DETROIT | Little Caesars Arena & The District Detroit

[pizzaguy]

Why not let the Pistons play there too?

[OhioGuy]

^^Could it be a reverse of the Barclays Center? There the arena was initially built for the NBA and the NHL came after. Perhaps in Detroit this new NHL arena will entice the NBA back from the suburbs?

[Rizzo]

I like the roof. Done right it could be awesome. If it's lit up like that, I'm sure many people would love looking out their window at that....assuming the two buildings don't bite the dust

[animatedmartian]

Originally Posted by pizzaguy

Why not let the Pistons play there too?

That's what everyone speculates, but it's unlikely due to the fact that the owner of the Pistons has been pretty stubborn on keeping them at the Palace which just recently got some upgrades.

However, no doubt that more non-sporting events will likely take place in the new arena versus the Palace.

Qouted July 22:

Mark Barnhill, senior partner at Platinum Equity, issued a statement Tuesday reflecting the sentiments of Pistons owner Tom Gores, in light of the Ilitch family unveiling plans for a $650 million entertainment district downtown.

The Pistons are the lone pro sports team in Detroit that isn't downtown, and they are not currently weighing the possibility of moving from The Palace of Auburn Hills, Barnhill said.

"We have a beautiful arena, and we have invested tens of millions of dollars over the past three years to modernize and improve that facility," said Barnhill in the statement. "At the same time, we would never close the door on alternatives if they made good sense for our fans, for our team, for our business and for Michigan."

The Palace is the only arena among the four used by Detroit’s pro sports teams that was built solely by private funds -- by late owner William Davidson in the 1980s.

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...#ixzz38Ew6vsD0

[LMich]

On the roof, all reports on this - and I'm not sure of the technology - is that it's more of a screen that can be changed (colors, images) given the event, since this will much more a multi-purpose arena than the Joe is. The rendering just happens to show roughly what it will look like when the primary tenant, the Wings, are playing.

[subterranean]

It's nice.

[EuphoricOctopus]

Looks great! As LMich stated earlier in the thread, they are required to build $200 million worth of developments in these neighborhoods, so it's going to happen.

[Rail>Auto]

Is it just me or would Tiger Town make more sense than Wildcat Corner?

[LMich]

That particular district is comprised of the northeast corner of downtown, which includes both Ford Field and Comerica Park. Lions & tigers = wildcats. I doubt the name will ever catch on, anyway.

[Rizzo]

Well they already have that "Big Cat Court" thing lol.

[animatedmartian]

Some comparisons between renderings and current conditions.

Columbia/Fox Theatre area.












http://www.mlive.com/business/detroi...its_colum.html


Wildcat Corner (MLive suggestions have been Couger/Liger Corner). Presumably, most of the streets pictured will become brick paved.










This street seems like it will be split into two diverging ones with park space in the middle (pictured in the rendering).








http://www.mlive.com/business/detroi...at_corner.html

[animatedmartian]

As intended, this will be a very Detroit-centric project.

Rossetti named architect consultant for new Detroit Red Wings arena
By David Muller. August 27, 2014. MLive Media Group

Detroit's Downtown Development Authority on Wednesday agreed to pay up to $300,000 to hire Rossetti as an "inspecting architect" for the new, $450 million Detroit Red Wings arena.

...

DDA senior project manager Tim Miles said Rossetti was selected after the DDA approached three Detroit-based architects. He said at Wednesday's meeting that Rossetti was the best qualified, as the company has experience with arena architecture.

As architecture inspector for the DDA, the assigned Rossetti associates will be responsible for reviewing arena site plans and advising the DDA.

...

Detroit businesses invited to Thursday jobs summit to bid on arena work
By Bill Shea. August 27, 2014. Crain's Detroit Business

Olympia Development of Michigan has scheduled a “jobs summit” Thursday for Detroit-headquartered and Detroit-based businesses interested in bidding on work in the sprawling $200 million downtown arena and entertainment district the firm will begin building this fall.

....

Olympia said it intends to “achieve 30 percent Detroit business participation and 51 percent Detroit resident-worker participation in construction of the new Detroit arena.”

“We are very focused on doing everything we can to ensure that Detroit businesses and resident-workers play a major role in the jobs that will build the arena, as well as the entire district,” said Christopher Ilitch, president and CEO of Ilitch Holdings Inc., in a statement.

....

“Olympia and its partners will host additional outreach events in the coming months to ensure Detroit-based and -headquartered businesses, Detroit workers, state of Michigan contractors and Michigan-based suppliers play a major role in construction of the district and arena,” Olympia said.

The next event, called Michigan-made, Detroit-built, is scheduled for 10 a.m. Sept. 9 at the Fox Theatre in Detroit. No other details about that event have been disclosed.

[animatedmartian]

Launch of $650M Detroit development plan expected to begin this month
LOUIS AGUILAR. THE DETROIT NEWS. September 5th, 2014.



The “launch” of a 45 block, $650 million development plan for the northern edge of downtown will begin Thursday, Sept. 25, according to mysterious invite sent out Friday.

The email invitation was sent out by Olympia Development of Michigan, the driver behind the massive project, and not much detail is provided about what is expected to happen on Sept. 25.

“Imagine a place...” says the one-paragraph invite with an image of a well-dressed man looking upward.

This month is the expected target date for construction to begin for the long-awaited development that will create a new home area for the Detroit Red Wings. The arena would be among the five “new neighborhoods” with hundreds of new apartments, offices and other mixed-use retail that could open by summer 2017, according to the billionaire family that controls much of the land.

....

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140905/BIZ/309050103/1361/Launch-of-$650M-Detroit-development-plan-expected-to-begin-Thursday

[JonathanGRR]

A press conference will be held on Thursday detailing more news (including layouts) of the Arena Area. http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...ealed-Thursday

[WPitonya]

I'm pleasantly surprised that the building at Park and Sproat is still in the site plan as of now; hopefully those two taller buildings will be restored!!

[eleven=11]

is this Detroit Arena the most exciting building
project of the next 2 years 2015/2016
what about new NFL Stadiums in Atlanta & Minn.
or all the new buildings around the Miami Heat arena?
or Downtown Orlando Citrus bowl/new soccer stadium/magic
anybody got a top 5-10 list USA/Canada ???

[Innsertnamehere]

Edmonton arena is easily the coolest arena I know of.

[animatedmartian]

Elevation plans released.



East side.



West side.



South side.



North side.



http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...#ixzz3DPzsJPXw

[Rizzo]

Hmmm. I like the idea of liner buildings but those elevations do not look promising at all.

[LMich]

I'll take the elevations as very rough drafts. I'd like to see more detail, particularly the what materials they will be using. What I was most interested in was the site plan.

From the original aerial view, it looks like they cut down on the size of the northwestern parking garage to give more area to the central courtyard. That won't make much difference for fans as that area looks to be used mostly for logistics if I'm reading correctly.

It's also encouraging to continue to see the old Park Avenue Hotel (2643 Park/Harbor Light Center) rendered into everything, if even it's obvious in the renderings that they are still struggling with finding a use for it.

What are they closing off that one block of Henry for, though? Is it to give the apartment building, there, some breather during games? It appears that it's not permanently closed off, rather a controlled street in the site plan. I'm also a little confused about the Clifford and Cass intersection, particularly the entry/exit configuration of the southwest parking garage which is not labeled as clearly of that as the other garage. It almost appears you might be forced to access both garages from Sproat, one through the other, and Clifford acts as some kind of dead-end for the "townhomes"?