New $650 million Detroit Red Wings arena and entertainment district
Olympia Entertainment/Detroit Red Wings
Dan Gilbert
DETROIT, MI - Dan Gilbert has not sat around and waited for other developments to spring up around his investments in downtown Detroit, but damned if a $650 million pro hockey arena and entertainment district just down the road from where he owns 60 buildings isn't a welcome plan.
In a statement released Monday by the founder and Chairman of Quicken Loans, Gilbert called the Ilitch family's plans for the roughly 45-block Detroit Red Wings arena and entertainment district a "thoughtful and impressive design will be transformative for downtown.
"This tops a lifetime of Detroit accomplishments for Mike and Marion which Chris is carrying out with passion and diligence," Gilbert continued in an emailed statement. "When you think about all of the activity in midtown, the stadium district with this new arena development and all of the projects and action south of Grand Circus through Campus Martius to the river, being connected seamlessly by the already underway M1 RAIL project, you can't help but believe this is the single most exciting and optimistic time for the Woodward corridor and all of downtown Detroit."
His full statement is below.
On Sunday the Ilitch family's Olympia Development revealed renderings and further details for the 20,000-seat hockey arena on Woodward Avenue and the surrounding blocks in between Midtown and downtown, where at least $200 million would be spent building up mixed-use development at the same time that the $450 million arena is constructed. It's all scheduled to be complete in 2017.
Since August 2010, Gilbert's Quicken Loans and related companies have moved thousands of employees to the city's central business district, including the headquarters of Quicken Loans itself.
Since then, Gilbert has been buying and renovating buildings along or near the lower Woodward Avenue corridor. His Bedrock Real Estate Services now owns or controls more than 60 buildings in the area and some 9 million square feet of real estate. About 120 companies have moved or have been created in downtown Detroit since Bedrock began acquiring buildings there. The company's full real estate holdings and Detroit engagement timeline can be seen here.
Here is the full statement from Gilbert:
"We are thrilled about the more than exciting arena district plans revealed by the Ilitch family yesterday. The thoughtful and impressive design will be transformative for downtown. This tops a lifetime of Detroit accomplishments for Mike and Marion which Chris is carrying out with passion and diligence. When you think about all of the activity in midtown, the stadium district with this new arena development and all of the projects and action south of Grand Circus through Campus Martius to the river, being connected seamlessly by the already underway M1 RAIL project, you can't help but believe this is the single most exciting and optimistic time for the Woodward corridor and all of downtown Detroit."
David Muller is the business reporter for MLive Media Group in Detroit. Email him at dmuller@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter