DETROIT | Little Caesars Arena & The District Detroit

[animatedmartian]

Pistons could announce their move into Little Ceaser's Arena tomorrow.

http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/in...t_pistons.html









Webcam view from November 21st.


http://www.districtdetroit.com/live-web-cam

[animatedmartian]

https://twitter.com/TonyPaul1984/sta...58995889229824


https://twitter.com/cavsdan/status/801159328434634752

It's official: The Pistons are relocating to Detroit to play at Little Caesars Arena beginning in 2017.

The word came Tuesday afternoon in an announcement by team owner Tom Gores and his new business partners, Detroit's Ilitch family, at Cass Technical High School in Detroit ends, years of speculation about the Pistons leaving their Oakland County home since 1988 and returning to the city where they first played beginning in 1957. They were joined by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan.

“This is the right call for our fans, for our players, for how we can impact the community,” Gores said.

The move must be approved by the National Basketball Association. Additionally, because the new arena is owned by Detroit's Downtown Development Authority, a revised lease must by approved by the DDA board. Mayor Mike Duggan said a formal agreement would go before the board early next year.

The Michigan Strategic Fund and Detroit City Council approvals are needed for some of aspects of the plan.

....

The memoranda says the total investments in the Pistons project will be $67 million to $95 million and will consist of no more than $35 million from refinancing of stadium bonds issued in 2014, with the Pistons assuming responsibility for paying the bonds. That spending includes a practice facility and modifications to the arena.

The practice facility is expected to cost between $32 million and $55 million and would go on one of two sites. The decision on which site is still under negotiation.

Sources said in late September that a 60,000-square-foot practice facility north of Little Caesars Arena was on the radar for the team.

Sources familiar with the matter said Monday that the practice facility location will not be announced as negotiations continue on whether the Detroit Medical Center or the Henry Ford Health System will provide medical services to Pistons players. Which organization ultimately provides those services will be key in determining where the practice facility will go, sources said. It will also affect how much it will cost.

The deal includes a Pistons investment of more than $2 million to build about 60 basketball courts in parks throughout the city. In addition, it's also expected to include tens of thousands of Pistons tickets per year for Detroit students plus an unidentified workforce development component.

...

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...etroit-in-2017

[Coldrsx]

Updates please and thank you!

[animatedmartian]

It seems as of this point, most of the major steel framework on the arena is complete. Most of what's left is the facades and interior build out.







Down the street, steel has started to rise for the nine-story Little Ceasers HQ expansion.



All images are as of December 31st, 2016 from http://www.districtdetroit.com/live-web-cam/. Happy New Year yall.

[animatedmartian]

Work begins on ice rink at Little Caesars Arena
By BILL SHEA. Crain's Detroit. January 5, 2017.

....

Work remains on schedule, Olympia said.

The arena's 7,666-piece structural steel frame is finished, Olympia said, and ongoing work includes masonry, mechanical and drywall. Brick masonry is nearly complete on the north side of the arena. More than 86,000 cubic yards of concrete have been poured for the arena and adjacent buildings.

Sometime during the first quarter, work will begin to install the high-strength transparent plastic membrane (known in technical terms as ethylene tetrafluoroethylene) that will create the ceiling of the unique covered concourse that's being called the Via. It will be both a traditional concourse and a large street-style shopping and dining area and will connect the arena bowl and the detached buildings that front Woodward Avenue and Henry Street.

Work also is underway on installing the "jewel skin" decorative exterior surface that wraps arena bowl. Images can be projected onto the jewel skin, Olympia said.

Additionally, foundation concrete and structural steel are complete for two new retail and office buildings near the arena on Woodward Avenue and on Henry Street, Olympia said, and foundation work continues on the new mixed-use building southwest of Henry and Park streets.

More than 1,000 workers are on-site in three shifts six days a week, Olympia said, including more than 140 apprentices so far.

....











http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...-caesars-arena

[animatedmartian]

My picture from last weekend. North side of the arena.

[animatedmartian]

• Video Link

A number of buildings adjacent to the arena (unattached) are starting to rise up.

These are the foundations for two residential buildings.





This is where the Illitch School of Buisness will be.



http://wingsarena.tumblr.com/

[animatedmartian]

Quite a few cranes showed up this week.






http://www.districtdetroit.com/live-web-cam/

[animatedmartian]

Not really development related but sad news today. Detroit lost a big name today.

Tigers, Red Wings owner and pizza titan Mike Ilitch dead at 87



Mike Ilitch rose from a humble west-side neighborhood to assemble a food, sports and entertainment empire that enabled him to return the Stanley Cup to Hockeytown, build both a new arena and a ballpark with a Ferris wheel, restore the grandeur of downtown’s iconic Fox Theatre and introduce metro Detroit to the concepts of “pizza-pizza” and an $8 cup of beer.

