DTE undertakes major campus improvements

DTE Energy has a major campus improvement plan underway that was spurred, in part, by the construction of the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino parking garage. When DTE sold parking lots to MGM for the now-complete garage, it also reached an arrangement with the casino for its employees to have parking deck access during work hours.

The next phase of the improvements was construction of a walkway (pictured) to connect the parking deck to the DTE complex. John Austerberry of DTE media relations says the skywalk changed internal campus foot traffic patterns, which “spurred an internal project.” The project, the conversion of an interior courtyard into a new cafeteria and multi-use meeting room, will result in “the central community area for the complex — we’re calling it the town square,” Austerberry says.

Meanwhile, since the parking deck freed up the numerous surface lots around the building, DTE is creating a campus-like landscaped setting that will be available for employee use. Austerberry says it will “be a place that employees can take their lunch, take a walk or just get out for fresh air.”

The landscaping and town square construction will be complete by October 1. Both improvements will help DTE be “attractive and functional, which helps us attract and retain high caliber employees in a competitive marketplace,” Austerberry says.

A future phase of the campus improvements will include the reconfiguring and remodeling of the main lobby and entrance of the Walker-Cisler Building (that’s the tall one pictured above).

Austerberry says the company sees “solid business reasons for doing this work and making this investment at this time. We want to contribute to the revitalization of the downtown area. We’ve seen significant improvements in recent years. We want to build on those improvements and maybe spur additional development in the vicinity.”

Source: John Austerberry, DTE
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh