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| Photo illustration by David Guralnick and Tim Summ |
| Olympia Development received a $104,500 grant Wednesday to demolish a vacant building several blocks west of Fox Theatre. |
New home for Red Wings?
Louis Aguilar / The Detroit News
DETROIT -- The Ilitch family, which controls a billion-dollar empire of pizza, sports teams and entertainment in downtown Detroit, is fast approaching a deadline on whether to build a hockey arena or renovate the Joe Louis Arena, the city-owned venue whose lease with the Ilitches expires in 2009.
Speculation about the family's plans was stoked Wednesday when the Ilitches' Olympia Development secured state funding to raze a vacant, dilapidated building smack dab in the area long rumored to be the preferred site of the arena -- a cluster of blocks west of the Fox Theatre complex, the Woodward Avenue headquarters for Ilitch Holdings Inc.
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| The Ilitch connection
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| Daniel Mears / The Detroit News |
| The 30-year lease on Joe Louis Arena, which is the fifth-oldest arena in the National Hockey League, expires in 2009. See full image |
The empty building at 138 W. Columbia is surrounded by blocks of Ilitch-owned parking lots and several structures. It's a half-block away from the Detroit Life Building, which the Ilitches intend to restore into high-end residential units. A few blocks away is the Grand Army of the Republic building, which the family plans to restore. Across Woodward from the Fox Theatre is Comerica Park, home of the Ilitch-owned Detroit Tigers.
An arena near the Fox would add a major dimension to a burgeoning sports and entertainment district largely created by the Ilitches.
While Ilitch Holdings said a final decision hasn't been made about a new arena, it said it continues to study the idea.
"Our organization is continuing to evaluate all options -- from a remodel of Joe Louis Arena to the building of a new arena at a new location," the Ilitches said in a written statement Wednesday.
"Relative to the demolition of 138 W. Columbia, our organization continues to move forward in making improvements to the Foxtown Neighborhood. With the Fox Theatre, Comerica Park, our headquarters operations, soon-to-be renovated Detroit Life Building, Hockeytown Cafe and the numerous other businesses in and around us, we are continually looking for opportunities to make it a pleasant, clean and safe environment for visitors, colleagues and local residents."
The only immediate plans that Olympia has for the property at 138 W. Columbia is additional parking, Ilitch Holdings said.
The Ilitches have said for more than a decade that they intend to build a modern arena for the Wings or renovate Joe Louis, for which the Ilitches had a 30-year lease.
Mike Ilitch, co-founder of the Little Caesars Pizza chain that started it all, has said repeatedly he prefers a site near the Fox Theatre.
On a February trip to Paducah, Ky., both Mike Ilitch and his son Chris Ilitch, president of Ilitch Holdings, gave some hints that a decision may be near.
"We don't see anything standing in the way of being able to go forward other than carving out the deal," Mike Ilitch said at the time. "We're looking forward to making sure that what we do now makes sense, that we can build it right, so that we can project our business."
But Chris Ilitch said they are still considering all options.
In January 2006, the Ilitches announced they had begun feasibility studies on the project.
Atanas Ilitch also has said that the area would be ideal for retail development. He heads Olympia Development LLC, the real estate arm of Ilitch Holdings. Atanas Ilitch said the company, sparked by the Tigers' success, was in talks to bring national retailers and an upscale grocer to Ilitch-owned properties near Comerica Park.
Detroit officials said they weren't aware of any decision.
"I haven't heard anything," said George Jackson, president of the Detroit Economic Growth Corp., the quasi-public agency that promotes development in the city.
A spokesman for Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick also said he wasn't aware of a decision.
Privately, several officials said the Ilitches own enough property behind the Fox to build an arena, though there are several parcels they don't own that could hinder the project.
The Joe Louis Arena opened on downtown's riverfront in 1979 after former Detroit Mayor Coleman Young built it to keep the Wings from moving to Oakland County. The team was under different ownership at the time. Joe Louis is the fifth-oldest arena in the National Hockey League. The Wings could expect to bring in at least $10 million in additional revenue each year with a new facility from naming rights and luxury boxes alone.
The Ilitches have not said how they would finance the project.
Every move the Ilitches make downtown becomes instant fodder for a rumor mill.
"It's like a parlor game around here," said Harry Kefalonitis, owner of Harry's Bar & Grill, on Clifford Street across I-75 from the Fox Theatre. "I hear they're looking at about 10 different locations back there."
Two years ago, when Mike Ilitch ate at his bar, Kefalonitis asked him if the new hockey arena would be built nearby.
"He just smiled and looked at me," Kefalonitis said. "But he didn't say no. And everyone around here always thinks if he doesn't say no, it means yes."
You can reach Louis Aguilar at (313) 222-2760 or laguilar@detnews.com.
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