It’s official: The ceremonial groundbreaking to herald construction of the $650 million Detroit Red Wings arena and entertainment district centered at Woodward and I-75 will happen Sept. 25.
Chris Ilitch, president and CEO of Ilitch Holdings Inc. and son of Wings owners Mike and Marian Ilitch, confirmed the date Thursday during his remarks to the more than 150 successful local expatriates gathered at the College for Creative Studies for the second day of the Detroit Homecoming summit.
Without going into detail, Ilitch said the groundbreaking, which will include various dignitaries, will be an elaborate ceremony rather than the traditional shovel-in-the-ground photo op.
Large shipping containers are being delivered now to the future arena site for use in the groundbreaking event.
Actual construction this year will be site prep work and demolition this fall and winter, with heavy earth-moving to commence with the thaw next year, Ilitch told Crain’s after his presentation.
Construction of the 20,000-seat, eight-story arena and a sprawling plan of new housing and retail in a 50-block downtown district is expected to take three years, with the arena opening in summer 2017.
Chris Ilitch said Thursday morning before Detroit expats that the ceremonial groundbreaking on the new arena site will be Sept. 25.
Ilitch was one of the presenters this week at the Detroit Homecoming, a summit and networking gathering of successful former Detroiters and key current local business, civic and political leaders, organized and produced by Crain’s Detroit Business.
The invitation-only even began Wednesday and continues through Friday, with live coverage at crainsdetroit.com and WXYZ.com.
Ilitch told the crowd that land parcels are available for development within the arena district footprint, and encouraged anyone interested to contact the project’s business development people.
He said the arena will be “Michigan-made, Detroit-built” and noted that local contractors and workers are being sought to build the district.
Ilitch called the plans “Detroit-fueled design” and noted that the arena will have a below-grade bowl surrounded by a street-like concourse that “deconstructs” the venue by separating the seats and ice from the offices and other elements of a traditional arena.
New district infrastructure: Five new mixed-use neighborhooods surrounding and including the new arena.
The district plan calls for restaurants, bars, retail and housing to the west and south of the arena, creating new mixed-use neighborhoods in the current area around the Fox Theatre and Comerica Park — all to be paid for by the Ilitches or third-party investors/developers.
Adjacent to the arena will be 184 housing units.
One of the more unique elements of the project will be reconstruction of the nearby Woodward Avenue bridge atop I-75, which will be lined with storefronts for pedestrian traffic.
Ilitch estimated 12 million people will visit the entertainment district annually.
“We’ve been in the city a long time. We love it. It’s home,” he said.
For years, the Ilitches have been planning an arena to replace 35-year-old, city-owned Joe Louis Arena, spending about $50 million to acquire land north of the Fisher Freeway and west of Woodward Avenue. That land, and other public land, was transferred to Detroit’s Downtown Development Authority.
Ilitch joked that planning began when he was just getting his braces off.
Public interest in the arena project, in the works since the 1990s, has been high. It’s partially funded by downtown property tax dollars and by the Ilitches.
The project’s financing received approval from the DDA, which will own the venue, on Tuesday, and from the Michigan Strategic Fund, which will issue bonds to pay for its construction, on Wednesday.
Olympia was to go before the city planning commission at 6 p.m. Thursday for a required rezoning request for what Ilitch on Thursday described as a 50-plus block development of new neighborhoods, with retail and housing, anchored by the arena — which he said will be open all year even on non-event days.
Ilitch said the project “rivals anything in our nation, or even the world.”
The district project, an envisioned by the Ilitches, is 14 buildings constructed concurrently, with privately-funded nonarena work estimated at $200 million.
The five neighborhoods are intended to seamless connect the current assets in the area, such as Comerica Park, Ford Field and the downtown theaters, Ilitch said.
“This district is stitching these community assets together,” he said.
The “brand promise” of the project is the catchphrase “come out, be amazed” he added.
Ilitch said the entire $650 million cost likely will increase by the time it’s finished. The family is obligated to pay any arena cost overruns beyond the $450 million.
The Ilitches’ Olympia Development of Michigan will operate the arena under a 35-year concession agreement with the DDA. ODM is the property development arm of the Ilitches’ $3.1 billion business empire, which includes the Red Wings, Detroit Tigers and the Little Caesars pizza chain.
The deal calls for Olympia to keep all revenue generated by the arena, including concessions, parking and any possible naming rights. The 35-year management deals allows for 12 subsequent renewal options of five years each.
The Ilitches have predicted $1.8 billion in economic impact and thousands of new jobs because of the district and its construction — estimates academics and critics warn are overly optimistic.
Southfield-based Barton Malow Co., Detroit-based White Construction and Indianapolis-based Hunt Construction Group have been jointly hired to manage construction of the arena.
Additionally, the Ilitches promised to spend “tens of millions” more for infrastructure improvements in the district, mainly west of the arena site, to help create mixed-use neighborhoods, Ilitch told the crowd today and Crain’s in July.
That additional spending will be used to fix roads and streetlights and add landscaping and other aesthetic work within the district.
All together, the entire project stretches from Charlotte Street south to Grand Circus Park, east to the existing stadiums and to a northwest boundary abutting MotorCity Casino Hotel, owned by Marian Ilitch.
Photo Credit: Dennis Allen Renderings
