Bad news for the “District Detroit,” per Crain’s Detroit Business’s Kirk Pinho and Jay Greene:
The Detroit Medical Center is scrapping its plan to build a Sports Medicine Institute in the Ilitch family’s District Detroit area.
The medical system confirmed in a Tuesday email to Crain’s that it “will not move forward with plans to lease space for a sports medicine institute” in a $70 million building that’s being constructed on Woodward Avenue between Little Caesars Arena and the Wayne State University Mike Ilitch School of Business.
“Our decision allows us to reallocate resources appropriately in this changing environment,” the health system said in a release.
“The last several months have brought about unprecedented change for the health care industry. Stay-at-home orders and restrictions prohibiting elective procedures caused hospitals everywhere to reevaluate their core services,” DMC said.
Ron Staley, senior vice president of Southeast Michigan operations for Lansing-based contractor The Christman Co., one of the joint-venture partners on the project with Detroit-based Brinker Group, said the building’s core and shell still remain on track to be completed by the end of the year.
Grand Rapids-based law firm Warner Norcross + Judd and DMC were the two main tenants set to occupy the 127,000-square-foot building at 2715 Woodward Ave., the site of a former surface parking lot. Boston Consulting Group is also expected to take space in the building.
Continued; here’s more from the Free Press’s Darcie Moran…
It was expected to cater to professional and amateur athletes alike and include a rehab pool, a mobile MRI machine, a golf simulator, a basketball court and 40-yard track.
Now, the change of plans leaves the top two floors available in the building already under construction, said Ed Saenz, director of communications for the Ilitch-owned Olympia Development of Michigan, in a statement.
“We want to thank and recognize the efforts of healthcare workers at DMC and those across the country and we understand the challenges facing the healthcare industry in the current environment leading to the Detroit Medical Center’s decision not to move forward with their sports medicine institute,” he said.
The company is confident the space will get high interest between the arena and Wayne State University’s Mike Ilitch School of Business, Saenz said.
He touted the view of Detroit’s skyline and proximity to 17,000 square feet of retail in the newly open space.
And finally, per the Detroit News’s Mark Hicks:
In a statement Tuesday night, Olympia Development said company officials “understand the challenges facing the healthcare industry in the current environment leading to the Detroit Medical Center’s decision not to move forward with their sports medicine institute.”
The vacancy “makes available the top two floors of the five-story building, offering outstanding views of Detroit’s skyline, and proximity to 17,000 square feet of dynamic retail options coming to the street level,” Olympia said.
Construction on the building, which started after a ground-breaking in 2019, continues and the space is on track to open next year, the company said.
“Looking ahead, we are confident that the prime location of this state-of-the-art building on Woodward Ave. between Little Caesars Arena and Wayne State University’s Mike Ilitch School of Business will generate a high level of interest from companies looking to customize a best-in-class, healthy and safe working environment for its employees in such a desirable location,” the statement said.
