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Transformational Detroit Pistons residential development delayed

Ron Stang
Transformational Detroit Pistons residential development delayed
DETROIT CITY COUNCIL — The existing building above would be converted into a 400-plus residential complex but that is now delayed.

A project to renew a former derelict area of central Detroit has been partly put on hold, as officials say market conditions aren’t quite right.

But once completed it should be a major boost to an area that has otherwise seen widespread renewal, the so-called New Center neighborhood, just north of downtown.

New Center is not a new designation but dates back a century and was once home to General Motors’ world headquarters. Some believe it was a prototype of an edge city, a sort of secondary downtown but closer to factories and residential commuters.

Besides the area’s four-tower former GM building, now called Cadillac Place, and the Detroit home of Michigan state government offices, its icons include the towering 1920s era Fisher Building – a local architectural gem – and Henry Ford Health HospitalStatusUnder ConstructionValue$2.2BLocation2799 W Grand Blvd, Detroit MISectorPrivateTypeMedical · New ConstructionData as of July 29, 2026, a more modern complex.

The hospital, along with Michigan State University and the Detroit Pistons NBA team, have collaborated to redevelop a site immediately south of the main thoroughfare, West Grand Boulevard.

The hospital is adding to its campus with $2.5 billion in new facilities, including a 20-storey patient tower, still under Âé¶¹´«Ã½Ó³»­ but now quite visible.

And it is collaborating with Michigan State University and the Detroit Pistons on a health research facility (by MSU) and residential complexes (by the Pistons) in the so-called $3 billion Future of Health development. The overall goal is a “walkable, viable community.�

 

An image shows one of the three buildings delayed at least until next year that form part of a new Detroit mixed-use neighborhood known as Future of Health.
DETROIT CITY COUNCIL — An image shows one of the three buildings delayed at least until next year that form part of a new Detroit mixed-use neighborhood known as Future of Health.

 

But a new fly in the ointment is the Pistons’ contribution.

The Pistons had moved their base from suburban Auburn Hills to downtown Detroit almost 10 years ago as a show of support for the impoverished city’s redevelopment. Little Caesars Arena, where the Detroit Red Wings play, is also their game day home. And they have built a new practice facility just up the street in New Center itself.

In a Henry Ford Health (HFH) podcast Pistons vice-chairman Arn Tellem explained what’s at stake.

In moving downtown, he said, “we had to find the right partner (and) the most important was the medical partner.�

And this wasn’t “just to play games downtown. It had to be……we were going to be all-in on Detroit.â€�

Tellem said he had met with various stakeholders and the “one meeting that was different was the one with� HFH in a bid to “give back to the community.� Tellem called the redevelopment “one of the most important that the city has ever had� with “a campus where you can walk� and create the “density the city needs.�

However, while the HFH and MSU components continue to take shape the Pistons have now had to delay their mixed-use apartment buildings and parking deck, with Âé¶¹´«Ã½Ó³»­ start times moved to the second quarter 2027.

Specifically, these are a six-storey 154-unit building, a six-storey 105-unit building and the redevelopment of an existing building into a 403-unit apartment building, now set to begin in 2029. An 800-plus space parking garage will also now begin in late 2027.

The Pistons haven’t made anyone available for interviews. But in a statement said the changes were “updated in view of market conditions.

“Our team has made strong progress on the pre-development, planning and design work for the residential portion of the project and expects to break ground on the first planned building next year.� 

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