and not a candidate for redevelopment, a determination the company made in recent weeks before notification was filed earlier this month with the state of its intent to demolish the property, which was one of the buildings at the center of the city's eventual approval of the Cass Park Historic District 2 1/2 years ago.

" ... We are following appropriate steps to gain approval for demolition," Olympia said last week. "Our organization will continue to pursue development opportunities that generate density, are financially viable, and support the long-term goals of the city and The District Detroit. Including the Fox Theatre, a National Historic Landmark, we have a strong record of supporting historic redevelopment in the city. Ten historically designated buildings in The District Detroit are either already completed or in the planning, financing, or leasing stages, including 150 Bagley, 1922 Cass, 2110 Park, 2210 Park, 100 Sproat, 408 Temple, and 100 Temple."

Olympia announced the $23 million Detroit Creamery Co. building project at 1922 Cass Ave.; the $17 million Detroit Life Building project at 2210 Park Ave.; and the $25 million Women's City Club building project at 2110 Park Ave. earlier this year. Those buildings are slated to be turned into a total of 145,000 square feet of office space and 24,000 square feet of first-floor retail space.

The United Artists Building at 150 Bagley St. is slated for apartment redevelopment by a group lead by long-time Detroit developer Emmett Moten Jr. That project was announced last year, along with the Hotel Eddystone project at 100 Sproat St.; the Hotel Fort Wayne project at 408 Temple St.; and the Alhambra Apartments project at 100 Temple St. Olympia will miss a Sept. 12 deadline to complete redevelopment of the Hotel Eddystone.

The debate over the Alden Apartments, originally built in 1924 as a 22-unit apartment building and a few months later expanded by another 20 units, began in 2015 when the Ilitches were considering widening the south side of Temple Street between Woodward and Cass avenues from 50 to 100 feet.

At the time, Olympia representatives had publicly discussed renovations of buildings in the area on the north side of Temple: the Hotel Fort Wayne kitty-corner from The Alden, the Alhambra Apartments to the east on Temple Street and a commercial building at 2900 Cass Ave. on the north side of Temple, according to a 2015 story in the Detroit Free Press.

The Hotel Fort Wayne and Alhambra were part of plans announced last year to bring close to 700 residential units to the downtown market; work on those buildings has yet to begin.

Three other buildings, however, were to be demolished as part of the plan. The Alden Apartments was initially one of them, although later it was added to the Cass Park Historic District, meaning that the Historic District Commission has to sign off on any demolition or alteration to the building.

The other two were the Will Mar Garage at 131 Temple St. and the William E. Cole House at 2753 Park Ave. They were torn down to make way for the new Olympia-owned parking deck at 123 Temple St.