WXYZ DETROIT — Join us in celebrating a very special anniversary for downtown Detroit. One-hundred years ago, J.L. Hudson Company manager Oscar Webber chaired a meeting of the Business Property Association. That organization was the start of today’s Downtown Detroit Partnership. Webber’s charge to the group was, “Ensure the viability of the Downtown community.” If Webber could see that part of our city now, he would be pleased.
Annual visits to downtown by non-workers and residents total 22 million in the most recent survey. And that area can proudly boast of 186 restaurants and retail establishments. The DDP uses a lot of strategic data to help stakeholders evaluate their progress and decisions. This business organization manages nearly two thousand events each year in the award-winning downtown parks and public spaces. From Campus Martius to the Woodward Esplanade, exciting attractions exists on every street. Wednesday night’s star-studded Centennial Celebration was a prime example! Up next is the summer Detroit Auto Show, the Labor Day weekend Detroit Jazz Festival, and then the end-of-the-year Detroit Tree Lighting.
But it’s the day-to-day businesses, most of them small, that have been the backbone of downtown’s economic survival with tremendous support form the DDP. Having a healthy central corridor is the heartbeat of any major metropolitan region.
We congratulate Downtown Detroit Partnership CEO Eric Larson and his staff for its role in making downtown Detroit a vibrant and welcoming community. Like Oscar Webber, the DDP’s vision and hard work is paying off!
It is believed that only about half-a-percent of all companies or organizations last 100 years or more. Take a bow DDP because you are now a member of that elite club.
I’m Mike Murri, V.P. & General Manager
Broadcast: August 25 - 28, 2022
