Red Wings Owner Mike Ilitch's Olympic Development yesterday "won a months-long fight ... that will allow major work to begin" on a new $450M arena development "intended to launch a dense, upscale district larger than the downtown," according to Ferretti & Aguilar of the DETROIT NEWS. Construction of the arena "can now begin in full." Ilitch officials said that work at the arena site "will be accelerated this week, including light demolition and the start of mass excavation." Ferretti & Aguilar note the 785,000-square-foot, 20,000-seat arena is "slated to be ready for the Red Wings' season opener" in '17. Olympia Dir of Development Rod Blake yesterday told Detroit City Council that the company has "set 'aggressive goals' for the project." He noted that more than 15,000 businesses "participated in outreach events for construction bids." Blake said that $25M of the $30M in construction work "was won by Detroit firms." He added that some 75 Detroit residents "have been hired through six job fairs" and 11,000 "have registered with Detroit Employment Solutions to take the next steps in their careers." Ferretti & Aguilar note the arena "is the linchpin of Olympia's goal to transform 45 blocks of Detroit, creating a district that includes retail, residential and offices" (DETROIT NEWS, 4/22). In Detroit, Matt Helms reports Olympia "agreed with the city's request for stronger assurance that the developers will follow through on commitments to redevelop one of two historic hotels" near the proposed arena. Council members yesterday "defended their actions against criticism that they were obstructionists." Olympia "had warned that additional significant delays could jeopardize the planned opening of the facility" in '17 (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 4/22).
