Downtown Detroit is the central business district and a residential area in the city of Detroit, Michigan, United States. Locally, "downtown" tends to refer to the 1.4 square mile region bordered by M-10 (Lodge Freeway) to the west, Interstate 75 (I-75, Fisher Freeway) to the north, I-375 (Chrysler Freeway) to the east, and the Detroit River to the south. It may also be used to refer to the Greater Downtown area, a 7.2 square mile region that includes surrounding neighborhoods such as Midtown, Corktown, Rivertown, and Woodbridge.
The city's main thoroughfare M-1 (Woodward Avenue) links Downtown to Midtown, New Center, and the North End.
Downtown contains much historic architecture, including prominent skyscrapers, ranging from the Renaissance Center, the Penobscot Building, One Detroit Center, and the Guardian Building. Historic churches, theatres, and commercial buildings anchor the various downtown districts. Downtown has a number of parks including those linked by a promenade along the International Riverfront. Its central square is Campus Martius Park.
History Following the Great Fire of 1805, the design for the downtown area was left open to a new vision. Augustus B. Woodward proposed a radial designSugrue, Thomas. The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar. Princeton University Press, 1996 for the post-fire city, where major streets such as Woodward, Washington, and Madison Avenue would spiral off Grand Circus Park. The downtown streets still loosely follow Woodward's original design. Business in Detroit boomed along with its growing automobile industry, leading to an increase in downtown's population and wealth. Much of the downtown area's architecture was built during this boom, in the late 19th century and early 20th century, and still attracts the attention of architects. Several buildings were built by the famous Minoru Yamasaki (most well known for designing the twin towers in New York City), including the McGregor Memorial Conference Center and Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Detroit Branch Building.
The area where I-375 is lies on the historic site of Black Bottom and Paradise Valley. Black Bottom was one of the city's major African American communities, historically named by French colonial settlers for its rich soil. Paradise Valley was the business and entertainment district of Black Bottom, best known for its Paradise Theatre and Hotel Gotham, where prominent jazz figures such as Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, and Louis Armstrong performed and stayed. Both neighborhoods were demolished to build I-375, and have since been replaced with Lafayette Park.
Revitalization Downtown was once notorious for its abandonment, vacant buildings, and disinvestment. However, in recent years, the downtown area has seen tremendous growth and redevelopment.
Since 2000 a number of major construction projects have been completed including the new Compuware Headquarters at Campus Martius Park and two new stadiums: Comerica Park and Ford Field. General Motors moved their headquarters into the Renaissance Center, and the Detroit Lions have relocated from Pontiac to Downtown Detroit. High-profile events like the 2005 MLB All-Star Game, Super Bowl XL, and the 2006 and 2012 World Series have taken place in downtown, generating income for local businesses and spurring more growth. As a result, new residents are moving into Detroit in the assortment of new lofts that are opening. An example of these trends is the Westin Book-Cadillac Hotel. In 2006, the Cleveland-based Ferchill Group began the $180 million redevelopment of the historic Book Cadlliac Hotel at the corner of Washington Boulevard and Michigan Avenue. The project, which has been hailed by preservationists, houses a 455-room Westin Hotel, 67 high-end condominiums, and two to three restaurants, and some miscellaneous retail serving hotel and conference center guests. DTE Energy Headquarters features an urban oasis of parks, walkways, and a reflecting pool.July 4, 2007 Detroit News Downtown Detroit Partnership
In 2007, Downtown Detroit was named among the best big-city neighborhoods in which to retire by CNN Money Magazine editors.Bigda, Carolyn, Erin Chambers, Lawrence Lanahan, Joe Light, Sarah Max, and Jennifer Merritt.Detroit Best place to retire: Downtown . CNN Money Magazine. Retrieved on October 22, 2007. Downtown contains popular destinations, including the International Riverfront, the MGM Grand Detroit, Greektown Casino Hotel, and many sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Downtown Detroit hosts over 92,000 workers which make up about one-fifth of the city's total employment base; in addition, it is home to about 6,200 residents. Downtown offers a number of residential high rises, including Riverfront Towers, The Albert, and Town Residences.Downtown Detroit In Focus: A Profile of Market Opportunity, October 2006 - The Urban Markets Initiative, Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program, Social Compact, Inc. & University of Michigan Graduate Real Estate Program. Retrieved on May 5, 2009Snell, Robert. "GM CEO Henderson to give update on restructuring Friday." The Detroit News. Thursday April 16, 2009. Retrieved on April 20, 2009.
The Renaissance Center contains the Detroit Marriott hotel, General Motors headquarters, as well as many shops and restaurants. Compuware has its headquarters in the Compuware World Headquarters building by Campus Martius Park in Downtown Detroit."Directions to Compuware Headquarters ." Compuware. Retrieved on November 2, 2009. Compuware moved its headquarters and 4,000 employees to Downtown Detroit in 2003."Decade in review: Business." The Detroit News. December 31, 2009. Retrieved on January 7, 2010. Little Caesars and Olympia Entertainment have their headquarters in the Fox Theatre."About Us ." Olympia Entertainment. Retrieved on November 2, 2009."Franchise Opportunities ." Little Caesars. 5/5. retrieved on November 2, 2009. Ernst & Young has offices in One Kennedy Square on Campus Martius Park. Pricewaterhouse Coopers has offices in a building across from Ford Field. Chrysler maintains executive offices at Chrysler House in the city's Financial District. In 2011, Quicken Loans moved its headquarters and 4,000 employees to downtown. Comerica Bank and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan are also major employers downtown.
Throughout the late 2010s a large amount of business and investment continued to enter the city and transform it. As of 2019, businesses such as Shinola, Google, Moosejaw, and Nike occupy the once-vacant street fronts. Investments such as new bike lanes, the Little Caesars Arena and QLine have been successful in attracting newcomers to the city. Downtown's transformation in recent years has also perpetuated the discussion of gentrification within the city. The downtown area is notably wealthier than other parts of the city, and has attracted a new demographic of white, middle-class tourists and residents, physically and culturally displacing the black residents of the inner city. The ever-increasing lack of affordable housing and venues for locals have further contributed to this displacement. It is an ongoing debate whether or not this redevelopment is good for the downtown area and Detroit as a whole.
In 2021, the 2-acre Hudson's site 680-foot tower, and the 232-foot tall, block-long building called "the block", with the two sections being separated by an activated alley, were under construction by Dan Gilbert's real estate firm, Bedrock Detroit, that will include 150 apartments, a 200-plus-room hotel, office, retail and event space. Further ongoing new construction underway were The Exchange, a 16-story residential tower, and the 20-story Huntington Bank headquarters tower. In late 2021, Stephen Ross and Christopher Ilitch announced plans for the new home of the University of Michigan's Detroit Center for Innovation (DCI), a $250 million, 4-acre, three building graduate school campus in the downtown District Detroit area.
Districts