Downtown Detroit on the rise
New development worth billions continues to transform skyline
Detroit's already-stunning downtown skyline — as seen from the Windsor side of the river — continues an upward transformation as part of Motown's rebirth.
Last week saw the grand opening of a new luxury residential skyscraper that sprouted up from the rubble of the former Joe Louis Arena.
And it's just the start for what will be billions of dollars worth in additional downtown Detroit highrise completions expected in 2024.
The Residences at Water Square is a 25-storey, 496-unit tower, Detroit's first all-glass residential highrise. The offerings are deluxe and so too are the rental rates — from US$2,000 (C$2,700) a month for a 586-square-foot studio to as high as US$4,750 (C$6,413) a month for a 784-square-foot, single-bedroom corner suite.
The luxury apartments feature floor-to-ceiling windows and stunning views of the Detroit River and downtown Detroit. The Residences, at 222 3rd Ave., boast an indoor swimming pool, full fitness centre, rooftop lounge and valet parking.
At a Feb. 6 ribbon-cutting ceremony, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan marvelled at the development's fast completion (under two years), and noted the developer — Detroit-based Sterling Group — did it without any public assistance.
It's one of the reasons all the units carry market-value rents that are among the highest in Detroit. The builder credited such factors as novel construction techniques, including prefabricated concrete framing, for the speedy erection.
Early renters may have to contend with construction noise, however, as the same developer is expected to launch work this year on a 25-storey adjacent highrise. Hotel Water Square will be a 600-room hotel next door to Huntington Place (former Cobo Hall) convention centre, with a planned skywalk linking the two.
Expansion work is also underway on Detroit's award-winning Riverwalk, the green park and recreational ribbon along the city's riverfront. Opening later this year at Water Square's front door is Ralph C. Wilson Centennial Park, a Us$75-million, 20-acre green gathering space with playground, water garden, sports pavilion, basketball courts and open lawn for concerts, movie nights and other events.
Also expected to open later this year is the Us$900-million Hudson's Site complex at the location of what was once one of the world's largest retail buildings, J.L. Hudson Department Store. The construction crane is now easily seen from Windsor, atop what will be the second-tallest building in Michigan, at 209 metres (685 feet).
The global pandemic's economic impact forced the scaling back of the Bedrock Detroit project, both in size and timing. The original Us$1.4-billion plan (ground was broken in December 2017) was for the taller of two highrises to tower above the nearby Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Centre, which will now remain the state's highest building at 73 stories and 222 metres.
But Hudson's Site — featuring residential, office, retail, commercial and luxury hotel offerings under a rooftop lounge — still promises to be a massively impressive downtown presence at 1208 Woodward Ave. A ground-level plaza between its two towers will feature a market, event and public spaces, and garage-like doors to allow street-level retailers to open up to the urban outdoors.
Even within existing highrises prominently seen from the Canadian side to the south, there have been big transformations underway.
Also opening this year is Ford Motor Company's 30-acre (12-hectare) Michigan Central mobility and innovation campus centred around a restored 110-yearold train station highrise which once came very close to being torn down. The Us$950-million project in historic Corktown will include retail and public spaces and be home to about 5,000 workers.
Just reopened at 1265 Washington Blvd. is the 38-floor Book Tower. Bedrock Detroit undertook a seven-year, Us$300-million restoration of the distinctive skyscraper which had been vacant since 2009. It is now home to a 117room hotel, 229 residential units, retail and working spaces.
It was just more than a decade ago, on July 18, 2013, that the City of Detroit declared bankruptcy, the largest such municipal filing in U.S. history. Since then, Windsor's neighbour to the north has undergone a remarkable economic turnaround, although the city's urban revitalization has not come without criticism that many longtime residents are still being left behind.
Most recently, property values and housing prices in Detroit have been rising at a faster clip than in most other American cities, at a time when some studies still rank Detroit at or near the top among U.S. cities in unemployment and poverty rates.
The Homes.com website lists all the great features surrounding the Residences at Water Square, including its location in “an industrial neighbourhood on the rise.” There's “excellent transit” (it's along the Detroit People Mover elevated train route) and active transportation offerings; and the downtown's many recreational, entertainment and cultural amenities are within walking distance.
It also lists a “moderate” crime rate (6/10 on a scale that pegs an overall U.S. rate of 4/10). But it's in a city on the move.