Big Development Investments Expected to Follow New Detroit Red Wings Arena

Developers are predicting that the new $627.5 million arena to house the Detroit Red Wings, paid for with both private and public money, will spur another $596 million of investment in the neighborhood.

1 minute read

February 2, 2016, 12:00 PM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


"The new Detroit Red Wings hockey arena under construction has attracted a surge of outside investment interest, with developers vying to build a new hotel, housing and stores that could fulfill the promise of an expanded district of sports and entertainment rising on the northern edge of downtown," according to an article John Gallagher and JC Reindl.

That information follows a meeting between the Detroit Free Press and Olympia Development, the development company owned by the Ilitch family, which also owns the Detroit Red Wings and the Detroit Tigers.

Gallagher and Reindl share more of the details of the expected developments that has followed the construction of the new hockey arena:

"The whole investment could eclipse $1 billion in public and private dollars. When the arena opens  for the Detroit Red Wings season in late 2017, some 210,000 square feet of office and retail space will arrive at the same time, and the first 225 units of residential housing in adjacent projects will come on line a few months after, the Ilitches predict."

Sunday, January 31, 2016 in Detroit Free Press

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Use Code 25for25 at checkout for 25% off an annual plan!

Redlining map of Oakland and Berkeley.

Rethinking Redlining

For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.

May 15, 2025 - Alan Mallach

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

May 21, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Rendering of California High-Speed Rail station with bullet train.

California High-Speed Rail's Plan to Right Itself

The railroad's new CEO thinks he can get the project back on track. The stars will need to align this summer.

May 19, 2025 - Benjamin Schneider

Two Rivian trucks charging at Rivian branded charging ports.

US Senate Reverses California EV Mandate

The state planned to phase out the sale of gas-powered cars by 2035, a goal some carmakers deemed impossible to meet.

1 hour ago - CALmatters

Metal U.S. Geodetic Survey marker in stone in Arizona.

Trump Cuts Decimate Mapping Agency

The National Geodetic Survey maintains and updates critical spatial reference systems used extensively in both the public and private sectors.

2 hours ago - Wired

Close-up of 10 mph speed limit sign.

Washington Passes First US ‘Shared Streets’ Law

Cities will be allowed to lower speed limits to 10 miles per hour and prioritize pedestrians on certain streets.

3 hours ago - The Urbanist