The Impact Of Little Caesar’s Arena on Downtown Detroit

It’s fair to say there’s an awful lot riding on the ongoing construction of the Little Caesar’s Arena. A massive $627 million dollar sports arena being built along Woodward Ave. in downtown Detroit, Little Caesars Arena is set to replace the old Joe Louis Arena as the home of the Detroit Red Wings, and will also serve as home to the Detroit Pistons.

As you can imagine, sports fans have a lot to be excited about. Despite the building’s storied history, a number of issues have plagued the arena even as recently as this 2011 article from Bleacher Report detailing structural issues, poor design, inconvenient location, and more. The modern Little Caesar’s arena will offer long-suffering Wings fans all the modern conveniences offered by some of Detroit’s more up-to-date sports arenas, but will it have a larger impact on Detroit than just a nicer place to watch hockey and basketball?

One of the biggest things it stands to do is create jobs and income. During construction, more than $320 million in contracts were awarded to local businesses (ironworkers, construction specialists, and more) to aid with construction according to Detroit CBS Local. Even after the construction is finished, it is hoped that the new facilities will attract workers, visitors, and office space to an area of Detroit that is slowly seeing a resurgence in many areas but still lacks in long-term corporate tenants. A larger plan known as District Detroit seeks to leverage the development of the arena and create over 1,000 permanent jobs in the area following the completion of the project in order to further turn the city’s fortunes around. The change isn’t expected to come immediately by any means, but the hope that businesses might be re-attracted back to the area to get a piece of the newly relocated Red Wings crowd.

It won’t all just be new businesses, however - there’s plenty of Detroit mainstays that are hoping to see positive growth from the new arena. Nearby neighborhoods such as the historic Corktown, previous home of Tigers Stadium and home to several locally-renowned bars and restaurants like the UFO Factory, or Greektown, a neighborhood seeing a large resurgence in recent years that serves as home to attractions like Greektown Casino and the newly-opened Wahlburgers, have all reported a potential upswing in consumer traffic and business openings thanks to the newly opened stadium. While a small number of local businesses had to be closed or displaced due to the changing landscape of downtown Detroit, the businesses that remain are all optimistic that they can find new (or renewed) success with the addition of the Little Caesar’s Arena.

But all this change begs the question - what’s going to happen to the Palace? A mainstay of local concerts, events, and Pistons games since 1988, the Palace of Auburn Hills may find itself on unsteady ground when the Little Caesar’s Arena is finally completed. Crain’s Detroit reported that current Pistons owner Tom Gores, who also owns the Palace, may consider selling off or completely demolishing & closing the Palace amid fears that larger attractions and concerts will naturally gravitate towards the newer, more modern facility. Despite being the second-oldest currently operating facility in the NBA, the Palace is still widely considered an excellent facility for sports and events, and detractors of the plan say keeping the Palace open will help with scheduling when a major touring act or attraction comes through town to avoid double-booking with either the Red Wings’ or the Pistons’ game schedule.

Time will tell how it all shakes out, but one thing is for certain - the Little Caesar’s Arena is going to mean big changes for a lot of different areas in Detroit.