The Ilitch family took the first steps Tuesday toward building a new entertainment district downtown anchored by a multipurpose arena that would be home to the Ilitch-owned Detroit Red Wings.
No site has been chosen, and almost no details were released. But the proposed $650-million district would offer hockey, a range of shows, concerts and other events, and the broader district would include residential housing, retail shopping, office space and more, according to John Gallagher and Paul Egan in the Free Press.
A spokeswoman for the Ilitch family's Olympia Development told the Free Press the proposal begins a process "to explore the viability" of such a district. But a news release quoted George Jackson Jr., the city's top development official and president and CEO of the Detroit Economic Growth Corp., as saying the plan "makes good business sense."
The breakdown of private vs. public funds that might be used for the project was also hazy.
A "significant private investment" -- presumably from the Ilitches -- would help pay for it. But the project also would need public support in the form of tax dollars currently collected by the city's quasi-public Downtown Development Authority. Parts of the plan need approval by the state Legislature.
Paying for the project would not require any new taxes, Jackson said. But a state Senate Fiscal Agency analysis said the financing arrangement, if approved, "would reduce both state School Aid Fund revenue and local tax revenue by an unknown amount."
