When downtown Detroit was last in the professional sports world spotlight in 2006, the 32-story Book-Cadillac Hotel was still an empty shell and the city had yet to file the largest municipal bankruptcy case in U.S. history.
Fast forward to this week and much has changed in Detroit, the host city for the 2024 NFL Draft where pro teams select college players, and the city will get a chance to showcase its progress. About 300,000 football fans are projected to descend on outdoor stages at Hart Plaza and Campus Martius Park starting Thursday and another 70 million are estimated to watch ESPN’s three-day broadcast. Cities with NFL teams bid to host the yearly draft and Green Bay, Wisconsin, will be next year's host.
When Kansas City, Missouri, hosted the 2023 draft, it generated about $164 million of economic impact for the city, about $99 million of which was for hotel bookings, according to the Kansas City Sports Commission.
In Detroit, dozens of vacant and blighted properties have been demolished or restored since 2006 when the city hosted the Super Bowl, helping rid many blocks of crime-infested buildings and sidewalks. Ferchill Group restored the long-vacant Westin Book Cadillac, a 1924 building that reopened in 2008 as a hotel and condos.
A wave of new construction also commenced, bringing major employers back to Detroit’s central business district, accompanied by retailers like Gucci and Shinola and numerous bars and restaurants.
“When you are inviting the world to your city, your state, your country, your house — you try your best to make these kinds of improvements, and that's what you're seeing now,” Detroit Economic Growth Corp. CEO Kevin Johnson told Crain’s Detroit Business.
More changes are on the way for downtown Detroit. Last week, General Motors said it will move its headquarters from Renaissance Center to an office tower under construction at Bedrock’s Hudson’s development.
Bedrock, controlled by Rocket Mortgage founder Dan Gilbert, owns many of the commercial properties where NFL Draft events will be held, according to Crain’s.
Detroit’s downtown office market, however, is struggling like many U.S. cities. The 12.3% office vacancy rate in Detroit’s central business district compares to 15.1% in 2014 when the city emerged from bankruptcy, according to CoStar data. But the rate had improved dramatically before the pandemic hit, dropping to a decade-low of 5.6% in second quarter of 2020.
For NFL Draft fans visiting Detroit, many new office, retail and multifamily properties will be on display.
The 20-story Huntington Bank tower, developed by GPC Adams, opened in 2022. Next door, the Ilitch family’s development company, Olympia, opened a new headquarters for Little Caesars Pizza in 2019.
Many businesses have opened new locations downtown ahead of the NFL Draft, including Italian fashion designer Gucci in a historic building at 1274 Library St. More plan to open temporary pop-up shops during the draft, including the sports clothing retailers Fanatics and Born in Detroit Apparel.
Dozens of bars and restaurants plan to host viewing parties during the draft proceedings. Some businesses, such as the bar Andrews on the Corner, will provide shuttle vans between their bars and restaurants to draft event locations.