Architectural renderings of the proposed arena, created by Rossetti Associates of Detroit, were released Wednesday.
Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert and and Pistons owner Tom Gores are talking big money and a big project at the site of the unfinished Wayne County jail on Gratiot, near Greektown and the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice, in downtown Detroit.
The plan, announced Wednesday, calls for a $1 billion investment to build a Major League Soccer facility along with retail and residential units, a hotel, parking and room for other sporting activities, Christine Ferretti and Charles E. Ramirez of the Detroit News report. Gilbert and Gores announced plans on Tuesday to bring major league soccer to Detroit.
Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber was at the press conference Wednesday, giving the plan even greater legitimacy. Gores was not in attendance.
“The real question though for the county and the community and the people of Detroit is, you know, do we want a jail at the foot of downtown and the front door?” Gilbert said. “Or do we want a major development that’s gonna create economic, great economics for job creation, for, you know, tax roll creation and for overall optimism as you move through the city?”
Gilbert has had his sights on the unfinished Wayne County jail site and surrounding property for quite a while. He owns the nearby Greektown Casino.
Construction of the new jail, which is to hold 2,000 beds, was halted in 2013 after there was a $100 million cost-overruns.
But Wayne County Executive Warren Evans says he isn't giving in so easily to Gilbert's desires and plans at this point to finish the jail project on Gratiot, the News reports.
“My position now is consistent with what it has always been,” he said.
“What was economically feasible for Wayne County has been very clearly finishing on the jail site,” Evans told WWJ. “Not ’cause it’s the best place, not because anybody’s heart’s in it — but because it’s the only feasible option that Wayne County had for the cheapest amount of money to the taxpayers.”
“If that scenario changes, you know, then we change with the scenario,” he added.
He told the station he's not willing to sell the site if it means the taxpayers will lose money.
