Earlier this week, City Council approved another tax break for the massive District Detroit development. This one covers four buildings for a 10-year, $51.8 million tax break.
The four buildings in this approval are at 2211 Woodward, 2200 Woodward, 2250 Woodward, and 2300 Woodward Ave. This includes the Fox Theatre hotel conversion, as well as three new construction buildings. The 17-story tower in front of Comerica Park is part of this, and developers Olympia and Related Companies have said they could break ground on this project this summer.
The team has an ambitious five-year timeline for the project.
Throughout the year, the $1.53 billion, 10-building plan has received a combination of incentives; last month the state approved nearly $615 million in tax capture for the project.
The Detroit Free Press (paywalled) reported earlier this week that an analysis states that the office and residential rent in the District Detroit would need to exceed that of which is currently in downtown Detroit, and these still might not support the construction costs. According to the analysis, "District Detroit's market-rate housing rents are expected to exceed current top market rents in downtown by 18% to 35%" and developers will be seeking "value engineering" to lower costs.
Plans call for nearly 700 new residential units (many of which will be listed as "affordable"), new office and retail space, and a hotel in the Fox Theatre and a new hotel next to the Little Caesars Arena.
