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Massive $1.5B plan includes hotels, apartments, offices for District Detroit

By Jack Nissen
Published  November 16, 2022 7:13am EST
Downtown Detroit
FOX 2 Detroit

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Is the long-fabled District Detroit development that was promised so many years ago finally here?

A new $1.5 billion plan that would transform several properties on Woodward, as well as constructing several more was announced by Ilitch Companies this week, with the property developer promising a slew of office space, retail space, new hotels, and mixed-income housing. 

The proposed plan preserves the Fort Wayne Hotel and the Detroit Live Building with plans to turn them in retail and residential space. Two new buildings would go in on Woodward and Cass Avenues while commercial office buildings and hotels would also go up.

The massive project comes years after Olympia Development, the property management firm owned by the Ilitch family, purchased land in Detroit with the intention of turning the unused space into a combination of residential, commercial, and housing options.

The project seeks brownfield funding, which only comes from the state for plans that could significantly impact the local economy in a city. 

"The construction and operations of each project will help our state and region attract the world’s leading companies and top talent to Detroit while maximizing economic opportunity for those who are already here," said Keith Bradford, the president of Olympia Development of Michigan and The District Detroit.

A total of 13 separate properties will be developed, with five of the sites on Woodward Avenue. Here are the specs of the project:

  • Four residential housing complexes totaling 695 units with 20% of them set aside for affordable housing 2250 Woodward Avenue for mixed-use development 2205 Cass Avenue for residential housing and part of the Detroit Center for Innovation 408 Temple Street will be the rehabbed Fort Wayne Hotel that will house both floor retail and residential space 2210 Park Avenue will see the rehabilitation of the neoclassical style Detroit Life Building. It will have floor retail and residential space
  • 2250 Woodward Avenue for mixed-use development
  • 2205 Cass Avenue for residential housing and part of the Detroit Center for Innovation
  • 408 Temple Street will be the rehabbed Fort Wayne Hotel that will house both floor retail and residential space
  • 2210 Park Avenue will see the rehabilitation of the neoclassical style Detroit Life Building. It will have floor retail and residential space
  • Four commercial buildings 2200 Woodward Avenue 2305 Woodward Avenue or 2300 Cass Avenue 2300 Woodward Avenue 2115 Cass Avenue - a proposed business incubator that will be part of the Detroit Center for Innovation
  • 2200 Woodward Avenue
  • 2305 Woodward Avenue or 2300 Cass Avenue
  • 2300 Woodward Avenue
  • 2115 Cass Avenue - a proposed business incubator that will be part of the Detroit Center for Innovation
  • Two hotels 2455 Woodward Avenue will be a hotel that will be adjacent to Little Caesars Arena 2211 Woodward Avenue will be a reuse of the current Fox Office Building into a hotel. It won't alter the historic theatre.
  • 2455 Woodward Avenue will be a hotel that will be adjacent to Little Caesars Arena
  • 2211 Woodward Avenue will be a reuse of the current Fox Office Building into a hotel. It won't alter the historic theatre.