3. WAYNE COUNTY AND THEIR ‘JAIL SITE’
This is clearly the biggest obstacle on the list. Wayne County has appeared obstinate in giving the abandoned jail site to the group of Tom Gores and Dan Gilbert. Their reasoning runs along the lines of the money already spent by taxpayers to survey and build up the site. Most individuals within the Metro Detroit area seem intent on moving forward to get something onto that site, however. The county has given off the impression they will take another half-century to finish the project and the combo group of Gores and Gilbert have put forward a far “sexier” option that would create one of the best-completed sports areas in the entire country.
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Talks between the two sides have heated back up now that the applications have been submitted to the MLS. One can only hope that the two sides can amicably work together to erase the eyesore that currently sits just south of Ford Field. Whether the MLS is there or not, something must be done with that lot. Our downtown revitalization cannot continue without something filling that spot, and Gilbert seems intent on making that a multipurpose $1 billion project that includes a stadium, business offices, hotels and restaurants.
