Jan 7 2008
Detroit gets a strong new start on the New Year with the expected announcement of an iconic $150 million living, dining, shopping and entertainment complex called "Cadillac Centre" on Campus Martius Park occupying the entire Monroe Block with a connection to the existing Cadillac Tower.
Downtown Detroit gets a strong new start on the New Year with the announcement of the $150 million complex called "Cadillac Centre" on Campus Martius Park, Detroit's new "Town Square." Developer is New York City-based real estate investment firm Northern Group, Inc.
The announcement is expected to be made by Detroit Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick and owner-developer Alex Dembitzer, principal and managing partner of the Northern Group, Inc., a privately held New York City-based real estate investment firm with strong ties to Detroit, at 11 a.m., Wednesday, Jan. 9 in the Mayor's conference room. Joining Mayor Kilpatrick and Dembitzer for the announcement will be internationally renowned architect Anthony Caradonna of New York and Rome.
The dramatic $150 million building complex completes the circle around Campus Martius Park with more than 80 apartments, serene public spaces, an upscale market, major retail space, dining, a health club and a multiplex cinema. Cadillac Centre features two modern 24-story towers of sculpted metal and glass rising from a 12-story base designed to make Detroit a global architectural destination, similar to the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain, or Chicago's Millennium Park.
Cadillac Centre will connect to and incorporate the existing 1927 Beaux Arts Cadillac Tower skyscraper, already owned by the Northern Group, completing the two-acre site on Campus Martius Park bounded by Monroe, Farmer, Bates and Cadillac Square.
Cadillac Centre sits between Compuware's world headquarters and the recently completed Cadillac Square Park, an extension of Campus Martius Park, and fills the last remaining space around Campus Martius Park, Detroit's new "Town Square."
"We believe in the future of Detroit," Dembitzer said of Northern Group's decision to develop Cadillac Centre. "We are creating a unique complex that will not only revitalize downtown Detroit living, shopping and entertainment, but will also stir the imagination and excitement about Detroit's future and what we believe it will become in the 21st century.
Cadillac Centre is a natural extension of our organization's business model of creating value in urban areas across the nation."
"Detroit is in the midst of the most revolutionary transformation in its history and Cadillac Centre will help to continue our city's resurgence by bringing a new level of exciting living, shopping and entertainment options to the heart of downtown," said Mayor Kilpatrick.
"The Northern Group's ownership and investment in several legendary buildings downtown and on the riverfront have given them the opportunity to witness Detroit's transformation first hand," Mayor Kilpatrick said. "We are pleased that they recognize the opportunities for growth here as we continue to build the 'NEXT Detroit.'
"Cadillac Centre will be considered a work of architectural dynamism and take its place as a jewel among their many properties throughout Detroit and the world," Mayor Kilpatrick said.
The Northern Group hired renowned architect Anthony Caradonna as architect. A local Detroit architectural firm will also be used for project work. Caradonna is the principal of the New York and Rome-based architectural and design firm OPUS Architecture and Design Studio, Inc. He is also an associate professor of architecture at Pratt Institute School of Architecture in New York City.
Caradonna spent time in Detroit as part of the design process, walking downtown, climbing inside existing buildings for aerial perspectives and getting a personal feel for the site to design Cadillac Centre as a unique complex that not only reflects Detroit's past and present, but accentuates its future as a modern, cosmopolitan and key architectural and economic touchstone for the nation.
Cadillac Centre amenities include 84 apartments, 48 of which will be located in the 24-story SkyLoft Towers, a 30,000-square-foot market, a cinema, more than 100,000 square feet of major retail space, a 14,400-square-foot health club and spa, a 40,000-square-foot public park with water features, more than 25,000 square feet of boutiques and specialty shops, and 800 parking spaces. Cadillac Centre will be topped off with a 22,000-square-foot "living roof," which will collect and filter rain water and help control energy consumption.
All financing for the project is in place and is being handled by the Northern Group using its private funding sources. In a departure from similar projects, no tax subsidies or tax abatements are being used for the development. A Wayne County Renaissance Zone program is expected to be used to attract national retailers.
Groundbreaking is anticipated about September 2009. Completion is targeted for December 2011.