The Monroe Blocks project in downtown Detroit will include a 35-story office tower fronting Campus Martius, according to the latest renderings released by Dan Gilbert’s Bedrock Detroit.
The project, at the cost of more than $800 million, is set to break ground in early 2018 and transform a mostly vacant two-square-block area bounded by Monroe, Bates, Cadillac Square and Randolph.
The project will include 818,000-square-feet of office space, 170,000-square-feet of retail space and 482 residential units. Original plans called for a 20-story office tower, but the latest details show plans for 35 stories.
Bedrock touts the project as “Detroit’s first high-rise office tower in a generation with over 480 residential units, full of public spaces and pedestrian walkways.”
The project will feature tall ceilings and access to sunlight that Bedrock said will be unprecedented in Detroit.
Dan Mullen, president of Bedrock, said the Monroe Blocks development will incorporate public space in its design. In fact, 48,000 square feet has been allotted for public space.
“We are going to focus a ton of thought around public space at the Monroe site,” he said. “You’re going to see a ton of public space and public amenities within the development.”
A temporary skatepark, called Wayfinding, recently took residence on part of the future development site at 100 Monroe. It will be dismantled in January to make way for construction.
Bedrock officials have said they plan to preserve the facade of the National Theatre, a structure that hasn’t been used for more than 40 years.
Detroit-based architecture firm Neumann Smith and Copenhagen-based Schmidt Hammer Lassen are working with Bedrock to develop a master plan that will reintroduce historic alleyways and public access points.
The project is expected to be completed in early 2022.
