Quote Originally Posted by Bham1982 View Post
Hmm, it didn't really go down like that.

Yes, Comerica proposed a new HQ on the Ford Auditorum site, and, yeah, there was some public controversy, but it was more about demolishing Ford Auditorium rather than against highrises on the river [[after all the biggest highrises in Detroit are right on the river, right next to the site).

And Comerica didn't back off because the city nixed the plan, they backed off because the economy took a dive, and there was plenty of available empty office space downtown.

If Dan Gilbert proposed a 30 floor building on the Ford Auditorium site today, the entire civic apparatus would line up in support, just as with Comerica.
My recollection is similar to what Gistok described. And, there was also the issue that no one bothered to include the Ford Family in the mix. Since they had contributed, some, if not all, of the costs of building Ford Auditorium, it was a big faux pas to leave them out of the discussion.