# DETROIT | Renaissance Center redevelopment **URL:** \ **Category:** meta\ **Created:** [November 27, 2024, 6:21pm UTC](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/t/detroit-renaissance-center-redevelopment/24080 "2024-11-27T18:21:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Waymond\_Womano](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.newyorkyimby.com/waymond_womano/32/7078_2.png) [@Waymond\_Womano](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/u/Waymond_Womano)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2024, 6:21pm UTC](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/t/detroit-renaissance-center-redevelopment/24080/1 "2024-11-27T18:21:20Z")
The Ren Center on the Detroit River is home to the headquarters of General Motors. It is composed of a massive cylindrical hotel tower surrounded by high-rise office buildings. ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/yimby/original/3X/9/3/93db98c203c149e50afc5661b27fd73fe8a2ef5a.jpeg) source: [Directions & Maps | Directions & Maps - GMRENCEN](https://gmrencen.com/direction-and-maps/) As GM will be moving to the Hudson’s building and demand for office space in Detroit is relatively low nowadays, there are plans to redevelop this fortress of a complex. ![Detroit Free Press](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/yimby/original/3X/d/d/dd10f0f224419cccc298ad6eae96e84ba7e0f1d0.png) > **[GM, Gilbert seek state funding for massive overhaul of RenCen, riverfront](https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/2024/11/25/renaissance-center-general-motors-bedrock-detroit-dan-gilbert-redevelopment-riverfront-rencen-gm/76566223007/)** > > Dan Gilbert's real estate company envisions a rightsizing of Detroit's skyline icon for a new era of downtown living. The two towers closest to the river will be demolished. > The five-tower, 5.5 million-square-foot “city within a city” would lose 1.25 million square feet from demolition of Towers 300 and 400 nearest the riverfront. The podium that consists of retail and showroom space on the ground floor around the towers would also be removed to improve accessibility to the site. The redevelopment would happen in phases over years. > The central tower would remain along with Towers 100 and 200, the two facing Jefferson Avenue. Towers 300 and 400 would be demolished to make room for the park that would connect to the Detroit Riverwalk. The park would seek to be something akin to Chicago’s Navy Pier or the area around the O2 Arena in London’s South Greenwich neighborhood with entertainment, dining and sightseeing attractions. Options could include sport and cultural programming, and Bonner said there’ve been productive conversations with an “internationally renowned automobile entertainment concept” that would be a fitting tribute to the site’s history. > > The central tower, home to a Marriott International Inc. hotel, would continue to be a hotel but decrease to around 850 rooms from about 1,200 today. The top floors would be remodeled to create 200 high-end family apartments, Bonner said. > > “The hospitality element, we recognize,” he said, “is really important to maintain and increase, in some respects, the viability of Detroit as a tourist town and to support the convention center.” > > One of the remaining adjacent towers would convert to residential apartments with 300 to 400 units, the details of which are yet to be determined. The other tower also would be remodeled but still serve as office space, according to Bedrock. > Demolition could start within two years, Bonner said. Construction of an envisioned entertainment complex could probably begin toward the end of those two years. Refurbishment of the central tower and renovations for the multi-family housing might proceed for two and a half years to three years after that, aligning with the completion of the entertainment and public space portion. > > The estimated $1.6 billion redevelopment cost includes the reimagined public walkway, public park, conference center, the new hotel, office tower and the multi-family tower, Bonner said, adding an adjacent project would need “a few more dollars” for the entertainment piece. There could be some other demolition or remodeling of parking decks in the area, as well. Here is what the redeveloped complex may look like: ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/yimby/original/3X/a/b/abb96606db5d3a0c66112c9bbb784df468816eaf.jpeg) ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/yimby/original/3X/5/2/528c667b69fe55c000564c07a0f4bc3b051638bc.jpeg) ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/yimby/original/3X/f/8/f839ce12027f1363e0bec9e0debf70301c58b2fe.jpeg) Obviously this would be a dramatic change in the Detroit skyline, as the basic image of the Ren Center with the hotel surrounded by the four towers is iconic for Detroit. ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/yimby/original/3X/c/3/c3bd9c657577366b78938e279ff248772105cd32.jpeg) photo by David Guralnick (Detroit News) ![Eminem album cover](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/yimby/original/3X/7/d/7d84f258a1213c77559219283f62254c2252cbec.jpeg) Eminem album cover Each of the two towers to be demolished was completed in 1977 and is 522 feet in height. They are slightly taller than the Deutsche Bank building in lower Manhattan which was demolished after being damaged on September 11, 2001. They would become the ninth-tallest voluntarily razed buildings (fourth-tallest in the United States). They are currently the fifth-tallest buildings in Detroit. [List of tallest voluntarily demolished buildings - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_voluntarily_demolished_buildings) ---