From his first Little Caesars outlet in Garden City strip mall in 1959 — where a pizza cost $2.39 — Ilitch, aided at every step by Marian, his wife of 61 years, became a major metro Detroit personality and a key figure in the revival of downtown Detroit. In addition to founding the Little Caesars pizza chain, he owned the Red Wings, Tigers and the Fox Theatre, and operated city-owned Joe Louis, Cobo, and Little Caesars arenas, among other smaller businesses, teams and restaurants.

Mike Ilitch, one of the most famous Detroiters of his time, died today at the age of 87, according his company, Ilitch Holdings Inc. His family will honor him at a private funeral service.

....

http://www.freep.com/story/money/bus...rbes/91475642/

[The North One]

Damn

[animatedmartian]

As far as development goes, everything is on schedule as of February 10th.

LCA interior



LCA Exterior.



LCHQ



http://www.districtdetroit.com/live-web-cam/

[animatedmartian]

February 17th, 2017.









http://www.districtdetroit.com/live-web-cam/

Here's also a short video on the truss installation.

Video Link

[animatedmartian]

Season ticket prices and virtual views of the stadium for Pistons games are up.



Lower Level


Mezzanine


Upper Levels


Also some various views from the seats. Nosebleed seats aren't so bad except for behind the Gondolas. The court (or rink) will be visible but the jumbotron will not.











Source: http://pistonslca.io-media.com/web/index.html#

[Rizzo]

I'm hoping to buy some glass seats when the Hawks play the wings next season in the new digs

[JonathanGRR]

This isn't exactly in the District, but it certainly is related:

Pistons announce plans for practice facility in Detroit's New Center
John Gallagher | February 24, 2017

The Detroit Pistons and Henry Ford Health System announced this afternoon plans for a training, rehab and sports medicine facility in Detroit's New Center district.

The multi-use facility will serve as team headquarters, practice facility, and comprehensive sports medicine facility managed by the health system. It will be called the Henry Ford-Detroit Pistons Performance Center.

As part of the joint development, Henry Ford will become the official health provider for the Pistons beginning with the next season.
...
Choosing the New Center district for the headquarters and practice facility also signals that the recent redevelopments downtown and in Midtown are spreading north. The spin-off benefits could prove significant for the district particularly with the expected opening of service of the Qline streetcar line this spring as the line terminates in the New Center area.
...

http://www.freep.com/story/money/bus...itch/98352010/
http://detroit.curbed.com/2017/2/24/...ity-new-center

[Rizzo]

I don't know if this might happen, but when The Chicago bulls practice facility moved into the city, the bulls players followed. They found they didn't need those fancy gated mansions in the suburbs and could build a decent townhome on a city street next door to all of us common folks. I wonder if any of the Pistons players will start moving into any downtown properties or historic mansions

I want to see Pistons and wings players putting these up in Brush park
http://patch.com/illinois/lakeview/w...s-new-43m-home

[JonathanGRR]

^
Good point. That seems to be one of the Piston's main economic talking points in terms of the benefits for the city, as quoted in the article above:

We’re going to employ hundreds of people downtown, we’re going to be paying city income taxes where the city is going to get dollars every year. When you talk about the players’ (salaries), that will be significant income. So we’re going to be contributing in a lot of ways and the study we provided that was done by the University of Michigan, the economic impact we will have on the city will be in the hundreds of millions.

I wonder if there is a list out there of the township/village/city of residence for the players in the various major league sports and how that was affected by their various moves over the years...

[detroitmetro101]

"Tallest building in Detroit planned for Hudson site"


http://www.detroitnews.com/story/bus...test/98261152/

[Rizzo]

Originally Posted by JonathanGRR

^
Good point. That seems to be one of the Piston's main economic talking points in terms of the benefits for the city, as quoted in the article above:



I wonder if there is a list out there of the township/village/city of residence for the players in the various major league sports and how that was affected by their various moves over the years...

No one is measuring, but each Blackhawk and Cub that lives within a couple blocks of me pays between $25,000 to $35,000 annually in property taxes alone. Additionally, the Chicago Cubs pay for enhanced security of our street with round the clock patrols. That way we don't have to use special service area funds for extra police. Besides that, it's just good to have them an active part of the community

Edit: Is anything being done yet with vacant hotel behind the arena yet?

[animatedmartian]

Originally Posted by Hayward

Edit: Is anything being done yet with vacant hotel behind the arena yet?

It's going to be converted in to apartments (mixed income iirc). Though as far as any actual work being done on it, that's a no. There's never been a concrete date on when work is supposed to be done on the hotel or whether some work has already been done. I think the building had already been abated back when the neighboring Park Avenue building was demolished, but other than that, not much has been mentioned about Eddystone.


In the meantime, the concrete for the ice rink has been poured and chairs are being installed in the arena. There will be a total of 18,600 seats.







http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/in...begins_se.html

Here's the views from the webcams as of March 15th.









http://www.districtdetroit.com/live-web-cam/