Hollywood Casino at Greektown spearheads effort to revitalize retail, entertainment

[Airforceguy]

Hope they can pull it off...



Hollywood Casino at Greektown is hoping to change that. The gaming house recently put the vacant retail spots at 546 Monroe on the market for lease, in addition to an unfinished entertainment venue space on the casino’s fourth floor. The leasing opportunities come as the Greektown Neighborhood Partnership and other officials continue efforts to revitalize the district with more eateries, shops and residents.

“Now more than ever, we feel that we're in a good spot to market those locations,” said John Drake, general manager and vice president of Hollywood Casino at Greektown. In July, the Greektown Neighborhood Partnership was awarded $20 million from the state to make Monroe Street a curbless, more pedestrian-friendly street for hosting festivals and other events.

There’s the construction of The Exchange, the district’s first new residential development in about 60 years, which was completed last summer and continues to welcome residents. And nearby, the partnership expects to break ground on Randolph Plaza, a pedestrian space that will serve as a gateway between Greektown and downtown, in the third quarter of this year.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/bu...n/72089276007/

[401don]

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/bu...n/72089276007/

Don't have a sub. so maybe someone can summarize this article. This was one area I was disappointed with Gilbert when he owned the casino. He stated he wanted it to be more "open" toward the street but did little in that regard. It won't be easy to lease those spaces and we've had previous discussion about the demise of Greektown but even if they allowed some pop-up
tenants it would help liven up that side of the street.

[K-slice]

Shutting down Monroe to *most* cars will go a long way to filling the vacant retail spaces down there. Look how packed Belt Alley is in the summer.

[gratiotfaced]

I'm assuming the future "Randolph Plaza" is that parking lot on the corner of Monroe? If so, why not try to develop that instead? There's already a new plaza on the corner of Gratiot, and hanging out under a giant iPhone billboard doesn't seem that appealing.

If the goal is to add vibrancy to Greektown then we should be trying to build up housing instead.

[Danny]

As long as the CaSINo property owners keep Greektown Greek. With Greek businesses.

[Henry Whalley]

With Greek businesses.

Humpty Dumpty situation.

Sadly, all the king's horses won't restore the charms of Greektown as we knew it prior to interventions by city planners and mobsters.