**Author:** ![AntonioL](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.newyorkyimby.com/antoniol/32/139225_2.png) [@AntonioL](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/u/AntonioL)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2024, 4:36pm UTC](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/t/detroit-renaissance-center-redevelopment/24080/2 "2024-11-28T16:36:19Z")
The renaissance of the Renaissance Center. ---
**Author:** ![Mackensen](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.newyorkyimby.com/mackensen/32/138218_2.png) [@Mackensen](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/u/Mackensen)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2024, 7:37pm UTC](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/t/detroit-renaissance-center-redevelopment/24080/3 "2024-11-29T19:37:35Z")
I can’t imagine that part of the Renaissance Center will be demolished. It is a striking complex in the Detroit skyline. ![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/yimby/original/3X/f/c/fc6ccdcec213f99633fd16dedd4e6823b908a61d.jpeg) Image of the finished Renaissance Center complex in an architectural model/artist’s rendering ![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/yimby/original/3X/8/b/8ba8cec63cd5445821340793a4f7f8994bc9ae7f.png) ![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/uploads/yimby/original/3X/d/f/dfb7643a5e7e2f37119324f4b032d018edb26d61.png) > **[Here’s what Downtown Detroit looked like before the Renaissance Center was built](https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2022/10/21/heres-what-downtown-detroit-looked-like-before-the-renaissance-center-was-built/)** > > As the tallest building in Downtown Detroit, the Renaissance Center has dominated the city’s skyline for more than four decades ... but what did the city look like before the enormous building was erected? ---
**Author:** ![stache](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.newyorkyimby.com/stache/32/30186_2.png) [@stache](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/u/stache)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2024, 7:55pm UTC](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/t/detroit-renaissance-center-redevelopment/24080/4 "2024-11-29T19:55:22Z")
Detroit as tourist town? ---
**Author:** ![Waymond\_Womano](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.newyorkyimby.com/waymond_womano/32/7078_2.png) [@Waymond\_Womano](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/u/Waymond_Womano)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 7:16pm UTC](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/t/detroit-renaissance-center-redevelopment/24080/5 "2024-12-03T19:16:36Z")
> **[‘Extortion’ tactic: GM panned for floating five-tower RenCen demo if tax...](https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2024/12/01/gm-tear-down-rencen-towers-subsidies-rejected/76658555007/)** > > The automaker confirms its backup plan after bipartisan pushback against allocating public money for a RenCen revamp. All five towers might be demolished. If this happens, the hotel will become the tallest voluntarily demolished building in the US. > If General Motors and Dan Gilbert can’t secure the public funding they say they need to revamp the struggling Renaissance Center, the automaker says it’s prepared to demolish the five towers it owns and bear the full cost. > > GM confirmed in a statement to the Free Press that full demolition is a possible alternative to its proposal to partially demolish and renovate the complex, after it faced pushback from a chorus of lawmakers [opposed](https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2024/11/27/skepticism-lansing-public-money-rencen-renovation-gm-gilbert-hudsons/76591095007/) to helping publicly fund a plan to tear down two towers and renovate three. That plan has also drawn critics from the architectural and preservation communities, who called it shortsighted and ill-conceived. ---
**Author:** ![Waymond\_Womano](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.newyorkyimby.com/waymond_womano/32/7078_2.png) [@Waymond\_Womano](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/u/Waymond_Womano)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2024, 9:52pm UTC](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/t/detroit-renaissance-center-redevelopment/24080/6 "2024-12-10T21:52:48Z")
> **[GM accused of ‘extortion’ over threat to tear down Detroit’s tallest skyscraper](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/10/gm-detroit-skyscraper-rencen-taxpayers)** > > Company threatens to tear down RenCen if taxpayers don’t contribute $250m in subsidies for renovation ---
