Wayne County (Mich.) on Wednesday "received two final construction proposals to choose from as it looks to either complete its stalled Downtown Detroit jail project or build a criminal justice complex elsewhere to make room" for an MLS stadium downtown, according to Dana Afana of MLIVE.com. Cavaliers Owner Dan Gilbert's Rock Ventures "submitted an expanded proposal to build a new criminal justice center" in exchange for a site "where an initial jail project was halted" in '13. Walsh Construction on Wednesday "submitted a proposal to complete the unfinished Gratiot jail" at a cost of $269M for 1,608 beds, or $317.6M for 2,200 beds. Gilbert's final proposal submitted Wednesday offers a $520.3M, 2,280-bed jail, "criminal courthouse, prosecutor offices, sheriff administration offices and a juvenile detention facility at a cost to the county" of $380M, "plus land acquisition obligations." Rock Ventures would be "responsible for any cost overruns, and would get the Gratiot site in return." The plan for the Gratiot site would include building a $1B commercial development that would include an MLS stadium "in partnership" with Pistons Owner Tom Gores (MLIVE.com, 6/29). In Detroit, Katrease Stafford in a front-page piece notes a "final decision is expected in late July and would then go before the Wayne County Board of Commissioners and Wayne County Building Authority for approval" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 6/30).
AN OFFER THEY CAN'T REFUSE? A DETROIT NEWS editorial writes the Gilbert offer "adds sweeteners that County Executive Warren Evans will find hard to refuse." Rock Ventures’ new offer is $20M "richer than Gilbert’s original bid, and the company has also backed away from a demand to share future operational cost savings from innovations at the new jail." The editorial: "Unless there is something we’re not seeing at the moment, Wayne County should take this deal and run" (DETROIT NEWS, 6/30).
