Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano
Wayne County has stumbled on an amazing new strategy that drive interest in Detroit real estate: Build an overpriced, half-finished jail structure on a property.
For all the noise we hear about this or that "prime" development parcel that never seems to develop anything but old tires and Cheeto's bags, five groups, including Dan Gilbert's Rock Ventures, are expected to bid on the jail-to-nowhere site.
WDIV: Jeff Hillman, a real estate expert, said it would be no surprise if developers would want to tear down the work that has already been done on the jail project and build something to add to downtown's growing entertainment district.
"It's got great visibility from the highway, it's got great access to the highway in addition to access to other areas of downtown. It's in the middle of everything. It's close to the stadiums. It's close to Foxtown. It's close to Campus Martius," Hillman said.
The Wayne County Commission is expected to review proposals to purchase the jail property today.
And if they can think of some other sites in which the county can drive real estate demand by constructing hulking, unusable structures, that would be great as well.
