DETROIT — Locally based real estate firm Bedrock has unveiled plans for Development at Cadillac Square, a 1.5 million-square-foot mixed-use campus in downtown Detroit. The site is located near Ford Field, home of the NFL’s Detroit Lions, as well as Campus Martius Park and Cadillac Square. The development will feature residential, retail, office and entertainment space, as well as parking.
Bedrock is owned by billionaire and Rocket Cos. founder Dan Gilbert, who with his companies has invested $5.6 billion in the purchase and rehabilitation of buildings in downtown Detroit, according to Forbes. Gilbert himself boasts a net worth of $18 billion and owns Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse — home of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers (also owned by Gilbert) — in Cleveland, Ohio, where his real estate arm is planning the Cuyahoga Riverfront, another in the trend of developing mixed-use projects around sports stadiums.
Upon completion, the Development at Cadillac Square property will include 230,000 square feet of residential space, comprised of 250 to 280 units. The project is subject to an Affordable Housing Agreement with the City of Detroit. Retail space will total 90,000 square feet in the form of a market hall, grocery store, restaurants and other shops.
Plans for the entertainment aspect of the campus — which will constitute 60,000 square feet — entail a reimagination of the National Theatre’s façade. Originally opened in 1911, the venue will serve as anchor for the development.
Additional uses will include 400,000 square feet of Class A office space and 1,500 to 1,800 parking spaces.
Monroe Street Midway, which provides free, family-oriented entertainment, has occupied the development site for two years and will continue to offer programming prior to the start of construction of the new development.
Construction, which will occur in three phases, is scheduled to commence Sep. 1, 2024, following the year’s NFL Draft, which is slated to bring thousands of visitors to the city. Phase II is scheduled to begin Oct. 1, 2026, with the third and final phase scheduled to start Jan. 1, 2028. A completion date for the project was not disclosed.
The project replaces Bedrock’s prior plans for Monroe Blocks, which broke ground in December 2018. Construction halted shortly thereafter.
— Hayden Spiess