**Author:** ![ALC11](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.newyorkyimby.com/alc11/32/81254_2.png) [@ALC11](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/u/ALC11)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2024, 1:55am UTC](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/t/detroit-renaissance-center-redevelopment/24080/7 "2024-12-11T01:55:59Z")
Why should taxpayers foot the bill for their HQ renovation? GM like always is being ridiculous and greedy. And then they threaten to tear it down if they don’t get any public funds. ---
**Author:** ![GentriVacation](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.newyorkyimby.com/gentrivacation/32/8324_2.png) [@GentriVacation](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/u/GentriVacation)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2024, 4:20pm UTC](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/t/detroit-renaissance-center-redevelopment/24080/8 "2024-12-11T16:20:05Z")
No one’s more socialist than a capitalist who isn’t getting what they want. ---
**Author:** ![stache](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.newyorkyimby.com/stache/32/30186_2.png) [@stache](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/u/stache)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 3:25pm UTC](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/t/detroit-renaissance-center-redevelopment/24080/9 "2024-12-12T15:25:13Z")
Amen. ---
**Author:** ![Waymond\_Womano](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.newyorkyimby.com/waymond_womano/32/7078_2.png) [@Waymond\_Womano](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/u/Waymond_Womano)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 1:18pm UTC](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/t/detroit-renaissance-center-redevelopment/24080/10 "2024-12-16T13:18:12Z")
> **[A RenCen redo could work, with a lot more public input | Opinion](https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2024/12/16/gm-renaissance-center-rencen-subsidies-ppp-detroit/76950640007/)** > > There is room for better alignment of what GM/Bedrock think is the best use, with what members of our community want for the RenCen. ---
**Author:** ![Waymond\_Womano](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.newyorkyimby.com/waymond_womano/32/7078_2.png) [@Waymond\_Womano](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/u/Waymond_Womano)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2025, 7:18pm UTC](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/t/detroit-renaissance-center-redevelopment/24080/11 "2025-01-14T19:18:09Z")
[https://deadlinedetroit.com/articles/32698/prominent\_detroit\_law\_firm\_one\_of\_rencen\_s\_first\_tenants\_moving\_to\_new\_headquarters](https://deadlinedetroit.com/articles/32698/prominent_detroit_law_firm_one_of_rencen_s_first_tenants_moving_to_new_headquarters) > The prominent law firm of Dykema Gossett, one of the Renaissance Center’s first tenants, is moving out to a new headquarters nearby, Crain’s Detroit Business [reports.](https://www.crainsdetroit.com/law/dykema-moves-new-hq-outside-renaissance-center) > > The firm, which has been in the RenCen since 1977, is moving the headquarters and about 100 attorneys and staff to One Kennedy Square at 777 Woodward in the heart of downtown Detroit. > > The move is expected to happen by late summer. ---
**Author:** ![Waymond\_Womano](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.newyorkyimby.com/waymond_womano/32/7078_2.png) [@Waymond\_Womano](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/u/Waymond_Womano)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2025, 9:42pm UTC](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/t/detroit-renaissance-center-redevelopment/24080/12 "2025-02-12T21:42:32Z")
> **[Historic designation could block RenCen demo](https://www.bridgedetroit.com/historic-designation-could-block-rencen-demo/)** > > Malachi Barrett has the City Council recap: How a historic designation could impact RenCen redevelopment, a push for more DDOT dollars, solar project home sales and more. ---
**Author:** ![Waymond\_Womano](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.newyorkyimby.com/waymond_womano/32/7078_2.png) [@Waymond\_Womano](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/u/Waymond_Womano)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2025, 8:04pm UTC](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/t/detroit-renaissance-center-redevelopment/24080/13 "2025-02-16T20:04:27Z")
Going once… > **[Renaissance Center Tower Up For Auction in March](https://www.wjr.com/2025/01/23/renaissance-center-tower-up-for-auction-in-march/)** > > Photo: Andrew Mullin ~ 760 WJR > > > > > DETROIT, Jan. 23, 2025 ~ An office tower in the Renaissance Center is heading to an online auction from March 17-19. > Tower 600 is a largely empty, 334,000-square-foot tower built in 1981, which Farmington... ---
