Beyond District Detroit: 77 idling Ilitch properties stretch to North Corktown

October 11, 2019, 2:54 AM


An Ilitch-owned house sits boarded up at 3143 Park Avenue. (Photo: Google Street Views)

There's been much focus this year on the undeveloped land owned by the Ilitches in District Detroit. But the controversial organization is sitting on an additional 77 properties that stretch beyond Little Ceasars Arena and into key areas ripe for development, a Detroit News investigation finds.  

The Ilitch-linked holdings outside of District Detroit total 77 idle properties — 64 empty lots and 13 vacant buildings, the News found.

They include:

  • 44 vacant lots and eight unoccupied buildings around Grand River Avenue that form a virtual dead zone around the Ilitch-owned MotorCity Casino Hotel.
  • A fenced-up block of grassy lots on Third Street across from a homeless crisis center that the Ilitch group backed out of buying for $1.5 million earlier this year.
  • A shuttered pair of historic Beaux-Arts-style buildings on a bustling Peterboro Street that the group has taken initial steps to potentially demolish and turn into parking lots.

In total, The News found the orgnization controls nearly 400 properties in and around the District Detroit. More than 75 percent of those are either vacant or being used for parking.


Read more:  The Detroit News


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