The $1.6 billion-plus plan for redeveloping Detroit’s increasingly desolate Renaissance Center and then building a unique amenity-packed riverfront park next to it is making an official public debut this week.
General Motors and Dan Gilbert’s real estate firm Bedrock, who have teamed up for the development project, are scheduled to present their plan for remaking the iconic 1970s complex Aug. 18 during the first meeting of what is expected to be a months-long Community Benefits process.
And on Wednesday, Aug. 19, the developers were scheduled to open the doors of their new public engagement hub next to the RenCen that is packed with exhibits showcasing the overall redevelopment plan. The exhibits also ask the public to submit ideas for what to build within the 30-acre riverfront park, which would be built just east of the RenCen complex on what is now mostly empty parking lots.
Bedrock and GM officials have said that they would like to fill that park with attractions comparable to what is found is popular urban riverfront parks such as Navy Pier in Chicago. Some of the potential amenities include a ferris wheel, a marina and a resort-like floating swimming pool within the Detroit River.
But the development team says it also is eager to hear other ideas that people may have for filling up the park.
“We’re asking the public what you want to see,” said Jake Chidester, vice president of strategic initiatives for Bedrock. “Do you want to see a movie theater, community sports, a Ferris wheel, bowling? If this isn’t for Detroiters, by Detroiters, then this really doesn’t work.”
The engagement hub is located at 521 Atwater and will be open Wednesdays through Fridays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The hub is expected to remain open for six months, and a “road show” version of the exhibits will be touring each Detroit City Council district.
The public survey for ideas for the park will also be available online at Detroit-Riverfront.BedrockDetroit.com.
“This is really the opportunity to ask, and then have the question answered, ‘What do you want to see on your waterfront?,’ ” Chidester said.
The first Community Benefits meeting for the overall RenCen redevelopment was scheduled to start at 6 p.m. Aug. 18 in the 13th floor auditorium of the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center at 2 Woodward Ave. and also stream online via ZOOM.
In Detroit, large development projects that seek tax abatements are required to go through a Community Benefits process. The process involves a series of public meetings and hearings and typically ends with developers agreeing to a package of concessions and gifts for residents and groups situated near a project site, such as promises to hire locals for certain jobs or to spruce up nearby community centers.
While GM and Bedrock first announced their RenCen redevelopment plan in late 2024, the plan had been in a holding pattern until last month, when the state Legislature lifted the financial cap on a key development incentive program that the project would rely on, known as a Transformational Brownfield.
There are few occupants still left in the original Renaissance Center towers, besides the Marriott hotel and a few sit-down restaurants. GM relocated its global headquarters in January from the RenCen to Bedrock’s new Hudson’s Detroit development.
A full list of the incentives that the project will seek from Detroit City Council is expected to emerge during the Community Benefits meetings.
The redevelopment calls for demolishing two of the five original 1970s Renaissance Center towers, specifically the two octagonal-shaped office towers closest to the river. The multistory concrete-heavy podium that connects the five towers also would come down.
GM and Bedrock have been aiming to start the demo work by summer 2027. Finishing the entire development could then take about five to 10 years.
The overall redevelopment calls for:
- Transforming the 72-floor center tower — currently a roughly 1,300-room Marriott — into a mix of 858 hotel rooms and 200 apartments, with a new public observation deck at the very top.
- Converting the 39-floor Tower 100 from office space to about 380 apartments.
- Renovating the 39-floor Tower 200 and keeping it as office space.
- Creating the new riverfront park on the roughly 30 acres of land to the east of the complex. (This cost is separate from the main development’s $1.6 billion price tag.)
- Building about 350 new units of housing as part of the riverfront park development.
Bedrock is expected to contribute about $1 billion toward the $1.6 billion cost of the RenCen redevelopment, with GM contributing $250 million and the remainder coming for public financing. The cost of developing the new riverfront park would be an additional expense on top of the $1.6 billion.
The Community Benefits process is to be overseen by a nine-member Neighborhood Advisory Council, whose volunteer members would be chosen from residents who live within the project’s “impact area” that includes parts of downtown and the general east riverfront area near the RenCen.
Contact JC Reindl: 313-378-5460 or jcreindl@freepress.com. Follow him on X @jcreindl