For a while, Mike Ilitch was the sleeping giant.
When it came to acquisitions and development in downtown Detroit, it was Dan Gilbert this and Dan Gilbert that. There wasn't much news coming out of the Ilitch camp.
But Mike Ilitch and family are making big noise these days with the proposed new hockey arena and entertainment district in the heart of Detroit.
John Gallagher of the Detroit Free Press writes:
Already Detroiters and Michiganders are talking about Gilbertville” and “Ilitchville,” reflecting the outsized influence of the two main players reshaping greater downtown Detroit.
Many corporate leaders have helped revitalize the city over the decades — Henry Ford II built the Renaissance Center, Peter Stroh a riverfront complex, Peter Karmanos Jr. the Compuware Building near Campus Martius, and Roger Penske delivered a super Super Bowl and helped clean up downtown.
But when the annals of late 20th and early 21st Century downtown Detroit are written, two names will likely stand out as paramount: the Ilitch family and Dan Gilbert.
The Freep writes that John Mogk, a longtime law professor and development expert at Wayne State University, called the impact unmatched in modern U.S. history.
“No two individuals have made more major investments in the city,” he said. “The percentage of property in a major urban core owned or controlled by the two is unprecedented in the U.S.”
