The Willis Show Bar at Willis and Third in Detroit's Cass Corridor was a thriving jazz club before it turned into a dive where hookers hung out. For the better part of four decades, it has been empty.
Now Detroit Optimist Society hospitality group (Wright & Co., the Sugar House, Bad Luck Bar, et al) and Los Angeles-based investors, plans to reopen it as a cabaret and cocktail bar, reports Mark Kurlyandchik of the Detroit Free Press.
“Of that Cass Corridor show bar era of the ‘40s and ‘50s, this is the only building that’s left; it’s kind of the last bastion of that era," said partner Steve Livigni, whose ventures in greater L.A. include Scopa Italian Roots, the Chestnut Club and Old Lightning.