After months of delay, the Ilitch organization says it has reached a deal with the city of Detroit to start redeveloping the Hotel Eddystone, an idling 13-story Italian Renaissance structure next to Little Caesars Arena.
The project was supposed to be completed last September, according to a 2015 contract between the Ilitches and the Detroit Downtown Development Authority (DDA). Work is to get underway in June.
The announcement comes after several months of media attention on the Ilitches' failure to develop the 50-block area surrounding the arena.
In a release, the Ilitches say that this deal (unlike the contract that got them hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money, apparently) will include some hard deadlines.
We will "provide a letter of credit or performance bond to ensure the project meets certain milestones within specific timelines and that the project is completed," the release says.
The deal between the Ilitches and city would require an amendment to that 2015 contract, which means the DDA needs to approve it.
But only time will tell if the Ilitches really meet those milestones. Their track record on this and other projects has, of course, been mixed.
Crain's reporter Kirk Pinho provides a timeline of the messaging around the Eddystone (ODM is Olympia Development of Michigan, the real estate company under the Ilitch Holdings umbrella):
— Kirk Pinho (@kirkpinhoCDB) May 17, 2019
