GM, developer confirm office tower demolition intentions

General Motors and real estate developer Bedrock have announced a plan for the Detroit riverfront Renaissance Center, or RenCen, complex that would include the demolition of two office towers.

A Bedrock announcement says the proposed project would entail removing the low-rise base of the complex and the two office towers nearest the river, creating an inviting destination and reducing obsolete office space.

The two office towers eyed for demolition are 39 stories and have 2.2 million square feet of space each.

The 73-story RenCen central tower and a third 39-story building would remain in place in the proposed plan. Replacing the three structures would be a new 27-acre entertainment district that would be a catalyst for development along the riverfront, according to Bedrock.

In a move reported earlier this year, GM and Bedrock, with the city of Detroit and Wayne County, established a partnership to study redevelopment opportunities for the RenCen site. Bedrock is led by Dan Gilbert, a mortgage company founder who also owns the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The RenCen, first opened in 1976, and is described as Michigan’s "most iconic and recognizable building.” GM purchased the complex in 1996 and, to date, has invested more than $1 billion in improvements to the site, but GM and Bedrock say the site must be reinvented to be viable into the future.

“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,” says Kofi Bonner, CEO of Detroit-based Bedrock.

In addition to removing the three structures, the plan calls for redeveloping the land beneath into a mix of hospitality and housing.

Also in the plan would be creating a pedestrian promenade connecting Detroit’s central business district to the riverfront, turning reclaimed land into signature public spaces and reconfiguring the flow of the site to allow direct access to the buildings and the riverfront.

“GM has the best possible partner with Bedrock in this effort to redevelop the Renaissance Center,” says Dave Massaron, vice president at 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.”

A rendering accompanying the plan indicates architectural firms San Francisco-based Gensler Detroit-based Rossetti have an initial level of involvement with the proposed project.

Bedrock and GM say they have committed to funding the majority of the project, with the remainder contingent on public financing after the plan is presented to local and state officials.

Bedrock and its affiliates have invested more than $7.5 billion to acquire, develop and operate more than 140 properties in Detroit and Cleveland. Its projects include new construction, adaptive reuse and a portfolio totaling more than 21 million square feet of office, retail, residential, industrial, hospitality and parking space.