Downtown will look very different in fairly short time.
The Ilitch family plans to have a new hotel and about 150 residential units ready when the new Detroit Red Wings hockey arena debuts in September 2017, Louis Aguilar of the Detroit News reports writes:
On Sunday, Olympia released updated details and renderings of its upscale vision surrounding the future home of the Red Wings. More than 200,000-square-feet of restaurant, retail and office space will be built adjacent to the arena, which borders Woodward. The hotel could have up 350-400 rooms, which would make it a major downtown hotel.
The new renderings show the Ilitches effort to create a dense, walkable area, which includes giving several blocks of the I-75 service drive a huge makeover. Overall, four-story buildings surrounding the arena help diminish the street profile of the massive arena, where center ice is 40 feet below street level.
