Business

Two Party Stores And Fire-Scarred Home Holding Out In Planned Ilitch Development

October 24, 2014, 8:51 AM

Louis Aguilar writes in The News that two party stores and a fire-damaged rental home along Cass Avenue remain the last three holdouts in an eight-block area described as "the soul" of the entire $650 million entertainment district expected to be created around the new hockey arena over the next five years.

To accumulate blocks of land needed to build a sports/entertainment arena amid a planned upscale neighborhood, the Ilitch organization spent nearly $50 million and years secretly buying 56 properties from dozens of private owners, Aguilar reports.

"We've tried. We've talked, but no," said Richard Heapes, a key planning consultant to the Ilitches. He made the comment recently to the city of Detroit Planning Commission during a public hearing, when asked whether the Ilitches had all the land needed for the development.

The Ilitches do have all they need, Heapes said, but had made bids on other properties and were still deciding whether they would continue to pursue them. He didn't name the properties, but said they were located on Cass near Clifford Street.

"We haven't talked in weeks. The last time, they hung up on us," said attorney Alan Ackerman, who represents the owners of Paul's Place, a party store at the corner of Cass and Henry. Multiple offers have been made by the Ilitches and all have been rebuffed, he said.


Read more:  Detroit News


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