**Author:** ![Waymond\_Womano](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.newyorkyimby.com/waymond_womano/32/7078_2.png) [@Waymond\_Womano](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/u/Waymond_Womano)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 12:47pm UTC](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/t/detroit-renaissance-center-redevelopment/24080/14 "2025-03-10T12:47:38Z")
> **[Detroit City Council shoots down RenCen historic review, paving way for GM,...](https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2025/03/04/renaissance-center-redevelopment-city-council-denies-historic-review/81372650007/)** > > Detroit City Council voted against a historic eligibility study for the Renaissance Center, paving the way for GM and Bedrock's development plan. ---
**Author:** ![Waymond\_Womano](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.newyorkyimby.com/waymond_womano/32/7078_2.png) [@Waymond\_Womano](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/u/Waymond_Womano)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 1:14am UTC](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/t/detroit-renaissance-center-redevelopment/24080/15 "2025-03-15T01:14:32Z")
> **[I'm a historic preservationist, but these RenCen towers have to go | Opinion](https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2025/03/12/ren-cen-detroit-gm-bedrock-riverfront-riverwalk/82228959007/)** > > Detroit's Renaissance Center makes a great skyline, but a Navy Pier-style riverfront development would be even better. ---
**Author:** ![Rangerparks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ea924/32.png) [@Rangerparks](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/u/Rangerparks)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 6:01am UTC](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/t/detroit-renaissance-center-redevelopment/24080/16 "2025-03-15T06:01:37Z")
This would be like demolishing the sears tower… ---
**Author:** ![Waymond\_Womano](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.newyorkyimby.com/waymond_womano/32/7078_2.png) [@Waymond\_Womano](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/u/Waymond_Womano)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 10:15pm UTC](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/t/detroit-renaissance-center-redevelopment/24080/17 "2025-03-17T22:15:36Z")
Not really. This is not a proposal to demolish the tallest tower in Detroit (the hotel), just a few of the shorter office buildings surrounding it. ---
**Author:** ![Waymond\_Womano](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.newyorkyimby.com/waymond_womano/32/7078_2.png) [@Waymond\_Womano](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/u/Waymond_Womano)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2025, 1:33am UTC](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/t/detroit-renaissance-center-redevelopment/24080/18 "2025-03-20T01:33:02Z")
> **[Auction for small Renaissance Center tower in Detroit ends with $9.2M bid](https://www.freep.com/story/money/business/2025/03/19/detroit-renaissance-center-tower-600-auction-ends/82514485007/)** > > Tower 600 is one of the two smaller RenCen office buildings that General Motors does not own. ---
**Author:** ![Waymond\_Womano](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.newyorkyimby.com/waymond_womano/32/7078_2.png) [@Waymond\_Womano](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/u/Waymond_Womano)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2025, 9:52pm UTC](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/t/detroit-renaissance-center-redevelopment/24080/19 "2025-04-19T21:52:47Z")
> **['This is our city': Local doctor purchases Renaissance Center Tower 600](https://www.wxyz.com/news/this-is-our-city-local-doctor-purchases-renaissance-center-tower-600)** > > Renaissance Center Tower 600 in downtown Detroit has a new owner. It sold at auction back in March. The total cost? North of $9.4 million. The deal was finalized Thursday. > So, what’s Al-Hadidi’s plan for the tower? Office space for corporations, relocating his firm Stockbridge Enterprises there and building high-end apartments. > > “They will not be small apartments, they will be 3,000, 4,000 square foot and bigger, and it will be for high-end residents with spectacular view, amazing security, access to Detroit, access to the riverwalk,” Al-Hadidi said. “It’s going to be a dream for someone to live there and I might be one of them.” ---
**Author:** ![stache](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.newyorkyimby.com/stache/32/30186_2.png) [@stache](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/u/stache)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2025, 1:27pm UTC](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/t/detroit-renaissance-center-redevelopment/24080/20 "2025-04-20T13:27:24Z")
Detroit should be a winner when climate change kicks in further. [Next page](https://forum.newyorkyimby.com/t/detroit-renaissance-center-redevelopment/24080.md?page=2)