Community benefits process starts for next phase of the District Detroit

Earlier this year, Olympia Development announced a grand vision for the next phase of the District Detroit, with Stephen Ross's Related Companies as the partner. The Detroit Center of Innovation (DCI) is the anchor to these plans, and the vision included many new builds and adaptive reuses of current buildings.

Olympia announced today that the Community Benefits Ordinance process will begin for the first phase of the $1.5 billion development. This phase includes 10 properties covering residential, retail, office, and hospitality, including many in front of Comerica Park. According to a press release, the properties are: 

Four residential projects totaling 695 units with 20% of units set aside as affordable housing at 50% Area Median Income, including:

• Two new construction residential buildings:
  • 2250 Woodward Avenue. A proposed mixed-use development in front of Comerica Park that includes residential space with ground floor retail.
  • 2205 Cass Avenue. A proposed residential building that will be part of the mixed-use campus of the DCI.
• Two historic preservation residential buildings:
  • 408 Temple Street: Plans for the renovation of the American/Fort Wayne Hotel were announced in 2017.  The rehab will include first floor retail and residential space. 
  • 2210 Park Avenue: This is a planned rehab of the Detroit Life Building, located in the  Park Avenue Historic District, with first floor retail and residential space.
• Four commercial office buildings:
  • 2200 Woodward Avenue: A proposed mixed-use development in front of Comerica Park that includes first floor retail and office space.
  • 2305 Woodward Avenue or 2300 Cass Avenue: A proposed mixed-use development which includes first floor retail with office space above.
    • Two different locations are under consideration for this structure depending on prospective tenant feedback – either: (a) 2305 Woodward Avenue, west of Woodward Avenue, East of Park Avenue, south of I-75 and north of Montcalm Street or (b) 2300 Cass, east of Cass Avenue, west of Clifford Street, south of I-75 and north of Montcalm Street.
  • 2300 Woodward Avenue: A proposed mixed-used development in front of Comerica Park that includes first floor retail with office space.
  • 2115 Cass Avenue: The adaptive reuse of the former Moose Lodge building next to the DCI that will be a proposed business incubator. 
• Two proposed hotels, including:
  • 2455 Woodward Avenue: This previously announced hotel on Woodward and the I-75 Service Drive, next to the Little Caesars Arena.
  • 2211 Woodward Avenue: A proposed adaptive reuse of the current Fox Office Building to a hotel that will not alter the historic Fox Theatre.

The developers are not seeking any general city funds for the development. They are submitting a Transformational Brownfield Plan with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.

The Community Benefits Ordinance comes into effect when developments are either more than $75 million in value, are receiving more than $1 million in property tax abatements, or receiving more than $1 million of value in city land sale or transfer.

The first meeting is at 6pm on November 29 at Cass Tech High School. The map below shows the impact area where residents have been mailed invitations to the meetings. Once selected, the Neighborhood Advisory Council will negotiate various benefits to the affected surrounding neighborhood.

The initial development plans were met with skepticism earlier this year. The plans included many previous ideas that never came to fruition. But with the addition of Related Companies to the development team, there was a little more hope that these could come to life.