Economy of metropolitan Detroit
[citation needed] Cities with existing infrastructure like Detroit are equipped to accommodate future increases in projected U.S. population growth.
[42] The 365-acre (1.48 km2) river east development is a plan investing billions of dollars in a new mixed use residential, commercial, and retail space for downtown Detroit to serve the people where they work and live.
To spearhead the development, Michigan created the William G. Milliken State Park and Harbor downtown along the Detroit International Riverfront.
Cobo Hall convention and exhibit facility, which hosts the North American International Auto Show, has begun a nearly $300 million renovation to be completed in 2014.
[47][48] Detroit's historic Penobscot Building in the downtown financial district is in the heart of the city's wireless Internet zone and fiber-optic network.
[57] A report by the Silicon Valley–based TechNet group found Michigan to be the leading state for stimulating demand for broadband, positioning it during the early 2000s.
[60][61] Some of the metro area's information technology and software companies with a major presence or headquarters include Compuware, HP Enterprise Services, IBM, Google, General Electric, Unisys, Fiserv, Covansys, and ProQuest.
On the Canadian side of the border, Windsor's two post-secondary institutions have partnered with auto makers to open high tech research and training facilities.
On June 27, 2009, General Electric announced plans to build a new $100 M center for advanced manufacturing technology and software, in Van Buren Township in Wayne County, expected to employ 1,200 people providing a pay range of $100,000 per year.
[107] In 2002, the state of Michigan established NextEnergy, a non-profit corporation whose purpose is to enable commercialization of various energy technologies, especially hydrogen fuel cells.
In August 2009, Michigan and Detroit's auto industry received $1.36 B in grants from the U.S. Department of Energy for the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries which are expected to generate 6,800 immediate jobs and employ 40,000 in the state by 2020.
Detroit has an extensive toll-free expressway system which, together with its status as a major port city, provide advantages to its location as a global business center.
[120] As a major U.S. port, Detroit is an important center for transportation and logistics employment including its aviation, rail, truck, and ship docking facilities.
Commercial vessels dock at Michigan's 38 deep water ports which provide access to the Great Lakes Waterway and the Saint Lawrence Seaway.
Located in nearby Romulus, DTW is metro Detroit's principal airport and is a hub for Delta Air Lines and Spirit Airlines.
One economic development strategy proposed is an Aerotropolis, a concept utilizing Detroit Metropolitan Airport as a central business district.
[123] Detroit Renaissance, now known as Business Leaders for Michigan, announced an eleven-point strategy to transform the region's economy which includes development of the Aerotropolis.
[125] A consortium of investors including the Canadian Pacific Railway has proposed a new larger rail tunnel to accommodate large double stacked freight cars under the Detroit River which could open in 2015.
The region's abundance of natural lakes and coastal landscape present investment potential for beachfront resorts and luxury high rise condominiums.
The refuge includes islands, coastal wetlands, marshes, shoals, and waterfront lands along 48 miles (77 km) of the Detroit River and Western Lake Erie shoreline.
The city of Detroit functions as an entertainment hub for the entire region,[137] as casino resorts, major sports venues, and theatre district increase development prospects for new retail.
[139] Motown Motion Picture Studios (2009) with 535,000 square feet (49,700 m2) will produce movies at the Pontiac Centerpoint Business Campus for a film industry expected to employ over 4,000 people in the metro area.
During the same decade, upscale lifestyle centers appeared in Detroit suburbs, most nobably The Mall at Partridge Creek in Clinton Township.
[142] Several suburban municipalities, including Birmingham, Royal Oak, Rochester, and Grosse Pointe, contain their own street-side shopping districts.
[143][144] A 2007 Selzer and Co. poll found that nearly two-thirds of suburban residents said they occasionally dine and attend cultural or professional sporting events in downtown Detroit.
A 2007 Social Compact report showed that city of Detroit residents spend about $1.7 billion annually in the suburbs for retail goods and services.
[148] In April 2009, developers announced they had leased 60 percent of the retail space for a planned $90 million open-air mall, the Gateway Marketplace, to be located within the city-limits of Detroit.
[160] In 2015, there were 49 movie theaters in the Metro Detroit area outside the city of Detroit totaling 522 screens, many of them also showing first-run films and offering stadium seating options, which range from the five-screen Ford Drive-In in Dearborn to decades-old single-screen theaters in communities such as Farmington and Plymouth to the AMC Theatres Forum 30 megaplex in Sterling Heights.
IMAX options in Metro Detroit include dedicated theaters at The Henry Ford and the Michigan Science Center as well as in individual auditoriums at several AMC outlets and the aforementioned Rave 20 in Ypsilanti.
[161] With Europe, Asia, and the Pacific islands under siege by the Axis powers, Henry Ford's genius would be turned to mass production for the war effort.
