There’s no question that Detroit is dancing to a brand-new beat. The city is riding the crest of a rebirth that is bringing new hotels, restaurants, entertainment venues, art installations, parks, businesses, housing and other sparks of life to a city that had fallen on hard times just a decade ago. It’s a great time for Detroit events.
“There’s so much happening here, with new things popping up all the time,” says Susan Richardson, director of sales for the Detroit Metro CVB. “Everyone always wants to go to a new city, and we’re poised to be the next city that everyone wants to go to.”
Along with an influx of new residents, entrepreneurs and massive investment, Detroit is attracting a wide variety of new meetings business, according to Richardson. While automotive remains a core focus, the city is increasingly targeting the technology and healthcare sectors.
“Detroit has been attracting a lot of entrepreneurial startups, including some related to automotive technology,” Richardson says. “We’re also reaching out to meeting planners and encouraging those who can find the time to come and see our changes and improvements. They will be pleasantly surprised.”
Chief among the improvements is the US$279 million renovation and expansion of the recently renamed TCF Center, formerly the Cobo Center. The convention center expansion featured a 40,000-square-foot ballroom and 30,000-square-foot glass atrium with views of the Detroit River and Windsor, Ontario, skyline. It also included a 45,000-square-foot public plaza available for special events and new tech features that include a TV broadcast studio with satellite uplink capabilities and video walls on the exterior of the building.
Among meeting planners enthused about the reborn facility is Tamika Brown (MPI Michigan Chapter), chief experience officer at RSVP Premier Group in Troy, Mich.
“It’s become a very good venue for meetings and events,” she says. “In particular, the ballroom is really fantastic. It’s a great size with terrific audiovisual support.”
When it comes to offsite venues, there’s a wealth of options for Detroit Events, according to Brown, citing the Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan Science Center and Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History as particular favorites.
“All of them are conveniently located in our cultural downtown area and are wonderful alternatives to hotels,” she says. “They’re world-class attractions.”
The city’s leading showcase for art, the Detroit Institute of Arts, offers areas such as the Rivera Court, where the 27 panels of Diego Rivera’s masterwork mural Detroit Industry is an inspiring backdrop for events of up to 300. The museum’s many other event spaces include the Great Hall, which accommodates up to 500; a 1,100-seat auditorium; and the intimate Loggia Courtyard.
At the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, a wide variety of function spaces include the spectacular Ford Freedom Rotunda, where up to 500 can gather under a glass dome nearly as wide as the U.S. Capitol dome.
New Developments
A major focus of new development in the city is the District Detroit, a 50-block area of restaurants, parks, offices, hotels and visitor attractions that includes the Fox Theater, a restored, 5,048-seat movie palace from the 1920s that accommodates dinners for up to 800 in its ornate lobby; Comerica Park, home to the Detroit Tigers baseball team; and Ford Field, home to the Detroit Lions football team. Its newest sports venue is the 20,000-seat Little Caesars Arena, which is home to the Detroit Red Wings hockey team and Detroit Pistons basketball team and also hosts concerts and other events.
With Detroit already known as a sports town, the addition of the Little Caesars Arena is further boosting the city’s appeal not only to visitors but for sports-related meetings, according to David Beachnau, senior vice president of sales and marketing for the Detroit Metro CVB.
“The sports market is a key niche area for us,” he says. “We also do a lot of promotion for youth tournaments, including soccer, softball and bowling, which are very big for our suburban properties.”
Also significant is Detroit’s continually expanding hotel and restaurant scene. Among upcoming new dining and entertainment choices is the event-friendly Tin Roof Detroit, offering Southern-inspired food, live music and a rooftop deck, which is scheduled to open in November next to Comerica Park.
“There are so many new options for hotel stays and dine-arounds for groups,” Brown says. “There are a lot of great restaurants right within walking distance of each other, with something for every palette and price point.”
The city’s newest property is the Shinola Hotel, which opened earlier this year in two restored historic buildings in the Woodward Avenue shopping district. The 129-room hotel features multiple dining outlets and several atmospheric meeting spaces that include Bixby Hall, an elegant venue with a marble fireplace and French doors accommodating up to 180.
Slated to open downtown next year, the 154-room Cambria Hotel will feature chef-driven restaurants, a rooftop lounge and meeting space that includes a formal ballroom.
Developments in progress include an extensive repurposing of Michigan Central Station, which was acquired by Ford Motor Co. last year. Along with new offices for Ford, plans are calling for new public areas such as a food hall and a possible hotel component. Another big project is Hudson’s Site, a mixed-use complex on Woodard Avenue that is to include retail, office and residential space along with an observation tower.
Beyond the City
Beyond Detroit, the metro region also holds outstanding options for groups. Among them is the chance to include an excursion to Windsor, which lies just across the Detroit River.
“One of the unique things we offer is the chance to easily dip into another country—a lot of people don’t realize that we’re on an international waterway bordering Canada,” Beachnau says. “Windsor offers great restaurants and other attractions.”
Brown agrees, adding that a popular option for planners is to charter a yacht for a river cruise or other private event.
In nearby Dearborn, the many must-see attractions include the Henry Ford Museum, a 12-acre tribute to American innovation and historic milestones that includes a circular aluminum house designed by Buckminster Fuller, Lincoln’s chair from Ford’s Theater, the Rosa Parks bus, classic automobiles and much more. Among event spaces are the Giant Screen Experience, which offers state-of-the-art audiovisual, and the Driving America Car Court, where up to 500 can gather against a backdrop of neon drive-in signs and other classic Americana.
Another part of the Henry Ford complex, Greenfield Village, the largest open-air museum in the U.S., is where visitors can ride around in replicas of Model T roadsters down streets lined with vintage buildings that include the Illinois courthouse and Thomas Edison’s research lab. Meeting groups can take over the entire village or rent spaces such as the Eagle Tavern, built in 1831 as a stagecoach stop, where events can feature candlelit dinners served by costumed waiters in 19th century garb.
Around the State
Not all of the new developments in Michigan are happening in metro Detroit. Here’s a look at what’s going on in other cities.
Grand Rapids is a hot spot for hotel development, with new properties that include the 130-room AC Grand Rapids Downtown, which recently opened near the DeVos Place Convention Center. Located in a repurposed 1927 warehouse, design elements of the hotel pay homage to the city’s heritage as a furniture manufacturing center. Other new properties include an Embassy Suites by Hilton, Hampton Inn & Suites, Hyatt Place and TRU by Hilton.
One of Grand Rapid’s major attractions and event venues, Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, is undergoing an expansion set for completion in 2021 that will include an upgraded amphitheater, welcome center and learning center.
East Lansing: Construction is under way on the Graduate East Lansing, part of the Graduate Hotels Collection, on a downtown site adjacent to Michigan State University. The 194-room hotel, set to open in fall 2020, will feature elements related to Michigan history and more than 5,000 square feet of meeting space.
Traverse City: The Greenwich Hospitality Group acquired the West Bay Beach Holiday Inn Resort earlier this year and rebranded it as the Delmar Traverse City. The 179-room lakefront property is undergoing a two-year renovation, during which it will remain open. The resort features 6,000 square feet of meeting space.
