GM Boosts Detroit Biz With Hotel, Office Complex

<B> GM Boosts Detroit Biz With Hotel, Office Complex</B>

By Glenn Carter

<I>Detroit</I> - Recent moves by General Motors in its home town have helped fuel a revitalization of the downtown area for visiting business travelers.

GM has purchased two large city-center hotels and has relocated its own employees there, bringing activity and development to the long-troubled area.

Two years ago, the automotive company bought the sprawling Renaissance Center that was to be a showplace for a revitalized downtown when it opened in 1977.

But that project was not as successful as planners had hoped. (Ironically, Renaissance Center was originally a project of Henry Ford II.) The center comprises 2.2 million square feet of office towers and professional area, as well as 220,000 square feet of retail space--in four towers--plus the 73-story Westin Hotel, the city's tallest building. The center is so large it has its own post office, area code and zip code.

Now, GM has bought and reoccupied Renaissance Center, including the Westin, as well as the Millender Center across the street. Millender is a mixed-use complex that also includes a Doubletree hotel, making it a major player in Detroit's lodging scene. GM will decide as contracts end which hotel management companies will take over the two properties.

Rick Binford, president and CEO of the Metropolitan Detroit Convention & Visitors Bureau, said GM's moves are part of the company's "consolidating its global offices into a single headquarters and reaffirming a commitment to downtown. The company alone has brought almost 5,000 new employees downtown that will create demand for a lot of other entertainment and sport facilities. That in turn should spur development and expansion."

Besides GM, Renaissance Center houses 140 businesses, including several large accounting companies and many law firms. There are 21 restaurants and other food outlets, and 50 retail and service companies.

For corporate travel managers and meeting planners, Binford said, "This means more entertainment and meeting options." While the automobile industry is still crucial to Detroit, the business travel market has broadened "because of a huge diversification in our economy, led by high-tech and engineering," he said.

June Beverly, manager of conventions for the Lions, a fraternal organization, will bring about 20,000 delegates to Detroit in 2004--the first time the group has selected the city. Beverly said her staff was impressed by the city's downtown facilities and passed that information along to the organization's board of directors, which voted to give the big meeting to Detroit.

She said her organization's selection of a city is heavily dependent on its hotel, transportation and convention center infrastructure.

According to Binford, the new Tiger Stadium will open in 2000 and the new domed Detroit Lions stadium is set to open several years later. Meanwhile, what he calls "casino-style resorts" will open in 2001.

The city also is developing an "avenue of fun" that will feature microbreweries, themed restaurants, sports bars and coffee houses. Cultural plans call for an $80 million performing arts/educational/office center adjoining Orchestra Hall.