Plans have been tossed out almost every year to expand the state's largest convention center, but since funds are short, it's been hard to find backers amongst the three major counties that are closest to Detroit. In 2004, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick proposed building a new convention center for $665 million, but he could not get enough buy-in to move forward. Ficano also proposed a 270,000-sf expansion for $425 million in 2006.

Now, Ficano seems to have hit on a plan that many local officials say they can live with. The details are that $200 million would be spent on renovating the entire property, $100 million would pay for the expansion, and $35 million would be used to build two moving, covered walkways to directly connect the center to hotels at the Sheraton Pontchartrain and the Marriott at the Renaissance Center.

Ficano announced the plan Thursday during the Auto Show, alongside Gov. Jennifer Granholm. Financing would be through the extension of the tri-county hotel tax and statewide liquor tax for seven years. "Our first position is to be proactive to protect the Auto Show," Ficano tells GlobeSt.com in a private interview Thursday. "This is our trademark as a region. We've also found that people who come here, including the 6,000 press that attend the show, are usually surprised and appreciate the development we have going on Downtown. We need ambassadors going out and saying these good things, to lose the show would cut off our positive buzz."