Planning and development in Detroit
In 1970, Henry Ford II conceived of the Renaissance Center as a way to help the city retain residents who were moving to the suburbs.
He presented architectural renderings of "linked riverfront parks" from Renaissance Center to MacArthur Bridge, like a necklace, for public access.
Dennis Archer, a former Michigan Supreme Court Justice and mayor in the mid-to-late 1990s, supported a plan to add casinos as a catalyst for development in Detroit.
In 2009, Detroit Renaissance expanded its mission to address the need for regional economic development;[8] the successor organization, Business Leaders for Michigan, is a group that gives thousands of dollars to Republican political campaigns.
The plans have produced new downtown stadiums and a rebuilt freeway system intended to showcase the city for Super Bowl XL.
The study made the assumption that passenger traffic through the airport and economic activity in these service industries would increase on a 1:1 ratio.
Other major infrastructure improvements have been made to the runways, cargo facilities, and the terminals themselves, with an eye toward increasing the airport's capacity.
The Hantz project area is bordered by Van Dyke on the west, St. Jean on the east, Mack Avenue on the north and Jefferson on the south.
[38][39][40] On December 6, 2013, bankruptcy judge Steven Rhodes approved a $210 million financing arrangement for overhauling the city's antiquated lighting system.
Additionally, Olympia is now promising to spend "tens of millions" more for infrastructure improvements in the district, mainly around Cass Park, west of the arena site to create a new mixed-use neighborhood.
[45] The streetcar line will stretch from downtown Detroit to the Amtrak rail station in New Center, continuing to just north of Grand Boulevard.
[49][50] On March 14, 2016, the Michigan Humane Society opened its new and expanded $15.5 million animal care campus on five acres, which includes a 35,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art veterinary facility, located just east of New Center at 7887 Chrysler Drive near Clay Street.
The society said the larger facility will enable it to expand its teaching and training opportunities with Michigan State University's College of Veterinary Medicine.
[51][52][53] On December 5, 2016, the Henry Ford Health System announced the start of a second development beginning in the spring of 2017 on its evolving 300-acre South Campus site in New Center, with the construction of a new $150–160 million, 187,000-square-foot, six-story Brigitte Harris Cancer Pavilion, scheduled to open in early 2020, along with a skywalk across West Grand Boulevard to connect it to the Henry Ford Hospital.
[54][55] Detroit also plans both public and private redevelopment of Brush Park, the Brewster Recreation Center, and the nearby Eastern Market site.
[58] The city's plans for revitalization with the Next Detroit Neighborhood Initiative, a 501 (c)(3) organization, include 7-Mile/Livernois, Brightmoor, East English Village, Grand River/Greenfield, North-End, and Osborn.
[73] Lafayette Park is a revitalized neighborhood on the city's east side, part of the Mies van der Rohe Residential District listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Planned by van der Rohe, Ludwig Hilberseimer and Alfred Caldwell, it includes a landscaped, 19-acre (7.7 ha) park with no through traffic, in which these and other low-rise apartment buildings are situated.
[75] Old buildings in the city are being transformed into lofts, condominiums, and high-rise residential apartment units at an accelerated pace along with new Formstone and brick rowhouse construction.
[77] Significant renovations are being undertaken by luxury hotel developers downtown such as Hilton, Westin, Double Tree, and Four Seasons.
