Spending on Detroit's New Arena District Tops $1B
Spending on Little Caesars Arena and the surrounding 50-block District Detroit is expected to have topped $1 billion when Kid Rock performs the opening concert Tuesday inside the new home of the Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Pistons.
"We can make a safe assumption now that we're crossing a billion - and then some - by the time Kid Rock takes stage," said Mark Rosentraub, director of the Center for Sport & Policy at the University of Michigan.
Rosentraub's center has a contract with Olympia Development to receive the company's monthly accounts paid over the past three years and track spending on the arena project & District Detroit and its economic impact.
Total spending in The District Detroit is expected to top $1.2 billion after the completion of the new $150 million Little Caesars Pizza headquarters next to the Fox Theatre and construction of six residential projects that will add 686 units at a cost of $160 million, Rosentraub said.
"Clearly it's on track right now to meet that expectation," Rosentraub said. "And it's going to go over."
The long-term economic impact of the $863 million arena, parking garges and adjacent commercial buildings flanking the arena along Woodward Avenue and Henry Street remains a hot topic of debate among sports economists.
Read the full article by Chad Livingwood for AthleticBusiness.com to find out more.