Plans for demolishing at least two downtown Detroit buildings to construct a new 600-room hotel that would connect to the Huntington Place convention center were officially unveiled on Wednesday, April 29.
The hotel, which would possibly be 25 stories in height, would be built on a block surrounded by Cass Avenue, Fort Street, Congress Street and Washington Boulevard. While the brand of hotel has yet to be determined, the plans envision construction starting in early 2027 and finishing in 2029.
“Yet another hotel is making its way to downtown Detroit,” Claude Molinari, president and CEO of Visit Detroit, announced Wednesday morning during the organization’s annual Partners and Outlook Meeting, held inside the new Hudson’s Detroit events space.
The hotel would be a joint venture between Detroit-based developer Sterling Group — with 51% ownership — and the Detroit Regional Convention Center Facility Authority. The total plan could cost as much as $450 million and be an all-union construction project.
Sterling and the facility authority are already partners on the future 600-room and 25-story JW Marriott hotel that is under construction next to Huntington Place and could possibly open by the end of this year.
The newly announced hotel is aimed at meeting continued demand in Detroit for more hotel rooms, which hospitality officials say would help the city to better compete to host more big conventions and events.
In an interview, Molinari said the project calls for demolishing at least two buildings to make way for the hotel: the 16-story Fort Washington Plaza office building, which opened in the early 1970s and is at 333 W. Fort St., and the Downtown Garage at 328 W. Congress St.
The joint venture recently purchased both of those properties, Molinari said, and the Fort Washington Plaza building is down to roughly 30% occupancy, including the Que Deli on its ground floor in a space that was once the Gateway Deli.
“We have a critical shortage of hotels in downtown Detroit and we have a large amount of unused office space,” he said.
Molinari said that a third building, the HMSA building at 601 Washington Blvd., also could potentially be demolished for the project, although the hotel could still be built without that property.
Molinari said Detroit has lost out on hosting some big events that needed about 10,000 hotel rooms in the greater downtown. Detroit is expected to have about 8,000 hotel rooms by 2027, which is when a trio of under-construction hotels are set to open: the JW Marriott, the EDITION Hotel in the Hudson’s site skyscraper and a NoMad hotel on the top floors of Ford’s Michigan Central Station.
The newly announced hotel would connect to Huntington Place via a skybridge, Molinari said, and they are looking at the hotel as between a 3-star and a 4-star property.
“We got two flags competing for it right now,” he said, referring to hotel brands.
Molinari noted how their partner for the hotel projects, the Sterling Group, has been quick to finish its recent developments in Detroit, including the 496-unit luxury apartment building — The Residences at Water Square — that opened in early 2024 on the former site of Joe Louis Arena.
Sterling Group’s founder and executive chairman is Gary Torgow, who also has been a prominent figure in the regional banking business.
“One of the biggest reasons we work with the Sterling Group is they have the capital, they get things done,” Molinari said.
This story was updated to correct an inaccuracy.
Contact JC Reindl: 313-378-5460 or jcreindl@freepress.com. Follow him on X @jcreindl.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: New Detroit hotel would require demolishing 16-story building
Reporting by JC Reindl, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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