Redevelopment plan for Detroit’s RenCen would demolish 2 towers, add housing

(CBS DETROIT)A development plan for the Renaissance Center and 27 acres along the Detroit Riverfront was unveiled Monday by General Motors and Bedrock, a real estate company.

According to the plan, the complex’s footprint should be right-sized, Detroit’s skyline should be preserved, and the location should be connected to “the heart of downtown.”

“This iconic landmark’s future is important to Detroit and Michigan, and our shared vision with General Motors ensures that its redevelopment aligns with Detroit’s economic advancement,” said Kofi Bonner, Bedrock’s chief executive officer. “Additionally, our collaborative approach makes certain that the reimagined Renaissance Center and the riverfront further augment and support the city’s continued growth, benefiting the community and region at large.”

What GM and Bedrock suggest:

The two businesses announced an agreement in April that called for GM to relocate its headquarters to a new location in downtown Detroit, where the former J.L. Hudson Department Store had stood, in 2025 and for plans to rebuild the RenCen.

“GM has the best possible partner with Bedrock in this effort to redevelop the Renaissance Center,” noted General Motors Vice President of Corporate Citizenship and Infrastructure Dave Massaron in a press statement. “Dan Gilbert and his Bedrock team have repurposed more buildings in Detroit than anybody else. Their unwavering dedication to creating the finest possible future for the city and Michigan continues with this new chapter.

The rest of the reconstruction project is dependent on public funding, although Bedrock and GM have pledged to paying for the majority of it. In the upcoming weeks, the two sides will meet with local and state leaders to discuss whether the initiative can proceed.

In a statement, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said, “We’ve stated from the very beginning of this process that we were going to make a realistic decision about preserving as much of the Renaissance Center as possible.” In addition to providing us with a way to maintain and repurpose three of the towers, Dan Gilbert’s vision also beautifully expands the public area along the Detroit riverfront. To complete this and prevent the decades of delay that befell so many other Detroit icons, such as Hudson’s, Michigan Central Station, AMC Headquarters, and the Packard Plant, we will require a public-private cooperation. I appreciate Dan Gilbert’s initiative in attempting to keep the Renaissance Center from suffering that fate.

Henry Ford II came up with the idea for the RenCen in the 1970s, and it opened in 1976. After making improvements, GM relocated its global headquarters to the property, which it had acquired in 1996.

Joe Buczek works for CBS Detroit as the manager of digital content and promotion. The Leader and the Kalkaskian, the Oakland Press, the Morning Sun, the Grand Traverse Insider, and WWTV were among his prior employers.

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