DETROIT (WXYZ) — On Wednesday, Huntington Bank cut the ribbon on its new headquarters in downtown Detroit, a 20-story building set to bring in hundreds of employees.
Nearby businesses and Detroiters hope the added workers will assist in the city’s downtown revival more than two years after the pandemic began.
“When we first started going back to work, it was like we couldn't find a place to eat. The streets were fully deserted," said Bruce Findling, who lives in Ann Arbor but works in downtown Detroit. "Now, just in the last couple months, it’s really starting to come alive again.”
“This is the first 20-story office building built in 30 years in the city of Detroit,” said Huntington Bank Senior Executive Vice President Sandy Pierce. "To me, this makes a statement about our commitment to Detroit.”
Pierce says the company’s new commercial headquarters on Woodward Avenue will eventually bring nearly 800 employees downtown. Some floors are still under construction, and the company hopes to have 400 employees in the building by the end of the year.
"We want to be one of the first ones to bring our colleagues back to the office," Pierce said. "We want them to experience not just this building — it’s beautiful of course — but this city. They're part of the fabric of this city and part of the fabric of the comeback, the Detroit renaissance.”
At nearby restaurants like Brass Rail Pizza Bar, management is ready for those workers to come back downtown.
“So far, it’s super exciting,” Brass Rail manager Mohamed Elmardi said.
Since the pandemic started, lunchtime in Detroit has meant more empty tables, less catering orders and less deliveries. Hundreds of next-door neighbors will hopefully bring in more daytime business.
"It could be better because not a lot of people have been to the offices yet,” Elmardi said.
According to an online study that uses phone GPS data to measure downtown recovery, Detroit still needs work. The city ranks 59 out of 62 with a recovery rate of 42%.
However, people we spoke to downtown feel that recovery is well on its way.
“Just a lot of new everything," Detroit resident and Wayne State University student Taryn Johnson said. '"It’s just very vibrant to see, and I love it.”
“It's exciting to see the city come back to life, it’s been a long time,” Findling added.
Huntington Bank is also putting a new branch in the building lobby on Woodward. It is expected to open in October.
