11.28.07
Ilitches chart Foxtown moves
New hockey arena relocation downplayed; family turns to lots behind Fox Theatre.
Louis Aguilar and Joel J. Smith
The Detroit News
With the MotorCity Casino complex nearly finished, the powerful Ilitch family will most likely focus on the empty lots and buildings they've steadily acquired behind their Fox Theatre headquarters in downtown Detroit, Marian Ilitch, matriarch of the billion-dollar family empire, indicated Tuesday.
But plans for that roughly 10-block area west of Woodward Avenue may not include a new hockey arena for the Detroit Red Wings, owned by Marian's husband, Mike Ilitch.
At a Tuesday press conference about the opening of her MotorCity Casino Hotel, Marian Ilitch was asked about the family's downtown properties.
"Most likely it will be to expand property behind the Fox Theatre. It may not turn out to be everything that everybody expects -- for instance, an arena -- however, it will be the best when it gets done," she said.
Marian Ilitch owns the MotorCity Casino. Together, she and her husband own Ilitch Holdings Inc., the Little Caesars Pizza chain and numerous downtown Detroit properties, ranging from concert venues like the Fox, restaurants like the Hockey Town Cafe and empty buildings and parcels.
"You have to be very careful about announcing future projects because if they don't come true you end up with egg on your face. But we do have other plans," Ilitch said.
Ilitch Holdings executives are deciding whether to renew the lease for the city-owned Joe Louis Arena, where the Wings now play, when it expires in 2009, or build a new facility. Speculation the Ilitches might build a new arena near the Fox Theatre has swirled as branches of Ilitch Holdings gained land and buildings behind the theater.
But that land certainly isn't the only empty space around the Fox Theatre and nearby Comerica Park, home of the Mike Ilitch-owned Detroit Tigers. The city of Detroit controls many parcels in the area.
In the past, the Ilitches have said they were in discussions with several national retailers about moving to the area, which the Ilitches have played a crucial role in helping rebuild.
Ilitch's comment Tuesday doesn't mean a decision has been made about building any new arena or what to do with the area behind the Fox, said Karen Cullen, spokeswoman for Ilitch Holdings.
"We've always said it's our neighborhood and we would like to continue to enhance it," Cullen said. "What specifically we will do there has not been decided."
You can reach Louis Aguilar at (313) 222-2760 or laguilar@detnews.com.
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