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Unquestionably, the land Joe Louis Arena sits on is prime real estate on the Detroit River.
The city-owned building comes down by September, but so far there's been talk, but no concrete plans as to what will go in its place.
Bond insurer Financial Guaranty Insurance Co. got the rights to the property in late 2014 as part of the bankruptcy proceedings.
Under the deal, the state is supposed to loan $6 million to raze the arena, reports Louis Aguilar of The Detroit News. Then the cleared-arena site and parking garage will be given to Financial Guaranty Insurance Co.
The deal also called for FGIC to find a partner to build a hotel with a minimum of 300 rooms and be no taller than 30 stories, according to the bankruptcy agreement. Development could also include “office, retail, commercial, recreation, residential.”
In January, Mayor Mike Duggan said a high-rise residential building seems the most likely choice.
“There’s enormous pressure for riverfront development, particularly high-rise housing along the riverfront,” he said.
But there are drawbacks to the site, Aguilar writes:
A half-dozen analysts of Detroit’s commercial real estate say the site has significant drawbacks. That’s because the corner lot, which holds the 140,000-square-foot arena, is hemmed in by a parking ramp, an expressway, the Detroit People Mover, and a loading dock area of Cobo Center.
