It's been another busy month for development news in the city. Let's catch up on five of the biggest stories from the past four weeks.
A groundbreaking was held for the Arena District
last week, beginning
the very expensive task of building an 18,000-seat hockey and entertainment arena and 45 blocks of mixed-use development mostly from scratch. A mix of public and private money is funding the development just north of downtown. The arena is scheduled to open in 2017.
In other sports-cum-development news, the city of Detroit is weighing proposals for the redevelopment of the historic former site of Tiger Stadium in the city's Corktown neighborhood. The city issued its latest RFP for the site earlier this year and
has reportedly narrowed it down to two proposals. Each proposal calls for mixed-use development for the site, which would run along Michigan Avenue and Trumbull Street. The rest of the site will be reserved for the Police Athletic League and its own development plans, which would include maintaining the historic playing field.
The M-1 Rail construction keeps chugging along, with the first tracks
being installed along Woodward this week. Crews began working on the 3.3 mile-long light rail development in July 2014.
Last week, a judge ordered
Ralph Sachs to secure and maintain
a downtown building of his which has become so dilapidated that the city of Detroit is
suing for it to be torn down. Preservationists started
a petition in response, asking that Sachs be held responsible for maintaining his building, rather than forcing the historic Albert Kahn-designed high rise be torn down.
In beer news, Dexter-based Jolly Pumpkin announced that it will open its
third Michigan location in Detroit's Midtown. The brewery and restaurant will open at 441 W. Canfield St. in 2015. Meanwhile, the Michigan-based HopCat, a craft beer bar and restaurant, has delayed its opening, also in Midtown, to
mid-December of this year.
Writer: MJ Galbraith
Got a development news story to share? Email MJ Galbraith here or send him a tweet @mikegalbraith.
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