Suite101.com checks out the renovation at the Fort Shelby Hotel

Suite101.com, a Vancouver-based web site, visits the Fort Shelby and sees it as a symbol of renewal.

Excerpt:

Completion of the Doubletree Guest Suites Fort Shelby project is yet another major step in Detroit's rebirth, although slightly removed from the districts where the bulk of the work has been done - at Foxtown, in and around Campus Martius, and at the riverfront. To see some of the attention find its way down Fort Street (only a short walk from MGM's newly revamped casino) is encouraging.

Old-timers might remember that the original Fort Shelby Hotel, which closed during the '80s when many buildings throughout the city did, once housed the original Anchor Bar, which once played to host to many of Detroit's sports heroes. The bar has since moved about a block-and-a-half up Fort Street.

The Doubletree Fort Shelby opened in mid-December, and watching the day-by-day reconstruction turn a pile of crumbling bricks and broken windows into an again-attractive building with new street-level restaurants was miraculous. The top few floors of the building are reserved for the Fort Shelby Towers, residential condominiums that target affluent Detroiters looking to return from the suburbs to Detroit's newly rejuvenated urban scene. On Lafayette, pedestrians and workers in the area now have a couple of new dining options available to them. The upscale Finn & Porter restaurant and the Bearclaw Coffee Co. are welcome additions.

Read the entire article here.