Hotels
The District Detroit development consists of 10 new builds and renovation projects, including the 14-floor Little Caesars Arena Hotel. It will have 291 guest rooms and be located in downtown Detroit just south of the arena. The developers are planning to break ground sometime in 2025. The Fox Theatre will also get guest accommodations when they convert office space into 177 hotel rooms.
By May 2026, the Merchants Building, built in 1922 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, will be transformed into a 130-room boutique hotel with office space and ground-floor retail.
Construction of the 25-story JW Marriott Detroit at Water Square continues this year and next and is expected to be complete — with 600 rooms, a 50,000-square-foot meeting space, and a ground-floor restaurant — by 2027. There will also be a pedestrian bridge that will span a future Second Avenue extension and provide guests access to the Huntington Place convention center.
Entertainment
After opening almost 100 years ago, Detroit’s Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts is getting an update with a $125 million expansion. By spring 2027, a new seven-story, 100,000-square-foot structure will be built next to the original building at the corner of Brush and Madison and will feature a new concert hall, recital hall, and recording and practice studios.
In 2027, soccer fans can expect to enjoy Detroit City Football Club’s new soccer stadium at the site of the former Southwest Detroit Hospital at Michigan Avenue and 20th Street; it will serve as the club and city’s permanent home for exciting soccer games. The groundbreaking is slated for spring 2025.
In January 2024, Bedrock demolished the 1911 National Theatre in Detroit, while maintaining its facade, as part of its three-phase Cadillac Square development. Although the original plans were to construct a “world-class music and performance venue,” with the historic facade placed in front, its plans have since changed. By May 2025, Bedrock is expected to start construction on the first phase with Cosm, an immersive sports and entertainment venue where fans can feel as if they’re watching sports games that are taking place many miles away in person.
Future phases include construction of a 30,000-square-foot market and a variety of housing, dining, and retail options.
What’s Going On With…
The Hudson’s Detroit development (formerly called the Hudson’s Site) at 1208 and 1240 Woodward Ave. is projected to be completed sometime in 2025. It will include a 49-story tower with a hotel and 97 residential units and a 12-story office block with event and meeting spaces.
After a 10-month extension was announced in January 2024, the new projected completion date for the Gordie Howe International Bridge is September 2025. The Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park, which will feature the Huron-Clinton Metroparks Water Garden and a Delta Dental Play Garden, is still expected to open in 2025.
When General Motors Co. announced it would move its headquarters to Hudson’s in 2025, the future of the Renaissance Center became uncertain. However, the week of Thanksgiving, Bedrock and General Motors released a potential plan to redevelop the Renaissance Center and the 27 acres along the Detroit riverfront into a “vibrant waterfront destination” with restaurant, hospitality, residential, and market space. The plan includes knocking down two office towers and creating a new pedestrian promenade.
For towers 500 and 600, which are owned by Friedman Real Estate, the commercial real estate organization is seeking zoning changes to expand the uses at Tower 600 from just office space to also potentially include housing, retail, or restaurants. At press time, it was awaiting approval from the Detroit City Council.
Affordable Housing
The Henry Street Apartments development — which involves revitalizing seven century-old buildings that are within a 10-minute walk of Little Caesars Arena, the Fox Theatre, and Comerica Park — is estimated to be completed in 2026. There will be 170 new residential units, about 50% of which will be set aside as affordable housing, and the redevelopment will keep current residents at or near their current rental rates.
Affordable housing at 725 Amsterdam is part of Henry Ford Health, Tom Gores and the Detroit Pistons, and Michigan State University’s $2.2 billion Future of Health mixed-use development in Detroit’s New Center. The project is expected to start in 2025 and feature a six-story building with 154 mixed-income units.
Built in 1905, the building at 450 Amsterdam St. was once the main Cadillac Motor Car Co. assembly plant. In the summer of 2025, it will take on a new purpose as a multifamily housing structure with 90 lofted apartments, 20% of which will be designated as affordable housing, and 71 parking spots.
This story originally appeared in the January 2025 issue of Hour Detroit magazine. To read more, pick up a copy of Hour Detroit at a local retail outlet. Our digital edition will be available on Jan. 6.
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