Dan Gilbert's sweeping vision for a downtown real estate empire, amassed in less than three years, is becoming reality, Daniel Howes writes in The Detroit News.
This Capitol Park district rendering is in an 84-page downtown development plan.An upscale Papa Joe's market will open along Campus Martius, agreements are signed to develop 12 retail stores on two blocks of Woodward, and an international design competition is under way for the vacant Hudson's site, accompanied by shorter-term improvements planned downtown.
As early as this summer, the Quicken Loans Inc. chairman said Thursday, downtown workers and visitors will see planned infrastructure upgrades to Grand Circus and Capitol parks. In the works are outdoor cafes, a beer garden, concerts, movies, new landscaping and upgrades to the ground floors of Gilbert-owned buildings.
