“This is an unbelievable change from where we were just a few years ago,” Atwell says. He expects this first phase of retail to draw customers from the increasingly dense surrounding neighborhoods, including Windsor, Canada, just across the river. “We now have a built-in customer base close by.”

Olympia's eventual goal for the District's five neighborhoods, he adds, is to have “a balance between local entrepreneurs and national retailers,” along with a diverse mixture of food and beverage outlets and traditional neighborhood businesses like pubs, hair salons, and other services. For the first neighborhood, however, called Woodward Square, the focus will be on food and beverage retail that serve the arena's customers. “High energy is what we are looking for.”

DETROIT—A local developer expects to draw national interest when it hits next week's International Council of Shopping Centers' RECon conference in Las Vegas and offers up the retail space that will soon surround this city's new hockey arena. Olympia Development of Michigan plans to finish the 180,000 square feet of retail space in September 2017, just as it also puts the finishing touches on Little Caesars Arena. The venture will be the first phase of a mixed-use project called The District, which company officials say will eventually cover the 50-square blocks around the arena and have five contiguous, walkable neighborhoods that connect an increasingly vibrant downtown with Midtown.

“We've already gotten a lot of interest from many, many retailers,” Mike Atwell, vice president of leasing for Olympia, tells GlobeSt.com. One of the project's chief attractions is that “the potential for sales will be constant.” The arena itself will host up to 180 events per year, including Detroit Red Wings hockey games, other sporting events and concerts. In addition, the retail component will be pulled back from the arena and located along a glass-covered concourse call the Via, making it comfortable for shoppers year-round. CBRE has been brought on board to help complete leasing deals.

Olympia is the development arm of Ilitch Holdings, Inc., the privately-held company of Mike Ilitch, the owner of Little Caesars Pizza, the Detroit Red Wings and the Detroit Tigers. Ilitch has been at the center of efforts to revive the city's downtown for a long time. Little Caesars, for example, moved its headquarters into downtown more than 25 years ago, Atwell says. “That was a time when a lot of companies were fleeing Detroit for the suburbs.”

People who have recently heard nothing about Detroit besides its bankruptcy will be surprised by the downtown's stupendous growth. Dozens of historic office buildings have been renovated and filled by companies eager to tap into the desire among millennials to work in the city. And developers have also renovated other historic structures into residences for both millennials and empty-nesters. Residential buildings in the downtown, along with those in the adjacent neighborhoods, now have a 98% occupancy rate, and new construction has begun.

“This is an unbelievable change from where we were just a few years ago,” Atwell says. He expects this first phase of retail to draw customers from the increasingly dense surrounding neighborhoods, including Windsor, Canada, just across the river. “We now have a built-in customer base close by.”

Olympia's eventual goal for the District's five neighborhoods, he adds, is to have “a balance between local entrepreneurs and national retailers,” along with a diverse mixture of food and beverage outlets and traditional neighborhood businesses like pubs, hair salons, and other services. For the first neighborhood, however, called Woodward Square, the focus will be on food and beverage retail that serve the arena's customers. “High energy is what we are looking for.”