{"id":14635,"date":"2016-02-01T02:22:53","date_gmt":"2016-02-01T02:22:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/?p=14635"},"modified":"2016-02-01T02:22:53","modified_gmt":"2016-02-01T02:22:53","slug":"develop-the-d","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/develop-the-d\/","title":{"rendered":"Develop the D"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since the dawn of my time I have been a Detroit Red Wings fan<\/strong>. When I was a kid my room was heavily decorated in memorabilia and pictures. My parents further promoted this enthusiasm by decorating a bathroom with red and white, we purchased a Red Wings upholstered chair from a local furniture store (who would’ve thought that existed), and even hand delivered a pumpkin carved with the Red Wings logo<\/strong> to Mike Illitch’s office when I was 6 years old courtesy of my Dad who cut it using water jet robots at his work.<\/p>\n

Had I been older I may have been a little more embarrassed of walking into Illitch’s office, the longtime millionaire Detroit mogul, with my mom holding a 10lb slowly rotting vegetable to the richest man in the city. He was appreciative though and sent some Red Wing memorabilia to our house as a thank you.<\/p>\n

As I’ve grown older my intensity for cheering on the Red Wings has slowed but the fan inside me hasn’t disappeared. During that time, I’ve also become a fan of architecture, engineering, urban development, and the city itself.<\/strong> This makes the development of the new arena (that I currently live only a few blocks from) all that more exciting to me.<\/p>\n

This past month I had the privilege of privately touring “The District” Preview Center at Comerica Park.<\/strong> I didn’t even know this existed prior to signing up for the event, and I have to say the center was nothing short of amazing. The new development is impressive, and despite the controversy it has caused from a political and financial standpoint it is a HUGE step forward for the city center.\u00a0After living in the city for 5 months and frequenting Downtown and Midtown regularly, connecting the two\u00a0is vital.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a resident, what I appreciate most is that the new arena isn’t just an arena like Comerica Park or Ford Field was. It’s “50 blocks of thriving businesses, parks, restaurants, bars and event destinations”.<\/strong> It is an inclusive design, and the arena itself is a state of the art event center.<\/p>\n

The preview center itself is filled with 3D printed models of the district and the arena (one took 6 months to print), as well as a full size suite mockup, a theater room, and red wings memorabilia. The 3d models even have projectors installed above them\u00a0to animate “The District”. I’ve now seen both Dan Gilbert’s downtown model and Illitch’s. While both are impressive, Illitch’s by far takes the cake.<\/p>\n

Gilbert (Bedrock) is renovating, and Illitch (Olympia) is building and it’s truly an amazing time to be in the city to watch it all happen.<\/strong> I am aware that two billionaires privately developing most of a downtown area can and has been controversial, and that the neighborhoods outside of downtown and midtown need attention too (as a property owner there I can attest to this), but the city center still needs work for Detroit to be prosperous. So for now, I’m happy they’re here and will continue to cheer on\u00a0construction happening out my window, on my walk to work, and everywhere else just a few blocks away, all the while anticipating the Red Wings 2017 season. #developdetroit<\/strong><\/p>\n

For more information on “The District” go to the links below or check it out for yourself at Comerica Park!<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.districtdetroit.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/detroit.curbed.com\/archives\/2016\/01\/new-photos-shows-progress-on-district-detroit-arena.php<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.mlive.com\/news\/detroit\/index.ssf\/2016\/01\/new_development_details_releas.html<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=BCC7Zlk6LNQ<\/p>\n

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