However, interested commercial developers have swooped down on the area.
One recent example is Cleveland-based Ferchill Group, which is negotiating to buy a 1.1-acre parcel of land at Randolph Street and Gratiot Avenue to build a 10-story, 200-room Hilton Garden Suites Hotel.
"We made it a practice to follow new ballparks. We're in Pittsburgh, where they're putting in two, and we're looking at Milwaukee," Timm Judson, chiefinvestment officer for Ferchill, tells GlobeSt.com.
It's not always hotels, he said, but just any commercial development that will work around the parks.
Hotel rooms are severely needed in Detroit, especially with the recent announcement by Mayor Dennis Archer that he wants only one of the three city casinos, MGM Grand, to move to the riverfront to build a large casino-hotel complex.
"We think there's going to be a pretty decent uptick from the ballpark activity, and we want to be in on the ground floor. This will be a long-term hold for us," Judson says. The company had to acquire five variances for the property, he adds.
Ferchill is negotiating to pull $20 million of the $26.5 million development cost from Detroit investors. His company will handle the rest of the cost, he says. Backers of the Ferchill project include PenTrust Real Estate Advisors President Jim Noland. The architect for the project is Kraemer Design Group. The general contractor is Turner Construction of Detroit. Judson would not comment on the land purchase price.
"We're at a really critical period. We're hoping for a late April closing, and to open in May 2002 for next baseball season," he says.
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