Michigan group plans high-rise housing in China (2020 April Fools Day story)

An artist’s rendition of the proposed high rise housing complex for China.

by Mary Grow

DeMiHuGi Developers, of Detroit, Michigan, filed permit applications with the Maine environmental protection and transportation departments on April 1, for a 28-story luxury housing complex, to be built on an artificial island at the Narrows on China Lake. The complex will be accessed by a causeway connecting the end of Neck Road to Lakeview Drive, as well as by boat.

Plans call for 24 stories of housing, with apartments arranged around a central core with elevators and utilities. The lower 12 will have four apartments per floor, each with views in two directions; the upper 12 will have two apartments per floor, each with views in three directions. Above will be a rooftop restaurant topped with solar panels.

The base of the building, partly below water level, will be a 150-car parking garage. Above the garage will be three stories housing a supermarket, a clothing store, a pharmacy and clinic, specialty restaurants and boutiques, a gym and sauna, a four-lane bowling alley, offices and probably one or more shops tailored to the area, like a sporting goods store or bait-and-tackle shop.

A double water purification system on the north side of the building will purify China Lake water to make it drinkable and treat wastes so wastewater will be returned to the lake “cleaner than it came out,” according to a DeMiHuGi spokesman.

The swimming beach will be on the south side, the marina on the southeast and motel-style employee housing east and west.

The four-lane causeway connecting the island to the mainland on both sides will be roofed with more solar panels. Additionally, cables running under the road will provide back-up power and will heat the causeway so it will not need winter maintenance.

The DeMi­HuGi spokesman, Maken Haye, said two similar projects on larger water bodies have drawbridges in the causeways to accommodate sailboats.

The company analyzed mast heights on China Lake and concluded no drawbridge is needed.

All windows will have bird-friendly glass. Indoor lighting will be arranged to create “a warm, welcoming glow” after dark.

DeMiHuGi’s spokesman, Haye, said in most projects some amenities are open to local residents, by arrangement with municipal officials.

Additionally, she said, it is company policy to hold a contest among local residents only to name the project. The contest winner receives a 10-year lease on one of the larger apartments.

The project schedule depends on acquiring the needed permits, state and local. The company spokesman said, “Since Maine has never seen a project like this, I expect it will take a while. I doubt we’ll break lake bottom this year.”

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IF YOU BELIEVED THIS STORY, YOU ARE A BELATED APRIL FOOL.