DETROIT (WXYZ) — Bedrock and General Motors announced a plan for the future of the Renaissance Center that would include demolishing two of the seven towers.
According to the two organizations, the plan "right-sizes" the RenCen's footprint along the Detroit Riverfront.
See the renderings in the video below
Bedrock entered into an agreement with GM earlier this year that would allow them to redevelop the RenCen site with plans for GM to move into Bedrock's new Hudson's Tower in downtown Detroit.
According to the companies, the plan includes removing the low-rise base of the complex and the two office towers closest to the river. The three remaining towers would be a mix of hospitality and housing.
The low-rise base of the complex would also be removed, and then a new pedestrian promenade would be constructed to connect the downtown area to the riverfront.
“It's a little sad,” Detroit resident Maria Williams said. "The new idea isn't bad, but demolishing everything when you already have an enough amount of space to just reuse it.”
“I thought it was pretty exciting,” another Detroit resident Karl Tavadia said. "Right now, you have two great restaurants, Andiamo and Joe Muers. The riverfront is really nice, but you can bring more things to do here, more shops and activities, and can just be another place like Campus Martius where people congregate to.”
However, both of those popular restaurants, Joe Muer and Andiamo, are in buildings that would be demolished under the plan.
"I'm a little concerned... It's been very successful for us and I think we've been a very good tenant for General Motors,” said Joe Vicari, president and CEO of Joe Vicari Restaurant Group, which owns both locations. "We want to do what's right, we don't want to stand in anyone's way, but at the same time, we have two very active businesses where we employ hundreds of people.”
Other plans include turning reclaimed land into public spaces and reconfiguring the site to allow direct access to the buildings and the riverfront.
“This iconic landmark’s future is important to Detroit and Michigan, and our shared vision with General Motors ensures that its redevelopment aligns with Detroit’s economic advancement," Bedrock CEO Kofi Bonner said in a statement. "Additionally, our collaborative approach makes certain that the reimagined Renaissance Center and the riverfront further augment and support the city’s continued growth, benefiting the community and region at large.”
Previous coverage: Uncertain future for the RenCen
“GM has the best possible partner with Bedrock in this effort to redevelop the Renaissance Center,” said Dave Massaron, vice president of Infrastructure and Corporate Citizenship for General Motors. “Nobody has repurposed more buildings in Detroit than Dan Gilbert and his Bedrock team. This is another chapter in their unprecedented commitment to building the best possible future for the city and Michigan.”
Craig Wilkins, an associate professor of architecture at the University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, cautions that the plan is only a concept right now but says he was underwhelmed by what he saw.
“The renderings are more about invoking a feeling and a atmosphere than it is any specific kind of detail," Wilkins said. "It seems like it’s another Hart Plaza and if there isn't an event in Hart Plaza, people don't go... It's the conceptual phase, perhaps there will be enough people who look at the works and say you know what, this is fine as far as it goes but it could go further.”
According to the companies, they are looking to get public funding for the project, and plan to present the redevelopment plan to local and state leaders to see if it is possible to move forward with the redevelopment.
Watch: GM and Bedrock hold joint news conference to announce General Motors' world headquarters is moving to the Hudon's site in 2025
“We’ve said since the very beginning of this process that we were going to make a realistic decision about preserving as much of the Renaissance Center as possible. Dan Gilbert’s vision gives us a path forward to preserve and reuse three of the towers and, at the same time, creates a beautiful expansion of public space on the Detroit riverfront," Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said in a statement. "We will need a public-private partnership to get this done and avoid the decades of inaction that accompanied so many other Detroit landmarks, like Hudson’s, Michigan Central Station, AMC Headquarters, and the Packard Plant. I am grateful for Dan Gilbert’s leadership in trying to prevent that fate for the Renaissance Center.”
